Paid Loot Boxes and Loot Chests Disabled for Players in Belgium

[Daedius]

Riot Games' method is so much better... you can bought buy skins directly or earn in-game through grind for it. Purely RNG that Blizzard have a fetish with can fuck right off.

[Endus]

The problem is that you can't get gold without buying lootboxes in the first place. You should be able to straight up buy the cosmetics you want. Full stop.

And, while this is purely anecdotal, they'd get more money if they DID offer specific skins for sale because then I'd actually buy some.

And how do you earn that gold?

From lootboxes.

Stop grasping at straws as you usually do. You know what people mean when they say "buy it outright".

And I agree. Step in the right direction. Skins should be bought directly. No reason to put them behind an RNG fuckfest.

The point I'm making is I don't see the issue. Lootboxes are the package gold comes in. You can earn lootboxes by playing, if you don't want to spend real money. I'm not seeing that significant a difference between the direct or indirect gold acquisition. It just seems like a silly and irrelevant windmill to tilt at.

[Onikaroshi]

(Hi from Belgium)
Small question: why are the pack of cards in heartstone not considered as the same thing ?

I mean, can you legally play MGT or Pokemon in Belgium? There's no difference between HS packs and physical game packs.

[Eleccybubb]

The point I'm making is I don't see the issue. Lootboxes are the package gold comes in. You can earn lootboxes by playing, if you don't want to spend real money. I'm not seeing that significant a difference between the direct or indirect gold acquisition. It just seems like a silly and irrelevant windmill to tilt at.

And the point someone else made you completely ignored to fit your own argument.

But then again typical of you.

You know damn well they meant being able to buy the skin directly with real money such as "T-Racer for £5" or something. But no you did exactly what you normally do which was twist that to suit your own point.

[The Stormbringer]

Odd, I have yet to spend a dime on loot boxes and always manage to keep a stash of gold for skins I want from events.

Sounds like a limited time thing. Wouldn't that mean gold is not something you can earn on a consistent basis? You have to wait for the events to come around.

[Teri]

I mean, can you legally play MGT or Pokemon in Belgium? There's no difference between HS packs and physical game packs.

I suppose, that also goes for like the current hype of collectible figures of some kind in blind bags, which are legal.

Even goes decades back for things like soccer/baseball cards with a random shiny.

But Hearthstone still is a bit different as it's 100% digital.

[Endus]

The difference is that you don't get the amount of gold you need to make the skin you want off of 10 dollars of loot boxes alone.

Really, that just means I'm pricing it poorly. A glance at HotS skin values shows they sell legendary skins for 1600 gems, and you can buy gems directly, and 1600 gems is around $16 USD. And honestly, I'd see an argument for Overwatch skins to be pricier; it's a more complicated and detailed model.

[Harry Botter]

Sounds like a limited time thing. Wouldn't that mean gold is not something you can earn on a consistent basis? You have to wait for the events to come around.

How is it limited time? I keep the gold from the loot boxes I get from normally playing the game till an event skin or just new skin in general comes out that I want. I'm level 843 and almost always get my 3 free boxes each week, so it's not hard for me to keep gold on hand for new stuff I want.

[Endus]

And the point someone else made you completely ignored to fit your own argument.

But then again typical of you.

The argument I keep seeing is "but it's random and gambling!" And my consistent response to that is " . . . so?"

I've yet to get a response that wasn't moral outrage in response to that. Buying lootboxes in Overwatch isn't functionally different from buying packs of trading cards. And I don't see anyone trying to prevent that.

And given that I've consistently been sitting on anywhere between 2k and 5k gold at any given moment since about 3 months after launch, even though I pretty much instantly buy a legendary skin/emotes/poses/etc for new heroes I like (spent nearly 2k on Brigitte at launch, for instance), and I'm really struggling to see where the issue lies.

[Onikaroshi]

I suppose, that also goes for like the current hype of collectible figures of some kind in blind bags, which are legal.

Even goes decades back for things like soccer/baseball cards with a random shiny.

But Hearthstone still is a bit different as it's 100% digital.

True, but the worst they can do is make them give a % chance to loot each level of card, Like Blue 100% (already known) Epic 30%, Legendary 10% (it's about that one, one every 10-11 packs). I don't even know if MTG has to print their odds though. I don't find the fact that it's "digital" to really mean anything besides the fact that it's even EASIER to get the cards you want.

[Eleccybubb]

The argument I keep seeing is "but it's random and gambling!" And my consistent response to that is " . . . so?"

I've yet to get a response that wasn't moral outrage in response to that. Buying lootboxes in Overwatch isn't functionally different from buying packs of trading cards. And I don't see anyone trying to prevent that.

