Valve have updated the developer guidelines for releasing a game on Steam, making it clear that the scourge of mobile gaming advertising-based business models are not going to work on Steam.
There two big differences to me are scale and value. A ccg has rare cards, but they aren’t actually that rare compared to loot boxes. Loot boxes tend to have both lower drop rates and pollute their drops with lots of garbage, even for rare drops. Secondly, physical cards have value, you can sell or trade them, you can buy singles of cards you want. You can use them for things other than the game as well.
Aside from drop rates everything you said applies to Valve too. Counter Strike skins can be traded or sold for real cash (tied to steam wallet, but still), and you can purchase singles of what you want.
I know other games loot boxes dont follow this, but its interesting for the sake of comparison.
Lootboxes are at least a conscious action you must take. They definitely have the same problems as gambling (because that’s what they are), but you can also choose not to engage with them. Ads however, are forced upon you, and do things that you cannot see (track you) and cannot turn off.
That’s nice and all,
but when will they tackle loot boxes?
That shit has pushed plenty of minors into gambling addictions, but they don’t crack down on it, since they get a sweet cut of it all.
Valve in general isn’t the worst company,
but they’re far from innocent as well.
They won’t, because loot boxes are their main source of income.
And this is exactly why “good companies” like Valve cannot save us. Good companies will never be a substitute for good regulations.
I get the hate for lootboxes, but as a casual who hasn’t played PC games in forever…what makes the lootbox mechanic any worse than CCGs?
Couldn’t it be said that MtG and other CCGs have been guilty of the exact same thing since their inception?
There two big differences to me are scale and value. A ccg has rare cards, but they aren’t actually that rare compared to loot boxes. Loot boxes tend to have both lower drop rates and pollute their drops with lots of garbage, even for rare drops. Secondly, physical cards have value, you can sell or trade them, you can buy singles of cards you want. You can use them for things other than the game as well.
Aside from drop rates everything you said applies to Valve too. Counter Strike skins can be traded or sold for real cash (tied to steam wallet, but still), and you can purchase singles of what you want.
I know other games loot boxes dont follow this, but its interesting for the sake of comparison.
CCGs hasn’t had a massive, massive Epic Games-paid astroturfing campaign against valve/steam like ‘lootboxes’ has. That’s the difference.
I agree with the overall sentiment, however:
Lootboxes are at least a conscious action you must take. They definitely have the same problems as gambling (because that’s what they are), but you can also choose not to engage with them. Ads however, are forced upon you, and do things that you cannot see (track you) and cannot turn off.
Mate, they practically invented them.
Once loot boxes stop buying yachts.
Valve are the ones that popularized loot boxes. They’re never going to tackle them.