This article originally ran under a different banner/website in September of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
“ROLL UP!!! ROLL UP!!!” an excited carney yells from across the street. “You there” he yells jestering at you, “come open up a Doomsayer loot box. Each one has a chance to get various Doomsayer skins including Grim Reaper Doomsayer and Space Marine Doomsayer. Oh, the Jack-o-lantern one is my favorite. I just love how fire comes out of his eyes and mouth when he gets angry and fired up. Here you go, kid. First one is on the house.”
The carney slides the box up to you. It has a striking similarity to the soapbox the Doomsayer stands on except there is a big red button on top of it. You push it and the box starts rattling. With a violent explosion, the prizes fall in front of you.
“Rotten luck”, the carney cries, “You got three Doomsayer sprays, but you did get one Doomsayer rant. That’s not too bad. You might as well give it a listen.” You plug in your headphone to device and listen in:
“Some of my more observant followers might have noticed I have a particular hatred for a trend in gaming that cropped up in the past year: Loot Boxes. Over the past year, we have seen loot boxes infect numerous games including Shadow of War, Need for Speed: Payback, and Call of Duty World War 2. While I recognize the psychological tricks that loot boxes employ are very similar to the ones used in gambling; I have always been able to stand against loot boxes because they are blatantly anti-consumer. While the gaming community has chastised any game containing loot boxes containing ‘pay-to-win’ perks and upgrades, many are content to let their cosmetics come from loot boxes. I, for one, view cosmetic loot boxes as an anti-consumer practice. For example, if I was to log into the League of Legends store and purchase a skin, I wouldn’t have a chance of getting that skin, I would just have that skin. If I want an Overwatch skin, I would have to spend significantly more money to get multiple boxes to have a chance of getting the skin you want, and with the amount of garbage available to the boxes (sorry but the sprays and icons are garbage) there is a good chance you won’t get the item you want, especially when you can’t turn that Symmetra skin you don’t want into gold to purchase the items you do want. Why is there no option to be able to purchase the item I want? Probably, cause they know they can squeeze more money out of you with the slot machine style reward system.
Luckily, we had a massive push back against loot boxes when Star Wars Battlefront II attempted to push the envelope way too far, by employing the most egregious pay to win mechanics in the game’s loot boxes system. Following the backlash, many games steered away from loot boxes in fear of underperforming like Star Wars Battlefront II. EA even went out of its way to promise us loot boxes were not in Battlefield V or Anthem, but they did keep them in Madden 19 and FIFA 19, so I still remain skeptical of their initial statement. While many games backed off, some chose to dig in their heels and commit to them. Even with government laws looming on the horizon. As of April 25, 2018, Belgium had made the announcement that they would define loot boxes as illegal gambling. The Belgian government informed Activision-Blizzard that the paid loot boxes found in Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm would be illegal and had to remove them. Unwilling to give up the gold mine that Activision-Blizzard had been milking, they dug in their heels hoping the Belgian law wouldn’t catch up to them. Well on August 27, 2018, Activision-Blizzard officially announced they would be removing the paid loot boxes with a bit of a passive-aggressive response:
‘In April 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission published a report that was endorsed by the Belgian Ministry of Justice in which they concluded that paid loot boxes in Overwatch are considered gambling under local law. While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law. As a result, we have no choice but to implement measures that will prevent Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players located in Belgium from purchasing in-game loot boxes and loot chests with real money and gems.’
-Vaneras, Overwatch Community Manager
Pretty arrogant of a statement if you ask me. Almost as arrogant as Sony saying they won’t unlock Fortnite accounts from PlayStations, because PlayStation is the best place to play Fortnite. Both make my blood boil. Activision-Blizzard has always held the belief that their loot boxes do not share the same grievance as the ones found in games like Star Wars Battlefront II. It will constantly hold onto the “it is just cosmetic” defense to justify forcing their players to continuously roll the dice to get that new skin they wanted. Frankly, I have grown tired of it, especially when they try to play the victim and claim to know Belgian laws better than Belgium. Activision-Blizzard’s loot boxes are just as anti-consumer as Star Wars Battlefront II’s loot boxes. As long as the only option to get skins is through their slot machine, I will always criticize Activision-Blizzard for indulging in this anti-consumer practice. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining seeing how I am not playing Overwatch in Belgium, where they have to grind levels to get loot boxes now. A task that is proven to be arduous. It was almost as if, Activision-Blizzard designed the level system to encourage players into purchasing these loot boxes.
The initial pushback resulting from Star Wars Battlefront II was a great start, but we need more. We can’t stay silent on loot boxes anymore. We need to let developers and publishers know that we don’t want loot boxes in our games. We can’t let the attitude that a country banning loot boxes being a horrible decision continue to fester in the gaming industry, especially when 2K attempted to rally NBA 2K18 fans in the attempts to overturn Belgian law:
‘The Belgium Gaming Commission (BGC) has stated that games that include certain ‘loot box’ style mechanics violate gambling laws in Belgium. While we disagree with this position, we are working to comply with the BGC’s current interpretation of these laws. As a result, we have made some local changes to the MyTeam mode. These changes are necessary in order for us to accommodate the BGC’s interpretation of the Belgian Gaming Act. Specifically, we will be turning off the ability to purchase packs with premium (non-earned) currency/VC. Gamers are still able to acquire packs with MyTeam points. We will be continuing conversations with the BGC in order to explain our view on how NBA 2K and MyTeam pack purchases already comply with local laws. If you agree, we recommend that you contact your local government representative to communicate your opinion. We will keep the community posted on any developments. We apologize for any inconvenience.’
-2K’s Statement Belgium
No longer are publishers content to just throw money and lobbyists at the problem, they appear to be weaponizing their players to defend their anti-consumer practices. You can’t employ anti-consumer practices and expect your player base to come to your rescue. That be like a restaurants deliberately feeding people poisoned food and asking their patrons to defend them. NO MORE I SAY. WE ARE NOT YOUR PUPPETS. WE WILL NOT DEFEND YOU. WE DON’T WANT A ROUND AT THE SLOT MACHINE. WE DON’T NEED MORE ARTICLES DEFENDING LOOT BOXES. WE WANT TO PURCHASE THE ITEMS WE WANT. NO MORE LOOT BOXES!!!”
You take out your headphones signaling to the carney the rant had finished.
“That crazy Doomsayer,” chuckles the carney, “Always gets me fired up no matter what he says. So what do you say, kid? Five bucks for another Doomsayer loot box? I got a good feeling a legendary is in this one.”
