Paid Loot Boxes and Loot Chests Disabled for Players in Belgium

Originally Posted by Eleccybubb

Calling people morons for having a different viewpoint really isn't helping you here.

People are simply asking for a way to purchase skins directly with real money. Leave the loot box method in for those who prefer the RNG for all I care. There is 1 skin I want right now. It's Yeti Hunter Mei. Give me a reason why offering me an option to buy it for £10-15 while still leaving lootboxes in the game is a bad thing if that is the only skin I'm interested in among the many legendary skins.

China have done it absolutely spot on. Credits are the priority and loot boxes are what are thrown in as a free gift.

Why should I be at the mercy of RNG to get the 1 skin I'm after?

And clearly loot boxes are not fine if they are coming under heavy fire/scrutiny.

With moron i meant belgium government not people here

Originally Posted by Wildpantz

With moron i meant belgium government not people here

Ah. Then I apologise.

The thing is though they were always going to intervene as I said after BF2 and those P2W lootboxes.

Originally Posted by Eleccybubb

Ah. Then I apologise.

The thing is though they were always going to intervene as I said after BF2 and those P2W lootboxes.

So I had to make an account to post this - but have you actually... seen the Chinese system that everyone seems to be praising?

Unless its been changed, which I can find *NO* record of, the Chinese system is just Lootbox+.

You buy credits, and the credits come with a bonus of FREE loot boxes.

*5 in-game currency + 2 loot boxes - 12RMB

*15 in-game currency + 5 loot boxes - 30RMB

*30 in-game currency + 11 loot boxes - 60RMB

*60 in-game currency + 24 loot boxes - 120RMB

*120 in-game currency + 50 loot boxes - 238RMB (Roughly $35)

People keep praising the "direct buying of currency" from China when not realizing that its still just lootboxes. But they're legal lootboxes. The gift portion does not violate any gambling laws since they're a bonus for buying the 120 credits.

Last math stated it'd roughly be $875 to get a gauranteed 3000 credit skin.



I don't disagree that the system is stupid, and things should be guaranteed as I'm sure theres validity in the economic model of buying what you want (though I'm guessing we'd be seeing ~$15-20 per skin - the OWL model is not valid here as its just simple recolors), but currently there is NO solution globally for it. Chinas system is not better by any means.

Originally Posted by Jessicka

They already revamped it for China for similar reasons. It’s zero new work for them.

It's pointless work for them. China is a whole other localization which has it's own issues, there's absolutely zero reason for them to revamp it for the other ones.

I live in Norway, is I use a VPN will that also stop lootboxes?

Originally Posted by Eleccybubb

Well... shit. We are set to leave next year aren't we?

Your government has the same stance on it though, so it's not something that won't happen because you're leaving the EU.

Originally Posted by ONCHEhap

"While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion"

Poor guys I'm sure they had no idea whatsoever that their lootboxes were gambling as well as predatory

Considering the loot boxes are COMPLETELY COSMETIC and have absolutely no gameplay difference? :rollseyes: If there were locked heroes, abilities, or maps only available via lootboxes you would actually have an argument.

Originally Posted by Mrbleedinggums

Considering the loot boxes are COMPLETELY COSMETIC and have absolutely no gameplay difference? :rollseyes: If there were locked heroes, abilities, or maps only available via lootboxes you would actually have an argument.

I might be missing something here but I don't see why that is relevant to it being gambling or not?

Originally Posted by Exeris

I might be missing something here but I don't see why that is relevant to it being gambling or not?

Because there is aboslutely nothing predatory about that. You are more than able to gain all cosmetics by leveling. I have only bought 100$ worth of lootboxes throughout the start of overwatch and I have almost all the skins I want. The rest of them I saved up getting gold from leveling up. It's not a mandatory thing to need to buy anything.

Originally Posted by Mrbleedinggums

Because there is aboslutely nothing predatory about that. You are more than able to gain all cosmetics by leveling. I have only bought 100$ worth of lootboxes throughout the start of overwatch and I have almost all the skins I want. The rest of them I saved up getting gold from leveling up. It's not a mandatory thing to need to buy anything.

Gambling can be addictive though, and loot boxes were potentially seen as feeding into what some find addictive about it? IDK, but I think the issue with loot boxes isn't the fact whether or not they can be seen as mandatory to buy or if the items available can be found individually... it's the lootboxes themselves and the psychology behind them.

Originally Posted by Mrbleedinggums

Because there is aboslutely nothing predatory about that. You are more than able to gain all cosmetics by leveling. I have only bought 100$ worth of lootboxes throughout the start of overwatch and I have almost all the skins I want. The rest of them I saved up getting gold from leveling up. It's not a mandatory thing to need to buy anything.

