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Why microtransactions, IAPs and LootBoxes are here to stay thread

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    All of these big sports games are just yearly player update DLC for £50. Then they cram microtransations and **** like this in them because they know sports fans and casual games will be more likely to put up with it.

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      "by design" :-(

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        Jim Sterling's latest YouTube video: The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization (The Jimquisition)



        Aggressive monetization tactics have undoubtedly lowered the quality for many so-called "AAA" games. The shameless number of microtransactions and loot boxes have made them grinding and shallow "services" instead of complete videogames.

        When we talk about the impact microtransactions and loot boxes have on players, however, we often argue in abstract terms. Not today. Today we look at the human cost of predatory monetization - the impact that exploitative business models have on their vulnerable targets.

        To really hammer it home, we'll have to meet Torulf Jernström, a mobile studio CEO whose tactics for hunting "whales" - the prime targets of microtransactions - sound scarily like instructions for selling drugs.

        From "Hook Habit Hobby" to the "IKEA Effect," you're about to learn just how low this industry's tricks get. This industry has truly sold its soul.

        Strap in, because this gets horrible. And if I'm to be remembered for any single Jimquisition, I'd like it to be this one.

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          Say what you will about Jim Sterling but he is right on the money with this. Its 100% predatory. I talked about some of what he says back in august last year. The 'Cue', 'Habit', Reward' cycle that videogames take advantage of.
          I only wish people who can make changes around the legislation of loot boxes would watch this video, and others like it, to really grasp what is being said when gamers call Loot boxes 'gambling'.
          It's making games ****ter and its making people Ill.

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            Digital Minister Margot James defends loot boxes

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              I am thinking of doing a blog and video about free to play games and microtransactions as i feel they are given leeway because they are free, but often the grind and pricing is ludicrous.

              Some of the games such as Injustice 2 mobile are better now but it is often a case grinding for two weeks to get gems and literally use them all in a few seconds on a loot box and getting very little (and it is a pay to win game as hard to get characters are overpowered ) and often they would have it you can buy a character but it can be from 24 euro to 54 euro ....FOR A CHARACTER I could buy a full game for that

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                Unfortunately, in a way she is right. Our laws around defining 'Gambling' differ very slightly from Belgium. I remember looking in to it a year or so ago. iirc our Law has a statement or something about it involving money, but Belgiums does not. So she is right by saying its not 'Gambling'. She's also right when she says there hasn't been enough research in to it, official research that is. Its a relatively new mechanic with not enough years to see if it has a long term effect on a person.
                Unfortunately none of this helps get rid of loot box gambling mechanics from games.

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                  Your paying money for a chance to get a desirable item and often you have to spend lots of money to get the said desirable item you want, yes your not putting straight money down to get money back but your rolling the dice to get an item and paying for the privilege of doing so. I'd say that's gambling and if our laws don't classify that as gambling then their very broken.

                  I don't think Epics way of doing things is very honorable either, they don't have loot boxes but have charged in line with what you'd probably have to spend on loot boxes to get the item.

                  "hey we spent a day modelling this new skin, hows £10- £20 per download sound we average about 100,0000 downloads per skin so after its been downloaded 10 times where in pure profit"

                  It's how you make a free to play game make more money than most full price releases, and just going on what my sons Friends have spent on vbucks it must easily be in the 100s which make you think big budget release game people must be suckers.

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                    That Gi.biz article is difficult to read, in part due to the lengthy and sometimes waffling responses. By definition lootboxes may not be gambling (although some like CS:GO, TF2 etc are already meeting the UK Gambling Commission's definition). However the acknowledgement we need to investigate more sounds like the previous 'it's the what we don't know' that might be dangerous. In that sense the Govt. Minister sounds like someone slightly unaware of the full issues and that might just be reflective of where the UK Gambling Commission is with its ongoing investigations.

                    However this is where I trust EU and US legislators more, who historically have greater protection for consumers. And I think that's the thing, whether lootboxes are gambling or not, greater protection is needed. And that's before you even deal with the impact upon Children. Something that interview didn't touch upon.

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                      Its odd because you would think the government would want to slap EA with the 15% earnings tax that they put on gambling sites.

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                        Remember they enjoy the 20% VAT on each transaction in the UK. Realistically if lootboxes were declared gambling then EA and others would simply stop selling them.

                        This is where I think the argument is a slight red herring. In my mind it's more about protection of children and applying age restrictions. And rethinking the protection consumers get with digital purchases. Consumers in the UK receive less rights now than when games were predominantly being purchased on physical formats. That isn't right and needs to change imo.

                        That said if more legislation is an outcome from various Govts. Then so be it. Things shouldn't stay as they are now.
                        Last edited by Digfox; 05-07-2019, 08:56.

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                          BBC News Story today, nothing we haven't discussed or seen in this thread load of times, but still good to see this sort of article becoming standard fare on the mainstream news.

                          'The kids emptied our bank account playing Fifa'

                          The children's father, Thomas Carter, had bought them a single pack for around £8, and had not realised they had seen how he made the purchase.

                          The Switch has now been confiscated "indefinitely", Mr Carter said.

                          Nintendo has agreed to a full refund and has removed the purchased players.
                          Fifa 19 has been certified as suitable for players from the age of three.

                          Mr Carter said his children, who are all under the age of 10, felt very remorseful and had not understood the impact of what they were doing.

                          However, he also said he felt that the in-game concept of buying player packs without knowing what was inside them was unethical.

                          "You pay £40 for the game, which is a lot of money in itself, but then the only way to get a great team is essentially by gambling," he said, referring to online play.

                          "They spent £550 and they still never got their favourite player, Lionel Messi."
                          Prof Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute, said more data was needed in order to assess the impact of loot box-style purchases.

                          "Loot boxes and in-app purchases present parents with a new frontier of challenges," he told the BBC.

                          "Though loot boxes look like gambling, we won't know what their effects are until these companies start sharing their data with independent scientists.

                          "There isn't good evidence it is gambling, but the very fact we don't have hard data should be a concern."

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                            What a moron.

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                              Wouldn’t be surprised if Margot got some nice backhander cash from ea.

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                                A slight update on the BBC news story a few posts up about kids spending £550 on FIFA (that I posted last week); https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48925623

                                This update includes a child that spent £3160 on a mobile game but does include comments from Tom Watson (Labour Deputy Leader) with regards to the earlier FIFA story. There are some other stories. The worry is that refunds haven't happened which is extremely concerning in my view.

                                Sorry struggling to post any summaries more in depth as I am on mobile atm.
                                Last edited by Digfox; 15-07-2019, 10:36.

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