Loot boxes and children becoming "gamblers" is the responsibility of parents??

[Agent Smith]

I feel like im taking crazy pills.

I have kids. One plays Fortnite, one played CS:GO. We have MAYBE a combined total of roughly 300 dollars spent over years, compared to my own personal World of Warcraft spending over the years which has to be in the early thousands (3,000 ish dollars if you add the 1800 dollars it costed to sub to WoW for 10 years, the money to buy the xpacs, in game items, etc)


I keep seeing people up in arms against "CHILD GAMBLING" and games having predatory practices that entice kids to buy. But these kids have to have a means of financing from someone: Their parents.

If my kid came to me day after day trying to spend that much money, I'd say HELL NO. Thats it, thats where the conversation ends.

Am I the only parent in existence who can tell their kids NO, IM NOT SPENDING ALL THIS CASH ON LOOT BOXES? Cmon this cant be true.

Nobody likes microtransactions. We, as gamers, hate them especially after you pay 65 bucks for the game.

But at the end of the day, its our choice, its parents choice if money is spent.

So reading all these laws trying to be implemented, parents complaining that its a "real problem", Im opened to the possibility that perhaps im not seeing the bigger picture because my kids do not dictate to me where I spend my money. They can ask, sometimes its yes, sometimes its no.

What am I missing?

[Hanon]

Children are easy to manipulate. They see their favorite Youtoubers open Fifa Ultimate Team packs for thousands of dollars and think if they buy packs they have a chance to get something while it is a pure gamble. And gambling makes addicted. Also u cant control everything about children they can buy PSN cards at every shop even if u say they shouldnt.
I play Pokemon Go which is a free-2-play game with pay-2-play ascpects and many feel forced to pay even if there is no need to.
Microtransactions are a cancer and everything that could be done to stop it should be done.

[Agent Smith]

Also u cant control everything about children they can buy PSN cards at every shop even if u say they shouldnt.

I can absolutely control where my kids spend my money at. Maybe not 5 or 10 bucks. But if we're talking about a 50+ dollar purchase or even multiple 20 dollar purchases, im gonna know and I can put a stop to it.

Again, not arguing that microtransactions are bad, they are. We can agree to that.

Im just failing to see how this problem is out of the hands of the bread makers.

[P for Pancetta]

I can absolutely control where my kids spend my money at. Maybe not 5 or 10 bucks. But if we're talking about a 50+ dollar purchase or even multiple 20 dollar purchases, im gonna know and I can put a stop to it.

Again, not arguing that microtransactions are bad, they are. We can agree to that.

Im just failing to see how this problem is out of the hands of the bread makers.

Maybe when your kids are 9 years or younger, but kids in their early teens can and will lie to their parents and obfuscate their spending patterns. Obviously not all kids to this but believing you'll have as much control as you're insinuating is extremely naive.

[Collegeguy]

I can absolutely control where my kids spend my money at. Maybe not 5 or 10 bucks. But if we're talking about a 50+ dollar purchase or even multiple 20 dollar purchases, im gonna know and I can put a stop to it.

Again, not arguing that microtransactions are bad, they are. We can agree to that.

Im just failing to see how this problem is out of the hands of the bread makers.

Kids can get a job at 16. Can 16 yr olds gamble at a casino?

[Agent Smith]

Maybe when your kids are 9 years or younger, but kids in their early teens can and will lie to their parents and obfuscate their spending patterns. Obviously not all kids to this but believing you'll have as much control as you're insinuating is extremely naive.

My son is 16 and daughter is 14. I have access to both their bank records. When they start making their own cash, thats on them. Really not my problem what they do with it after. But as long as im spending the money im making, they'll be monitored. Every cash withdrawal, every card swipe.

Am I too OTT?

[Zenfoldor]

I'm of 2 minds. First I agree 100 percent with the OP.

Second, I would really love to see the industry get rocked when it comes to the gaas model. I'd like to see the abusive practices removed from f2p games particularly. I would shed not one tear if the mobile gaming scam or the F2P bait and switch models were completely torn down, allowing traditional single player experiences to become relevant again financially.

So what I'm saying is the OP is absolutely right, but if a law was passed anyway, I would not be protesting in the streets, but rather setting back with a drink and having a big laugh.

All that said, I'm wary of consulting government when it comes to games anymore than we already do. First they fix something we hate, then they could easily ruin everything we love about gaming pretty quickly through censorship.

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Kids can get a job at 16. Can 16 yr olds gamble at a casino?

Does the casino just shut down then? Perhaps stop offering gambling?

[Lochton]

I feel like im taking crazy pills.

I have kids. One plays Fortnite, one played CS:GO. We have MAYBE a combined total of roughly 300 dollars spent over years, compared to my own personal World of Warcraft spending over the years which has to be in the early thousands (3,000 ish dollars if you add the 1800 dollars it costed to sub to WoW for 10 years, the money to buy the xpacs, in game items, etc)


I keep seeing people up in arms against "CHILD GAMBLING" and games having predatory practices that entice kids to buy. But these kids have to have a means of financing from someone: Their parents.

