Duke4.net Forums: 2k and the BGC - Duke4.net Forums

They're holding content hostage to force gamers to help fight for them. Holy cow.

MusicallyInspired, on 06 September 2018 - 05:07 AM, said:

I wouldn't say that, it's more like "look, we disabled microtransactions so now you can see how terrible our loot boxes are" and I'm fine with that because those fuckin' boxes should disappear from games that are not free-to-play. They bother me in Quake Champions too but I give that one a pass because their loot boxes are so shit that nobody buys them + the business model is not predatory if you count the f2p option and the champions pack.

The new Belgian law is great because I was on the opinion that this shit is dangerously close to "gambling for kids" even before saying that was cool but what I really dislike about this system is simply that it messes up the progression of games that have it. A good progression system rewards the player for playing and getting better at the game, loot boxes on the other hand make the process of unlocking stuff artificially longer because if a game has microtransactions then you can be sure as shit the publisher wants you to spend real money. Even in a f2p game like Quake in a perfect world the loot box system was replaced by normal progression the second you bought the champions pack.

Oh, I agree loot boxes are horrible and I side with the BGC here. This is certainly exposing 2k for the advantage-taking greedy money-suckers they are. But what they're basically saying here is "you'd normally be able to buy these extras but since we're not allowed to sell them to you in loot boxes we're just going to make it impossible to get them....so if you want them, tell the BGC and get them to let us sell them" which is totally holding the content hostage. People in Belgium can't access that content. I just can't believe the gall in inciting their players to fight this for them.

It's not just 2K though: Activision Blizzard reacted in the same passive aggressive manner by basically saying "you can no longer buy our loot boxes, that sucks, right?" when they shut down the microtransactions of Overwatch in Belgium. The difference is that the NBA 2K series has one of the most exploitative microstransaction schemes imaginable while Overwatch was fine tuned to be more rewarding (it's a lot better than Quake's loot boxes for example).

[rant]
I consider some (the ones I know) microtransaction as cheats. On both sides, the greedy game makers and the gullible, lazy players.

Children(minors) are supposedly be under the superstition for their parents, and grown-ups should be on their own. No government should get into this. Belgium, (and any other given tax extortion, for nothing [little] in return, government) honestly, fuck off. You have the least right to complain about unscrupulous money grabbers, look at the mirror first!
[/rant]

This is the only news I've seen on a game since the BGC stuff when Battlefront 2 was the main topic. I don't really keep up with all the AAA indiscretions unless it gets public enough.

I agree that the government regulating video games in any way isn't a good thing. I'm moreso just commenting on 2k thinking they have a case with gamers here.

MusicallyInspired, on 06 September 2018 - 07:33 PM, said:

It's not about gaming though, it's about gambling. The thing about these stupid boxes is that if you look at them closely you can notice that this stuff was most likely invented by publishers and their lawyers trying to find a way to avoid gambling regulations. Loot box systems psychologically work the same way real gambling does, the only difference is that in order for something to be considered gambling there needs to be a "fail state", a state where the player bets something and goes away empty handed after the dice roll. Loot boxes always give you something if you open them but still, the fail state that can drive people into buying more of them is there ("hey, maybe I'll get what I want from the NEXT ONE"). Sure, the boxes give you something but most of the time it's worthless stuff like duplicates or common items nobody wants (shaders, name icons, whatever) so publisher's can say "hey, you got something so it's not gambling" but you know you did not get shit. They made it this way so they can dodge gambling laws SPECIFICALLY.

Now when you do that you basically send lawmakers a memo saying that gambling laws are outdated so they should be modernized to deal with this shit. That's when the government gets involved partially because sometimes governments like to act like they care and partially because they want a cut from that sweet gambling money you're making... and who could blame them? Publishers did this, not the government.

And as for regulating stuff and setting up boundaries: to a certain extent you need that stuff because if there is no regulation then shit will hit the fan. What happened when Valve presented Steam as an open platform while at the same time they opened up a marketplace for CSGO items? Gambling sites hit the internet and those were operated by the fucking mob in some cases because if there are no regulations then there's money to be made and you can bet your ass that will attract a lot of people you never wanted to invite to your little party.

I find myself unable to argue with any of that and have nothing to add.

Hey, I learned something new. Having never played a game with loot boxes I always assumed you knew what was in the box and you decided whether or not you wanted it or could get by without it. I didn't realize loot boxes are a crapshoot.

Mark, on 07 September 2018 - 12:44 PM, said:

Same here!

Yeah, you never know what's in the box. I doubt it would ever have been labelled gambling otherwise.

I misread this as 2K and the BBC. And I don't mean the broadcasting corporation.

Person of Color, on 10 September 2018 - 04:59 AM, said:

Let's hope they'll be sitting on the BBC soon.