Hello and Welcome to Parents Guide 2 Games. We will be taking a look at items in games called Loot Boxes. We will try to help you understand them better and give you some info on if this gambling.
What are loot boxes?
This is a box you are rewarded for
leveling up in a game, playing different modes or paying for with
real money. They are like packs of baseball cards, random items you
get in a pack.
How long have Loot Boxes been around?
From all the research I could find it
start with a Massive Multi player Online (MMO) ZT Online around 2006
or 2007.
What types of games use Loot Boxes?
They are in all types of games they
span a lot of different types games. From shooters like Overwatch and
CS:GO to card games Hearthstone and Gwent.
We will take a look at Overwatch and
its loot box system for reference. You get different items in game
like new character skins, sprays, player icons, emotes, sprays, voice
lines, victory poses, highlight intros or credits (used to buy any of
the specific items listed before). We are using Overwatch because of it popularity and access to information. Here is a list of the prices for Loot Boxes in game and in different currencies.
All items the same?
In the game of Overwatch, there are
different levels for items are Common (grey), Rare (blue), Epic
(purple), Legendary (gold). On March 23, 2017 Blizzard published the
official probability for loot box items: One rare item or higher is
included in every box, Epic item average once every 5.5 loot boxes
and Legendary items on average every 13.5 boxes.
http://ow.blizzard.cn/article/news/486 ( the link is in Chinese as the government has laws saying games must post drop rates for loot boxes)
But what if you get the same items
twice?
That is where the credits come in to
play for every item you get a duplicate item you receive credits and
that breaks down as common items you get 5 credits, rare items get 15
credits, epic gets 50 credits and Legendary gets 200 credits. So you
rewarded for getting the same item twice.
Won't you get every item in game after
a while?
No, Most games like Overwatch add new
characters and do special events during the year. So far in Overwatch
they have added 4 characters to the game and has had 8 special events
with there own set of loot boxes and items you can only get while the
event is going on. For each event 60-134 items are available during
event. They are unlocked with loot boxes or using credits. Special
event items cost more with credits then non event items do. Events in
Overwatch are normally 3 weeks long. You can purchase the event loot
boxes during this 3 weeks. The cost is same for this boxes if you
purchase them. One item from the event will be in a loot box during
the event and the percentages stay the same for each level of item
during the event.
Is this a form of gambling?
In my opinion I say it a solid maybe. As
you can get loot boxes for in game play it would be very hard to play
and get every item for loot boxes by this way alone especially during special events. I have never
bought any loot boxes myself. I know people who have and watched
YouTube videos of people buying them and showing everyone what they
got.
What does the ESRB say about loot
boxes?
In and email to Kotaku, an ESRB
spokesperson in an email said, "ESRB does not consider loot boxes to
be gambling, While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics,
the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content
(even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t
want). We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card
games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic
card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll
end up with a pack of cards you already have."
What do Gambling Experts say?
In and Interview with Pcgamer, Dr. Luke
Clark, director at the Center for Gambling Research at the University
of British Columbia says, "The player is basically working for reward
by making a series of responses, but the rewards are delivered
unpredictably, We know that the dopamine system, which is targeted by
drugs of abuse, is also very interested in unpredictable rewards.
Dopamine cells are most active when there is maximum uncertainty, and
the dopamine system responds more to an uncertain reward than the
same reward delivered on a predictable basis." "Modern
video games then amplify this idea by having many overlapping
variable ratio schedules," says Clark. "You're trying to
level up, advance your avatar, get rare add-ons, build up game
currency, all at the same time. What this means is that there is a
regular trickle of some kind of reinforcement."
article
In the end it is the players choice to
buy loot boxes or not. In most games the items in loot boxes don't
give you any help or advantage. It just makes the game characters look or act different from
the stock game.
What are you opinions on Loot Boxes?
Have you kids bothered you for money so they can get some Loot Boxes or Packs for their
favorite game? Let us know
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