What's your opinion on loot boxes?

jro

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Can't throw a rock without hitting loot boxes in games these days. Can't log onto a gaming website without reading articles about them.

To me, I don't like them and would prefer not to have them in full-priced games, but I'm also sick of hearing about how they're "gambling" and that they intentionally prey on people with impulsive personalities.

Thoughts?
 

evil wasabi

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Can't throw a rock without hitting loot boxes in games these days. Can't log onto a gaming website without reading articles about them.

To me, I don't like them and would prefer not to have them in full-priced games, but I'm also sick of hearing about how they're "gambling" and that they intentionally prey on people with impulsive personalities.

Thoughts?

It is gambling though. The practice is effective in coercing players to spend more to level up, but the results vary, so by selling the player a shit loot box, they will be likely to purchase to offset the disappointment.
 

ChopstickSamurai

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I've never played a game with a loot box. This is primarily done in online games right? I don't play online games either. I've been called enough incorrect racial epitaphs by pre-teens for one lifetime.
 

Yoshi

,
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There are two choices. AAA games can be $100 MSRP, or we can have stuff like loot boxes. The only third choice is to not have AAA games at all. Development costs too much to continue to absorb inflation like AAA games have done.

edit: The ESRB has already decided that loot boxes are not gambling, because you always get something, even if it's not what you want. That's essentially a dead end argument.
 
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evil wasabi

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There are two choices. AAA games can be $100 MSRP, or we can have stuff like loot boxes. The only third choice is to not have AAA games at all. Development costs too much to continue to absorb inflation like AAA games have done.

edit: The ESRB has already decided that loot boxes are not gambling, because you always get something, even if it's not what you want. That's essentially a dead end argument.

China determined otherwise. So instead of worthless crap, they get dust to craft what they want. A fair exchange.
 

jro

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I've never played a game with a loot box. This is primarily done in online games right? I don't play online games either. I've been called enough incorrect racial epitaphs by pre-teens for one lifetime.
Used to be. Just in the past 6 weeks or so, though, have been all of the following:

NBA 2K18 - loot boxes for equipment. You can also spend your "VC" on equipment, but VC also goes toward upgrading your player in the career mode. Getting enough VC to upgrade your player to a decent level takes a LONG time if you don't spend real money on VC.

FORZA 7 - loot boxes contain cars, driver gear, and mods. The mods make it so you can get more credits in a given race. You pay credits to earn more credits.

Shadow of War - loot boxes contain gear and orcs. Getting enough high level orcs to win the endgame is apparently really grindy if you don't spend some $ on loot boxes.

Star Wars Battlefront II
- the only way to get new skills and equipment is via lootboxes. Upgraded skills are far better than non-upgraded skills. It's pay to win.

Assassin's Creed Origins has them, too, visible in screenshots. Destiny 2 has them, Call of Duty WWII will also.

edit: all of those are vastly simplified explanations, but the gist is the same.
 
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Dr Shroom

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gay shit
Overwatch
Heroes of the Storm
PLAYERUNKNOWNS BATTLEGROUNDS
Killer Instinct
etc.

just another way to jew more money out of the customers
 
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SpamYouToDeath

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I hate loot boxes, and I hate "experience points" jammed into every goddamn crevice of a game. I've effectively stopped playing online shooters because they're so persistently infested with this garbage. At least nobody can retroactively ruin games on ROM.
 

Colorado Rockie

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The only game I've played that I can think of that had something like this was Gears of War 4. It's a scummy practice and I don't see myself ever buying any "loot crates" or "card packs" or whatever they want to market it as.

I do want to play Shadow of War and AC: Origins, but I can wait for the inevitable GotY/Ultimate Editions for those in a year or so (or maybe if they're like $25 around Black Friday).
 

CrazyDean

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The last AAA title that interested me was Fallout 3. Today's games just dont interest me all that much. I don't think people will continue to put up with the loot boxes, and games that allow you to pay to win will start losing sales.
 

norton9478

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Goodness gracious, the papers!
Where the cash at? Where the stash at?
 
