You might remember that a couple of weeks ago on the podcast we covered the story of the UK sorta-kinda banning lootboxes. In response to that, a reader / listener sent in a question that’s way too complicated to tackle in podcast form. This discussion requires a lot of nuance, some very careful phrasing, and lengthy examination of the topic from several angles. So instead I’m going to cover this in a pair of posts.
The question is thus:
Dear Diecast,
Shamus, what is your opinion on lootboxes? From your tone, you’re clearly not a big fan, but you usually focus less on your own stance than on the public dynamics of “If EA doesn’t change course, the backlash is going to pressure governments into banning them entirely.” That assessment is probably right, and a more useful contribution to discourse than you being the billionth person to throw in their opinion, but I’m still curious. As a consumer, do you ever buy lootboxes/microtransactions and how do you feel about it? If you somehow became King of America, what if any laws do you think should be passed on the issue?
Ninety-Three
PS: The way you avoid stating your own opinion while talking about the mob of angry people always reminds me of this comic.
Like Dr. Breen, I sense that Ninety-Three has asked an explicit question, while perhaps gesturing towards an implicit one.
- Explicit: Given your negative rhetoric, what’s your actual position on lootboxes?
- Implicit: Why are you so cagey when it comes to talk of banning? Why do you always sound like you’re offering a threat on behalf of someone else?
Now, these are perfectly reasonable and fair questions. The second runs afoul of politics, so let’s put that off for now and focus on the first one. Yes, my position on lootboxes is fairly negative, but I think my reasoning differs from that of most people.
A majority of objections seem to come at this from a public health perspective. The argument goes something like, “Lootboxes are bad because they exploit naive children and people with a weakness for gambling. They’re inherently predatory.” That’s fine, but again it feels a little political. Also, I’m worried that this argument would be met with indifference by the EA leadershipEveryone is doing lootboxes now, and maybe EA isn’t even the worst. But EA is the publisher I’ve studied the most, so I’m going to single them out. and their shareholders. I know EA CEO Andrew Wilson doesn’t read my blog, but for whatever reason I still have a desire to construct arguments that the leadership might find persuasive.
I’ll circle back to this public health idea later, but for now let’s look at it from another angle:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Lootbox Problem Part 1: An Attack On Games”
Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.
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