They are saying that the skin should be directly purchaseable or the coins should be able to be bought just like gems are in HotS. You go into HotS, buy your gems, and buy a skin. Loot boxes exist but gems allow you to buy the skin directly.

As there should be an option to buy coins directly in Overwatch. Not a chance at coins.

As for gambling. It's the subject of many debate. Belgium state it clearly is which is the topic at hand. Belgium right now deem this method as gambling and have therefore stopped it.

[The Stormbringer]

How is it limited time? I keep the gold from the loot boxes I get from normally playing the game till an event skin or just new skin in general comes out that I want. I'm level 843 and almost always get my 3 free boxes each week, so it's not hard for me to keep gold on hand for new stuff I want.

Oh, I see. So you weren't saying 'I get lots of gold during events' as in like, a special gold bonus or 'you can earn gold all the time during this period' promotion. You were saying 'I get lots of gold I can spend when an event is going on through normally playing the game'.

[Endus]

Nobody is saying that it is different. Try to keep up.

They are saying that the skin should be directly purchaseable or the coins should be able to be bought just like gems are in HotS.

I can get that you want that.

You haven't made any argument to justify "should", other than you insisting that you want it.

As for gambling. It's the subject of many debate. Belgium state it clearly is which is the topic at hand. Belgium right now deem this method as gambling and have therefore stopped it.

My point is that I don't even care if you consider it "gambling". If you do, it's not different, to me, than buying trading cards or using a claw machine or whatever. This is the "moral outrage" stuff I mentioned above.

Again, you say it's gambling. My response is "so what?" It's like when we used to get boxes of cereal that contained 1 of 5 toys. Was it the one we wanted? IT'S A GAMBLE. And nobody had an issue with it.

[Harry Botter]

Oh, I see. So you weren't saying 'I get lots of gold during events' as in like, a special gold bonus or 'you can earn gold all the time during this period' promotion.

Yeah, sorry for wording it poorly. I just keep all the gold from my free boxes for when something comes out I do want.

[The Stormbringer]

Yeah, sorry for wording it poorly. I just keep all the gold from my free boxes for when something comes out I do want.

Nah, it's cool. My reading comprehension sucks at times too.

[tangers58]

The problem is that you can't get gold without buying lootboxes in the first place. You should be able to straight up buy the cosmetics you want. Full stop.

And, while this is purely anecdotal, they'd get more money if they DID offer specific skins for sale because then I'd actually buy some.

Uh... you can get it by actually playing the game...

[Eleccybubb]

I can get that you want that.

You haven't made any argument to justify "should", other than you insisting that you want it.



My point is that I don't even care if you consider it "gambling". If you do, it's not different, to me, than buying trading cards or using a claw machine or whatever. This is the "moral outrage" stuff I mentioned above.

Again, you say it's gambling. My response is "so what?"

And why shouldn't players be allowed to buy gold directly to buy their skins?

Why should they play for a chance at gold from boxes or pay? How about you give us a reason why players should not be allowed to purchase their skin directly from the skin page with real money or use their money to buy 1000 coins or w/e to buy a skin. Rather than pull your shitty tier "moral outrage" card to try and get yourself some brownie points.

Defend it all you want. It's a shitty corporate practice which thankfully is slowly being clamped down on.

And I retract my HotS statement. Seems shards from Loot Boxes are now the only way to get skins... woop de fucking doo. Remove the gems option and just offer a crappier alternative.

[oplawlz]

Calling it gambling is ridiculous. You might as well call it gambling when kids bought packs of baseball cards. All this is is protecting people from their own stupidity, which is fine to a degree, but at this level it becomes just fucking insane.

What's insane about it? What consumer is affected negatively by being able to buy skins directly from the store?

[Eleccybubb]

What's insane about it? What consumer is affected negatively by being able to buy skins directly from the store?

This. Name me one way the consumer is affected negatively from being able to buy it directly.

Here they are affected negatively by having to play a game of chance with the boxes and hope coins come out or the skin.

It's not fun for the consumer. If you find opening a box of 4 items fun and not getting any gold or the skin you've been farming forever then I have to question what you find fun.

[Endus]

And why shouldn't players be allowed to buy gold directly to buy their skins?

You're arguing against something I'm not saying. I'm not arguing what you describe is "bad" or "wrong". Just that you've made precisely no argument to argue that it should be required. And fundamentally, that's what you're trying to prove, here. Not that it could be an option, which is trivially true, but that it should be an option, which you've provided nothing to back up.

Why should they play for a chance at gold from boxes or pay?

Why not? You keep not making the argument that you need to make. You keep expecting moral outrage to carry the day.

Defend it all you want. It's a shitty corporate practice which thankfully is slowly being clamped down on.

Again, you haven't explained why it's "shitty", other than you don't personally like it. Maybe that just means you shouldn't spend money on things you don't enjoy?