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Heinz

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I'm still not sure what a loot box is but it doesn't sound like it includes booze so.. fuck that.
 

evil wasabi

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The cost of success in shitgaming is about the same as a neo geo game now.

For example, I spent over $3000 on hearthstone in the span of 3 years and can’t push myself to continue because the costs are going out of control.
 

LoneSage

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For example, I spent over $3000 on hearthstone in the span of 3 years and can’t push myself to continue because the costs are going out of control.

The first step is admitting you have a problem. Re-read your post and realize you spent more on a single trash game than any quality Neo game and quit it.

edit: two members in this thread who joined like 15 years ago and have under a thousand posts. Who is ChopstickSamurai? Yoshi? How do you decide to just log on in here after a couple years and decide to post on a fucking loot box thread of all things?
 
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Morden

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I'm still not sure what a loot box is but it doesn't sound like it includes booze so.. fuck that.

Me neither. Seriously. First I thought we were talking about those boxes of useless crap you can get in the mail if you buy a subscription, but I guess those are called loot crates? I'm getting too old for this.

But ... I suspect they are packs of in-game items, but you don't know what you're buying. As in, you buy a mysterious bundle of items in Diablo III, and one of them may be worth something.

This reminds me of "infernal pauldrons", which was a special pre-order item for Diablo III on PS4. Once I imported the beefed up character from PS3, it turned out this super special item wasn't worth shit.

Anyway, I never liked the direction everything is going these days. Selling fighting games by character, selling character palette swaps, etc. I guess loot boxes are a part of this trend. The older I am, the less I care about current gens. Arcade stuff takes more and more of my time, though. And space. No loot boxes there.
 

famicommander

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I haven't bought any DLC yet and I still have no plans to.

Give me the whole game at once or fuck off.
 

evil wasabi

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The first step is admitting you have a problem. Re-read your post and realize you spent more on a single trash game than any quality Neo game and quit it.

I do have a problem with HS. It totally gatcha’d me. But I am okay with walking away from it now. Considering to auction my account on ebay.
 

Mr Bakaboy

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IMHO the graphics on todays games aren't THAT much better then they were say 5-7 years ago when dlc was there, but way more manageable.

$60 game + $30 DLC is fine

$60 game + $300 DLC is ridiculous
 

Igakajook

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IMHO the graphics on todays games aren't THAT much better then they were say 5-7 years ago when dlc was there, but way more manageable.

$60 game + $30 DLC is fine

$60 game + $300 DLC is ridiculous

I'm wondering if the profits for these game companies have changed. Is this out of necessity or just a money grab?
 

LoneSage

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I'm wondering if the profits for these game companies have changed. Is this out of necessity or just a money grab?

20 years ago, Chrono Trigger was 70 bucks

now, i dunno wtf games cost, 60?

I'm an idiot. I guess it was the RAM boards that cost so much? Who knows?

I clearly remember some games - N64, namely - costing 80 bucks in the sears catalogue 20 years ago.
 

Mr Bakaboy

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I'm wondering if the profits for these game companies have changed. Is this out of necessity or just a money grab?

My hypothesis on some of it is game companies want to make up lost revenue by tapping into their hardcore audience.

If you're supposed to sell 4 million copies and only sell 1.5 million one way would be to lock up most of the game and sell it over a longer period of time to recoup losses.

The other thought would be back in the day you made a game and that's the end of it. Now you have to keep fixing the game or adding new things to it for it to be a success and keep people interested in it.

IMO this is the most bullshit reason since history has proven if the game is good you can sell copies way past the revelency period of the game. Especially after digital sales has become so easy.
 

jro

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I'm wondering if the profits for these game companies have changed. Is this out of necessity or just a money grab?
Budgets on games are far higher than they need to be, much of the time. Few years ago, Square Enix was in the news for, let's see, it was Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs all selling really well and still losing money. Various others similar.

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, the individual strands of Lara's hair are modeled, which is expensive, and has zero benefit to the gameplay experience.
 

NeoSneth

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People like gambling. I dont understand it either.

If it was such an issue, people would stop buying the Crates.....
 
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