I hate Loot boxes, and it's not because of the common reasons.

[FakeSympathy]

I used to watch CS:GO case opening videos and facepalm really hard. I said "It's just a piece of data to make your gun look different. I don't understand. What gives you that joy?" There were more videos of opening these cases than the footage of the actual game.

Fast forward to few years, it is no different just with more games. Seriously, just type "loot box opening" on Youtube right now and you would see more results than there should be. My reaction is still the same; It's just a fucking PIECE OF DATA. Stop screaming on top of your lungs. Do we really need to see how much cash you are burning before you faint of joy?

These loot boxes videos feel too lazily made, shows how much of money-burning assholes these "content creators" are, and it only makes them look like idiots. All they do is keep hitting that "open" button repeatedly until they get the legendary crap they want. Oh excuse me, you don't show the part where you pay with your wallet, do you? You don't show the thumbnail of you being disappointed of getting other shits you didn't want, do you? The views only come from the reactions, and no one talks about how much money these "content creators" are burning

Ban loot boxes in games? How about ban loot box opening videos on youtube? If people are complaining about loot boxes in games are promoting gambling, videos of opening loot boxes are like making actual gambling such a wonderful time.

 

[FakeSympathy]

I equate them to Trading Card Game pack opening videos which I find informational

Lots of kids look them up to see what prizes came from which pack/crate as they have no other source of information on the subject. Remember how great you were with search engines at age 7?

Some loot crates/packs are themed in a way to give people a false idea of what is inside
Videos help avoid that pitfall

Wanted a Change Slime as a kid. Saw it in the games. Asked everyone I knew who played if they had one but no one ever did. Only found out a decade later that it was only ever released in Japan for some special event
Never bought a single pack

 

[FakeSympathy]

I didn't watch any videos, but are you saying that what's happening is equivalent to

Spoiler: this?

Oh for shame.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I equate them to Trading Card Game pack opening videos which I find informational

Yeah but those trading cards will still be here, long after the company that made them closes. Loot box items go with the servers, and players will be done hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Plus, in the trading card community, there are re-sellers, and you can buy the individual cards you want, rather than risk dozens of blister packs. Plus you can get huge set boxes, guaranteed to have all the new releases in them.

I'd actually love loot boxes to follow the trading card example. If you can buy like all the shotguns in CS:GO in one large box, or buy individual skins and mods without going through endless loot boxes, I'd be completely okay with it.

 

[Cold Shiny]

LUTBOCKSES R RUININ MA GAM IDUSRY!!!!!


But really though they are the worst. When I'm thinking about buying a game, the absolute first thing I look for is if it has lootboxes. Instant no buy if the game has them.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

''Just a piece of data''

Yeah, a piece of data that could be worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars (Referring to CSGO and other games that has a market)

Here's everyones reaction when I recieved ''just a piece of data'' in CSGO over 2 years ago


I sold it for ~$850 the next day.

 

[runic knight]

It being "just a piece of data" is about the same logic as "it is just a piece of cardboard" about a trading card or "it is just a piece of plastic" about a figure from a blind pack. I get the sentiment, and it is not wrong at the base level, but it strips away the personal attachment and investment that people feel that is the whole drive and reason for the marketing.

People value different things, so getting something you really wanted feels good, even if there is no actual value to it. Finding a rare piece of gear from a mob drop feels good for the same reason. It scratches a sort of itch in our primitive reptile brains and, moral questions about feeding that sort of addictive behavioral trait aside, it just feels good.

Worth adding though that the people opening up lootboxes and screaming over the top are likely putting on a show. They do probably feel happy about it, of course, but the top of the lungs animalistic screeching and jumping around is probably over emphasized for the viewer's enjoyment.

My opinions on lootboxes, I will never pay for one in a game I bought. I refuse to support that marketing strategy, and on the rare few games I buy with them attached (usually at great discount already, or second hand), I will not pay more money to the creators of such a product designed to milk money from gambling where win or lose, you always lose what you put into it.

Lootboxes in free to plays I am a little more tolerate of if they in no way affect the gameplay balance (essentially, limited to cosmetics), given that is the only way the game is paid for. But since so many put exp boosters, if not gear and items, most such cash shops already affect gameplay that way (any system that wastes player time or inconveniences them that is bypassed by the cash shop was intentionally done and count as affecting game balance, be it by wasting player time, or by restricting options or playable time of some but not others)

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Uhhh... if you hate watching videos of people open them then don't watch videos of people opening them. I didn't even know videos like that existed until I read the OP

 

[CaitSeith]

My reaction is still the same; It's just a fucking PIECE OF DATA. Stop screaming on top of your lungs. Do we really need to see how much cash you are burning before you faint of joy?

"And get out of my lawn while you're at it!"

IMO, better to have the kids watching the lootbox videos than getting lootboxes themselves.

 

[kasperbbs]

It's hard to hate something that i have never watched, nor had any interest in watching. But i have to agree, that sounds like some really shit content.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Oh you hate the videos. Unboxing and shit.
Maybe hate is a strong word. I don't get the appeal and the enthusiasm others have repels me.
You know you can just as easily not watch those. So long as lootboxes don't get in the way of gameplay - as some sort of paywall or RGN bullshit - then you don't really have to bother with them right?

 

[Abomination]

I sort of agree with the OP, the inability for many people to see how these items are just artificially scarce is a depressing explanation as to how easy it is to manipulate others. Placing value on a skin, especially upwards of hundreds of dollars, is just foolish. It has no tangible value, it exists only as long as the game does, an intangible form of entertainment.

I understand why people value it - it doesn't mean their reasoning isn't completely retarded.

That said, it doesn't affect me in any way. These people are free to waste their money on overpriced, pointless garbage.

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

I think that some people want to watch these videos because they won't spend the money themselves so they at least want to see someone else do it.
What I find dumb is when someone donates, for example, $500 to some streamer and tells them to spend it all on loot boxes.
You know that you can do that yourself and you might actually get some enjoyment out of that, right?
No, it's better to buy useless stuff for someone who makes a lot more than you.