https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

No idea if this move will put a stop to the push for legislation. I’m not even sure if this is really enough of a move at all. I wish the companies would announce their odds for getting certain items from loot boxes.

https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

No idea if this move will put a stop to the push for legislation. I’m not even sure if this is really enough of a move at all. I wish the companies would announce their odds for getting certain items from loot boxes.

I agree that adding odds would be nice. But nothing moves fast in this country when it comes to laws, so anything to start is good.

https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

No idea if this move will put a stop to the push for legislation. I’m not even sure if this is really enough of a move at all. I wish the companies would announce their odds for getting certain items from loot boxes.

It really doesn't sound like this will add any useful info for the consumer; 'in-game purchases' applied to Halo games, fergoshsakes. (Pre-req pack, I mean.) There's no differentiation between loot boxes and an expansion pack. :(

(As for odds... heh. It's sort of like the lottery, where ads announce "chance of winning 1 in 7", but 98% of all winners get $2. They're never gonna break out odds for the good stuff, because when you tell people "odds for getting horse armor roughly equivalent to being hit by lightning", folks stop buying. :) )

https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

No idea if this move will put a stop to the push for legislation. I’m not even sure if this is really enough of a move at all. I wish the companies would announce their odds for getting certain items from loot boxes.

Remember that Destiny did not have in game purchases at launch. The descriptor on he box is worthless when an update can add it in. Tons of games have gone from paid to free to play, so this issue sort of looks unsolvable.

I agree for the most part, but PUBG did it recently. Still plenty of controversy over some of their own practices, but it is nice to see a company do it. I wish Blizzard would with Overwatch. Destiny 2 seems to drop things really easily for me compared to D1. Seems like kinder odds than a lot of games.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/9/16870834/pubg-loot-box-crate-probability-drop-rates-battlegrounds

I agree for the most part, but PUBG did it recently. Still plenty of controversy over some of their own practices, but it is nice to see a company do it. I wish Blizzard would with Overwatch. Destiny 2 seems to drop things really easily for me compared to D1. Seems like kinder odds than a lot of games.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/9/16870834/pubg-loot-box-crate-probability-drop-rates-battlegrounds

Whoa - that's pretty interesting. I bet that will increase the rate of stuff available for direct sale via the Community Market.

(You have to PAY to open (some) loot boxes that you get? That seems... absurd.)

https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

No idea if this move will put a stop to the push for legislation. I’m not even sure if this is really enough of a move at all. I wish the companies would announce their odds for getting certain items from loot boxes.

Probably not. This seems aimed more at parents who worry about their kids making accidental huge purchases than at combating the "gambling" effect of random loot boxes.

I kind of thought this was already a requirement. I know the XBL store has included that label on games for a while.

And the ESRB’s assessment of loot boxes as gambling is actually on the rational side when you consider how poot boxes are managed and work. I think any legal push to treat them as gambling will continue to be a difficult fight. There is currently too limited data to make real assessments of that nature on a psyhological level.

I think Microsoft does that of their own volition as protection. Wasn’t there a lawsuit against Apple and the app store because of that? Maybe in the EU.

Applicable to this conversation, two recent Extra Credits videos are definitely interesting to further consider. Also in light how how the ESRB has chosen to define loot boxes, and what is probably a solid legal justification to do so as it stands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uha5c7hJdA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ZX7NbOhks

I make no exploratory comments from my perspective.