If my kid came to me day after day trying to spend that much money, I'd say HELL NO. Thats it, thats where the conversation ends.

Am I the only parent in existence who can tell their kids NO, IM NOT SPENDING ALL THIS CASH ON LOOT BOXES? Cmon this cant be true.

Nobody likes microtransactions. We, as gamers, hate them especially after you pay 65 bucks for the game.

But at the end of the day, its our choice, its parents choice if money is spent.

So reading all these laws trying to be implemented, parents complaining that its a "real problem", Im opened to the possibility that perhaps im not seeing the bigger picture because my kids do not dictate to me where I spend my money. They can ask, sometimes its yes, sometimes its no.

What am I missing?

Well, as a parent, at least on Blizzard games, you can 'lock' loot boxes away, remove them as a purchase option.

[oplawlz]

What am I missing?

I'm not sure what your argument is here. Should parents do a better job of supervising their children? Yes. Are they doing it? No.
Will regulating gambling in video games improve the situation? Yes. Is there a downside? No.

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Does the casino just shut down then? Perhaps stop offering gambling?

Casinos have to abide by gambling regulation, meaning the burden is on them to prevent anyone underage from using their gambling services. If the same were being applied to game publishers this wouldn't be an issue, but they've pulled every slimy trick in the book to avoid that, so now we're seeing the nuclear option.

[Thelxi]

Of course it is, but I also think it is the government's responsibility to start regulating gaming companies that very purposefully get children (and adults) hooked on gambling. More research needs to be done in this area but mark my words lootboxes and other RNG elements in games designed to get people addicted will eventually be widely understood to be highly unethical business practices.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Why can't it be both? Parents should keep a better eye on their kids gaming habits and game companies shouldn't be enticing kids with predatory practices.

Not sure if it works the same in the US and other countries...but in Canada we have laws preventing cigarette companies from advertising to children.

[klogaroth]

You could say the same with things like online poker, but that still has restricions on it.

The only reason anything has been brought up is the level that gambling mechanics have been taken to in some games. Particularly in the mobile market, though not exclusive to it.

Parents will probably still be able to buy games for their kids if they choose to do that. In the same way that parents buy things like GTA for kids now. The likely practical application of it is that gambling mechanics will have an effect on the age rating of a game. The only reason this is being approached in this way is because the games industry has proven itself incapable of self regulation on this particular issue. It proved able to self regulate for things like violent or sexual content. On this though, it has too direct a link to the bottom line for anyone inside the industry to have taken on the job of self regulation.

If games companies had proven themselves responsible, lawmakers wouldn't be looking into the issue.

[Unholyground]

The problem is, micro transactions changing the direction that game development is going. when you play a single player game and you have to spend more time than your normally would or use micro transactions like the Assassins Creed Odyssey fiasco it is ridiculous.

[Collegeguy]

My son is 16 and daughter is 14. I have access to both their bank records. When they start making their own cash, thats on them. Really not my problem what they do with it after. But as long as im spending the money im making, they'll be monitored. Every cash withdrawal, every card swipe.

Unfortunately, there are parents that are ok with their 16 yr olds gambling, but these kids still can't gamble in a casino with parental consent in many places.

Not having a systematic check in place disregards the largest industry in underage gambling.

[Yunru]

I wonder how many times kids steal from the parents to feed their addiction.

[Nnyco]

Also u cant control everything about children they can buy PSN cards at every shop even if u say they shouldnt.

You could stop givin em money to buy more psn cards?

[P for Pancetta]

You could stop givin em money to buy more psn cards?

they might be stealing things or selling "services" to other people in order to fuel their hidden gambling addiction. Might sound crazy but had you ever worked with underage addicts you'd learn that's not at all uncommon, and most often their parents don't find out about it until the kids are in it way over their heads.

[Elegiac]

Parents needing to be mindful of their kids' fiscal habits is in no way mutually exclusive with putting an end to predatory practices by video game developers and publishers.

[Orlong]

Maybe when your kids are 9 years or younger, but kids in their early teens can and will lie to their parents and obfuscate their spending patterns. Obviously not all kids to this but believing you'll have as much control as you're insinuating is extremely naive.

Where is someone not old enough to work going to get a credit card to buy the loot boxes? If its the parents, they will know and should have already locked down their devices so purchases cannot be made

[P for Pancetta]

Where is someone not old enough to work going to get a credit card to buy the loot boxes? If its the parents, they will know and should have already locked down their devices so purchases cannot be made

there are plenty of online services that act as an intermediate credit card and can be used by anyone who can create an online account and link it to an existing bank account. It's also pretty easy in most cases to circumvent the lock on "locked" devices