Comment on Valve compares its loot boxes to Labubus in lawsuit defense

Flying_Penguin@lemmy.zip ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• Mirodir@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨minute⁩ ago

  If you are guaranteed to get something for your money then thats not gambling. Thats just a purchase.

  I cannot agree with this at all. If you’re guaranteed a piece of candy, but on top of that you have a 0.0001 chance of getting a million dollars then buying that candy for $100 is absolutely gambling and not a purchase.

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• t3rmit3@beehaw.org ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Yep. There are too many people who don’t understand addiction, and think that gambling is the root cause problem, rather than one of many systems that preys on addiction disorders.

  The reality of addiction is that it will always find something to fulfill it without treatment, and banning or regulating every trend of collectibles that pops up is not an actual solution. Banning or regulating specific structures that intentionally prey on addiction is important.

  Too many people mistake their objection to gambling that was inherited from the protestant moral objections, with actually being about solving predation on addiction.

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  • Flying_Penguin@lemmy.zip ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I honestly am not sure this is only about addiction. Instead i think this is mostly about parents who dont monitor their childs activites and want aomeone to blame for their child spending thousands of dollars on a video game.

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    • t3rmit3@beehaw.org ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I mean gambling in general, not just loot boxes or TCGs.

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      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        gambling is still fundamentally bad because the very concept is predatory and harmful

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Claw machines are gambling

  This is a bit more complicated, imo. In the US, I would agree they are gambling. They are literally programmed to only close the claw strongly enough to grab shit after X amount of money has been put into the machine.

  However, in Japan this is against the law. They are games of skill without the bullshit. You can even ask the clerks operating the establishment to reset the prizes to make it easier to get something if it falls over or is pushed too close to the glass.

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  • Flying_Penguin@lemmy.zip ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Sure Japan has a way to protect people in regards to the claw machine. But gacha games and gachapon are huge in japan. And those are more predatory than loot boxes. So we still need to draw the line and sort out what actually is and isnt gambling.

    Look at carnaval games, a mobile gambling group that targwts children? If we have loot boxes be labeled as gambling who is to say that we wont label everything else as gambling.

    Where is the line?

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    • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Where’s the line

      Games of Chance vs games of skill.

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      • Flying_Penguin@lemmy.zip ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I still believe that is too broad of a definition. I go back to carnaval games. Those are games of skill but they are made in away to reduce your chance of winning, so luck is still a major factor.

        Meanwhile loot boxes are neother a game of chance or a game of skill. They are a purchase and you get what you get. What are those mystery box toys called that everyone was going crazy for last year? LuLu dolls or whatever. Those are loot boxes. Should we regulate them like we are trying with video game loot boxes?

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      • TehPers@beehaw.org ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I would narrow this down to including monetary cost and reward.

        A game of primarily chance, such as slots, roulette, poker, blackjack, or even MTG’s Ante variation where something of value is offered (money, chips, resellable cards) and something of value is rewarded would be gambling. Note that chance would be a primary mechanic of the game, but skill may still be involved.

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