Bigred's Video Game Thread

[Jack Sawyer]

My computer at work doesn't have speakers so I haven't watched the videos nor have I been really keeping up with this whole story. From what I understand though, I'm not too concerned.


They had something similar when I was a kid. They were called baseball cards. You bought a pack, and you hoped it had a Jose Conseco card in it, but mostly you just got a lot of Wally Joyner, Greg Jeffries, and Frank Viola cards.

The cards were not actively being put in front of you and changing it contents algorithmically (read: by a machine) to keep you buying them. You didn't have to pull a slot, pull any lever, watch other people opening them forcedly etc. If you wanted to buy a card, you would just go and buy a card, provided you had the money.


This is also exactly the kind of thinking these companies want the people to have nowadays. If you read up on stuff, you'd realize that there are manifestations of Skinner's Boxes. This shit is evil, and it's only going to get worse.

Except that if you had that Jose Conseco card today, still in mint condition, it'd be worth something.

Not really. I'm using 1989 Topps cards as my basis of comparison, because that's what I had the most of as a kid. Jose Conseco is worth about 3 bucks. Frank Viola is only about 90 cents less.

Still, they woudl be worth something. It's an asset, and you can trade it with your friends. There is some, even however miniscule, intrinsic value in these.


A digital lootbox has no value other to than your account by design. Only CS:GO has loot boxes which actually have value in the real world, and you can find the ironically non-gambling site CS:GO Lotto for instance where you can, well, gamble for them and sell them with other collectors. Literally only CS:GO.


For all other lootbox shenanigans you would have to go through a lot of hoops, such as selling your account (which all sorts of other stuff are tied to, your other game purchases etc) in order to actually give them real world value. So, it is literally a money pit. By design.

Also "worth" is a very subjective term.


In 1989, my Jose Conseco card was pretty much worthless in terms of utility. I couldn't play with it. It didn't DO anything. It's value only came from collect-ability and it's rarity compared to similar items.


With these loot-boxes, obviously rarity and collect-ability are less important factors determining value. But there is significantly more utility than a baseball card. You actually *get* something that *does* something and provides value in the form of enhanced gameplay and a more entertaining experience.


It doesn't seem relevant to cite whether or not the item purchased will hold it's value over time.


Fake fruit can be displayed on a table centerpiece and enhance the atmosphere of a room. Real fruit can be eaten for sustenance and nutrition. The fake fruit will still be there, doing it's thing tomorrow. The real fruit will have been digested and flushed down a toilet by that time. Does that mean that the real fruit is "worthless"??? What if you're REALLY hungry?

Again, you fall into the common trap. These things have no value outside of the game BY DESIGN. The only ones that do are specifically CS:GO's, as mentioned above. It is literally worhtless to anyone but you, or other gamers in the game which will by design never have owner access to your shit.


Lootboxes have been implemented in modern games with the sole purpose of replicating Skinner's Box environments in order to maximize the cash they can grab in games from everybody. The thing is, most of these games are marketed towards underaged persons, up to the 17 year old demographic (Most games are rated E or PG13. Rarely do you get a. Mature rated game). So you can't really tolerate the gambling elements in them. Particularly if these are not advertised as such up front.


Edit: I found a link specifically explaining the Skinner's Box concept and how it applies to loot-boxes


It's not your fault that you do not understand the issue Banana. Obviously you always take the "Corporations should be allowed to fleece you any way they see fit" approach whenever we have had any discussions on here because Capitalism and bootstraps or whatever, and that's ok, but do a little bit of research on this one and you will see how bad this shit is. These AAA-game corporations, particularly EA, Ubisoft, Activion and Blizzard bank on casual gamers, like apparently you, to keep the practice going. They bank on the ignorance of the masses to normalize it. They bank, literally, on you not understanding this and therefore not giving two shits about it.


The vast majority of people don't follow the industry; you want to play soccer you just buy the latest FIFA. They do not know beforehand about all the microtransactions (actually getting closer to being just transactions nowadays, these are definitely not micro anymore), consumables, lootboxes and the fucking bottomless pit slots that they will be faced with in the game which is designed to deceive and exploit you into paying more and more into the game. And of course, this is mostly/all geared towards children.