Why microtransactions, IAPs and LootBoxes are here to stay thread

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, I would totally agree with that. Neither makes the other better and they should both be looked at. They are a little separate though in that what is insidious about loot boxes etc. is not the same as what's wrong with how the skins are pitched (which to me seems more like exploitative marketing rather than in what is being sold).

[gambit6613]

It's just about as predatory though - based on the fear of missing out - they put these skins up for "limited availability" they've artificially introduced, stuck a "R@RE!1!" label on it and jacked the price up. Add a bit of peer pressure and profit.

Epic certainly don't deserve any credit for making it a little bit less scummy than lootboxes.

I totally agree with you, that’s exactly what my nephew keeps saying, that this skin is rare or that skin is rare, he is 8 years old and just doesn’t understand when I tell him there is nothing rare about any of the skins but because he has seen some asshole youtuber, shilling for the game, saying the skins are rare he totally buys into it, he just won’t listen to me, it’s really scary seeing first hand how young, impressionable children are preyed upon.

I’m not saying Epic deserve any credit, just saying Epic are only slightly better than EA, both are appealing practices but I’m just saying that at least it’s not a random loot box determining what skin you get.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think the ease of buying is a problem too. With trading cards or (in my day) Pogs, you had to save up some cash, leave the house and buy it from a shop. Now it's just a button press away.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, that goes throughout all online shopping and I know I've been way too guilty of that. It's far too easy to buy stuff these days! I mean, I don't know if that's something we could or should change in any way but it becomes a factor if marketing methods are a bit on the dodgy side. Even the walk to a corner shop gives you the time to rethink a purchase.

[Neon Ignition]

Plus you had the advantage that there was a chance that in years to come that rare trading card will be worth something. With this stuff someone will switch the server off one day and *poof*

[MartyG]

You were also paying with real money, not fluffy dollars, but actually the Panini sticker collections are just as exploitative.

Best case scenario (meaning you never get any repeats), you'd pay about £100 to complete the album, but do the maths and the average cost of completing one works out at about £800.

[cutmymilk]

Do 8 - 12 year olds still have stickers? Can anyone with kids that age shine a light? When us lot were kids practically everything had a sticker book. I had WWF, Turtles, Jurassic Park etc as well as the football books. A waste of money for sure, but it was fun. It's probably the same as these loot boxes, except to us it doesn't look as good. Kids love spending all their money on boxes to get Ronaldo and pwn their mates online.

Edit: Just went down an ebay rabbit hole and I also distinctly remember owning the Street Fighter sticker book. The art was so good https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Street-Fi....c101195.m1851

I think we need a new thread, haha.

[Asura]

EDIT: No, decided I don't want this thread to be my evening

[fishbowlhead]

Ive never tried but can all micro transactions and loot boxes be locked out of games via the consoles parental controls?

Edit. Or can an account be locked out of purchases full stop in any way.

[gambit6613]

Ive never tried but can all micro transactions and loot boxes be locked out of games via the consoles parental controls?

Edit. Or can an account be locked out of purchases full stop in any way.

Not entirely sure but i know my sister has my nephews Xbox and Switch set up so that whenever he wants to make a purchase of any kind the account password has to be entered, which of course he doesnt know.

[importaku]

The thing with stuff like trading cards/stickers/ect is they are physical you know the odds of pulling rare cards because all trading card packs have the odds on the back to let you know and those odds are accountable not sure they do on panini stuff but definitely do on trading cards. In gaming you only have the devs word about them been fair, they can say yeah you have a 1 in 100 chance of pulling something rare but behind the scenes they can make the code do anything they like so that advertised 1 in 100 becomes 1 in 400 instead with how slimy they have been with this stuff i don't believe for a second that they make the odds fair there's no regulation so they can say and do anything.

Also physical items like cards have a intrinsic value they only make so many in a print run in a series before discontinuing so any rare cards printed actually have value meaning if you don't want them you can trade or resell them you actually get something back for your money.

[wakka]

I was a kid when Pokémon cards first came out. I was obsessed with them. It drove my parents nuts that I always wanted the booster packs for birthday, Christmasses etc, and I can see why looking back.

But at least I still have those cards, neatly filed into binders. They're kind of a cool bit of childhood memorabilia. Ultimate Team players and Fortnite skins feel a lot more ephemeral.

[DeathAdder]

Aren't FUT players practically useless as soon as a new version comes out?

[Asura]

Aren't FUT players practically useless as soon as a new version comes out?

Realistically so are Pokémon cards.

[gambit6613]

Realistically so are Pokémon cards.

That’s not quite accurate with Pokemon cards. Pretty much every expansion set of cards can be used/played competitively for a good few years before being rotated out, not to mention the fact that you physically have the card and the valuable ones tend to remain valuable/collectible. I have been collecting for a few years now and have good number of cards worth £20+ each.