Comment by awill

Comment by awill a day ago

I have a super high opinion of Valve. Sure, they have loot crates. But sensible people don't buy them. I guess you could blame them for having it in the first place. That's fair I guess. But I've never for a second considered buying any of that junk.

I just buy single player offline games with no IAP, and Steam is amazing. It's a million miles ahead of the competitors, and it's really surprising that EA/Ubi etc.. try to compete but don't get the reason they're losing. They screw customers and then act surprised that customers hate them.

nolok 16 hours ago

The problem with loot crates, and the reason why they're being slowly regulated against in several places, is that "sensible people don't buy them" has never stopped people to lose their life to gambling.

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jakeec 13 hours ago

I hope everyone who is so outspoken about loot crates are also fighting for TCG packs to be banned/regulated because they are literally the same level of "gambling".

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- gpderetta 10 hours ago
  
  People do compare TCGs to loot crates, in fact calling them the "original" loot crates. Also why "buy singles" has been the mantra for a long time.
  Aside of gambling, packs have at least a plausible use for limited format.
  
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- iinnPP 12 hours ago
  
  Let's not forget mystery boxes for real toys and things like mini brands.
  Though I am not outspoken about it, I think individuals need to come to terms with telling themselves no.
  Otherwise we need to outlaw everything bad and open to abuse to specific individuals. Things such as cake, donuts, coffee, etc.
  
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  mikkupikku 12 hours ago
  
  I think we can ban companies selling packages without disclosing exactly what is in those packages. I think we can regulate companies in that way without finding ourselves hopelessly slipping down some silly slope.
  
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  rpdillon 12 hours ago
  
  > Though I am not outspoken about it, I think individuals need to come to terms with telling themselves no.
  This really resonates with me. I feel like self-control has gone out of fashion, but it has a lot of merit.
  
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- TulliusCicero 11 hours ago
  
  There's definitely a double standard in the gaming community where people don't treat TCG packs as ethically fraught in the same way, despite being the same thing.
  
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xinayder 14 hours ago

And loot boxes in Valve games never bothered me, because if you want a particular skin you can just buy it off the market. I can't remember being angry at Valve for having loot boxes.

All other games require you to keep opening loot boxes to get what you want.

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aaarrm 7 hours ago

Well not with their battle passes in Dota. They employed a lot of FOMO tactics where you had to spend hundreds to guarantee a set that you'll otherwise never be able to get again.

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- patmorgan23 26 minutes ago
  
  But again, those are just cosmetic items and there's still a market place for them.
  
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m12k 17 hours ago

They've hedged their bets by making, and selling, both games whose monetization is exploitative and non-exploitative

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