As someone else pointed out, it’s gambling. While you can get these items thru various means, the lootbox itself counts as gambling and it involves real money. If that money was removed and people could use a separate in game currency (such as 1 coin per win in Competitive and each loot box requires 10-30 coins to purchase) this issue and forum wouldn’t have been made.
As it does require real money, it falls under certain laws. The psychology behind it involves the high people feel while gambling, and the addictive nature thereof.

Originally Posted by Eapoe

As someone else pointed out, it’s gambling. While you can get these items thru various means, the lootbox itself counts as gambling and it involves real money. If that money was removed and people could use a separate in game currency (such as 1 coin per win in Competitive and each loot box requires 10-30 coins to purchase) this issue and forum wouldn’t have been made.
As it does require real money, it falls under certain laws. The psychology behind it involves the high people feel while gambling, and the addictive nature thereof.

Laws based off the same stupid logic of things like "sugar tax" or sugar banning, or anything of the like. Some small portion of people have issues with something so let's, instead of working to fix the underlying issue, hurt everyone who partakes in it.

The gov't really shouldn't be able to regulate us harming ourselves, just harming others, but we're money to them so they meddle.

Originally Posted by Onikaroshi

Laws based off the same stupid logic of things like "sugar tax" or sugar banning, or anything of the like. Some small portion of people have issues with something so let's, instead of working to fix the underlying issue, hurt everyone who partakes in it.

The gov't really shouldn't be able to regulate us harming ourselves, just harming others, but we're money to them so they meddle.

Gambling has been linked to hurting others...from the person who robs liquor stores to pay their debts or fees their addiction, to the people who can’t afford food for their children.
Gambling has been linked to people becoming homeless, jobless, and even criminals. That hurts other people. Friends, family, and strangers alike.

Originally Posted by Eapoe

Gambling has been linked to hurting others...from the person who robs liquor stores to pay their debts or fees their addiction, to the people who can’t afford food for their children.
Gambling has been linked to people becoming homeless, jobless, and even criminals. That hurts other people. Friends, family, and strangers alike.

You fix the underlying problem, not bandaid with laws that don't work in the end. It's a gamble getting out of bed in the morning, these people need help, not the utter neutering of everything because the gov't just wants their money. Alcoholism hurts others more than anything but do you see them banning alcohol? No, it makes them money.

Originally Posted by Onikaroshi

You fix the underlying problem, not bandaid with laws that don't work in the end. It's a gamble getting out of bed in the morning, these people need help, not the utter neutering of everything because the gov't just wants their money. Alcoholism hurts others more than anything but do you see them banning alcohol? No, it makes them money.

Isn't doing something under the influence of alchohol its own charge, even in accidents?

Not really a bandaid when it actually made companies stop using loot chests. EA refused and is now being criminally investigated. Gov just wants their money? what? This is a terribly shitty practice by game developers that is literally ruining game content and how games are made. It is being prioritized over the content and flow of the game. Look at Shadow of War, how they had to alter it after the market was shut down because it was not playable by itself because it had been warped to fit the purchase mold. "can be played without buying anything" my ass.

I dont agree with overwatch being hit by this, but if it stops the others, then thats acceptable collateral damage either way. We were in the stage where they had finished experimenting and were now putting ingame markets and boxes in every game they could. Sports games have gone to hell and they're just rearing up to warp any title into an ingame market dressed in some poor games torn off skin. TO support that market, we will have repetitive, boring grindy content and resource systems to incentivise us to "skip content". Those games that cant be monetized this way will not be invested in and we will LOSE SO MUCH good shit.

Nuke this awful business practice

Every country should do something like this

Originally Posted by Harry Botter

The bolded part is completely false for Overwatch. Can't say for HotS or not don't really play it much.

Yeah... I have every skin I could want and then some. I bought $20 worth of loot boxes in total; it's come up before I've checked lol. I'm bronze 5 stars level, so I haven't played an absurd amount either.

And to the others speaking about just outright buying skins. Well it's here and has been, we have seen what 4 or 5 now (excluding the OWL skins at that)? Congrats, pay those shareholders. Idiots.

Originally Posted by sarkayan

Every country should do something like this

Yeah, I completely agree with that. Maybe not full on disable but create better filters so underage kids can't participate or something like that. Or set some limits. I've got some weird friends that manage to waste their whole months pay in a matter of hours on loot boxes and then just whine on how they did wrong.

Good move by Belgium. This legislation should be applied globally.

The US congress is investigating Lootboxes as gambling so there is a big chance they will be disabled or the games will be rated A for adults due to gambling which means games that continue to use it might be screwed. Reason for this is huge fines for selling to minors