Bad games to avoid...

If it's not ZDoom, it goes here.
User avatar
Quadruplesword
Posts: 275
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:26 pm
Location: Off hunting demons

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by Quadruplesword »

skyrish10 wrote:Here's another new bad game to avoid.

Star Wars Battlefront II (the 2017 EA one, not the one made by Pandemic and Lucasarts), because of the microtransactions and loot boxes.
EA's gone into full piss-take mode with that one. A $60 game with a progression system that's set up exactly like the worst drivel the freemium mobile market has to offer. I'm just glad it's blowing up in their face and some EA and Disney executives are now getting a little hot under the collar at the prospect of being hit with huge fines if their precious loot boxes get classified as gambling. I'm not going to get my hopes up yet - after all, this is a multi-billion dollar company with a world class legal team, plus it's Star Wars and that alone is guaranteed to shift units, no matter how bad the product actually is - but the fact that it's a possibility makes me happy.
User avatar
DoomRater
Posts: 8265
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:21 am
Preferred Pronouns: He/Him
Location: WATR HQ
Contact:

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by DoomRater »

I can only imagine what will happen in other markets if it's finally classified as gambling. The SL "Gambling but not quite gambling" economy pretty much depended on a skill game technicality just to survive, and shop sellers dumped out Gachas like they were hotcakes. At least in the second case the Gachas typically could be resold. Good luck reselling a loot box anytime soon in an EA game.
User avatar
insightguy
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by insightguy »

DoomRater wrote:"Gambling but not quite gambling" economy.
isn't loot boxes gambling though? I mean, how is it different to CS:GO or TF2?
Spoiler: statement I found from the ESRB
Is it gambling if you always get something in return and that's why lootboxes get a pass? If so, can casinos get a pass by guaranteeing small payouts? (What the hell ESRB)
User avatar
Chris
Posts: 2940
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2003 12:07 am
Graphics Processor: ATI/AMD with Vulkan/Metal Support

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by Chris »

insightguy wrote:Is it gambling if you always get something in return and that's why lootboxes get a pass? If so, can casinos get a pass by guaranteeing small payouts?
I'd imagine the payout amount also plays a part. If you pay a set amount, and the amount you can win back varies between less or more than the amount you paid (by random chance), then it's still gambling. You could probably make an argument if you always get back at least as much as you paid in, but that wouldn't be a sustainable business model.

The issue with these in-game microtransaction loot boxes is that the virtual items you get have no inherent value. It's difficult to say if you got your money's worth if there's no price on what you got. If you always get back something that's worth $0, are you actually gambling? It's a similar loophole pachinko machines exploit in Japan (which has very strict anti-gambling laws). Pachinko machines aren't technically gambling because regardless of the money you put in, the things you get from them don't have any inherent value (unrelatedly, you can go check out the shop next door where they'll take those worthless things off your hands for money; *cough*CS:GO skins*cough*).

Of course, regardless of if something is gambling or not, these things do exploit people who have addictive tendencies. People who literally can't help themselves but to keep trying to get something by paying money even if they know they can't afford it, and it reenforces bad behavioral traits on impressionable kids. The things gambling laws are actually there to protect against, even if it's not technically the legal definition of "gambling".
User avatar
DoomRater
Posts: 8265
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:21 am
Preferred Pronouns: He/Him
Location: WATR HQ
Contact:

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by DoomRater »

Hence Linden Lab's movement away from putting Linden Dollars as an actual currency and divorcing it entirely from that concept, probably so they can avoid gambling laws (their headquarters is in California which has strict anti-gambling laws)

I'm of the opinion it's abolutely gambling. But that's not how it's defined as a matter of law. It's going to take changes to laws to make regulation of these sorts of practices commonplace.

Fun fact: Lachhh (of Berserk Studios, dev of Zombidle) did a birthday stream to raise money for a charity that directly helps his brother. Someone dropped $800 in said stream and he was going bonkers hoping this person isn't breaking their back donating money. But that sort of effect is what happens in a lot of microtransaction games where people get so addicted they put themselves in the hospital to support other players.
User avatar
Shadelight
Posts: 5113
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 11:16 am
Location: Labrynna

Re: Bad games to avoid...

Post by Shadelight »

This thread has turned into a "find any obscure/popular bad game you can and rant about it" thread.
Locked

Return to “Off-Topic”