The difference between loot boxes and CCGs is that you typically didn’t pay a $60 entry fee (or any entry fee at all) to gain the privilege to buy packs of cards. Oh, and buying cards is understood up-front as a requirement of the CCG format, whereas loot box systems often get dropped into games in ways that aren’t…

The world would be a better place if everybody deleted their Facebook account.

There was a slot machine in the 90's called Rain of Diamond (I think) it was attached to a vending machine. When you won the jackpot the vending machine would release a package that contained a diamond ring. Also, there are the slot machine banks where the top jackpot is a car or a motorcycle. In class 2 machines (and…

I worked for a slot machine company for about ten years and loot boxes seem to fit what Nevada and New Jersey consider a gambling device. I think it qualifies as a class 2 gambling system.

Even if it’s not “gambling,” that doesn’t mean it isn’t playing on the same exact psychological appeals that gambling does. And when they give people the ability to pay actual money for the loot boxes—even children—that’s just super poor form. It makes me think back to comments that Jonathan Blow made in a game design…

I may be lacking some reading comprehension here. But aren’t loot boxes mostly available for real money?

Nintendo is absurdly old fashioned and alarmist when it comes to representation of its IP and I think it really struggles to understand streaming culture.

In Nintendo’s mind, it fears this imaginary boogie man situation that someone like PewDiePie is going to live stream Super Mario Bros. and start dropping N-Bombs,…

Dose makes the poison. But how do you determine the lowest response for a fetus without seriously compromising the ethics of everyone involved in the study?

Beer and wine have been important parts of European diets for thousands of years. An awful lot of European fetuses must have been exposed to alcohol over this period.

there are no nazis, just nazi larpers and they do not represent the Kekistani in anyway what so ever if they did use the flag. There are rightwingers that have used it, sure... but nazis? you are stretching so far

Well maybe your definition of nazis is a bit too broad. If you consider everyone on the right a nazi it makes it difficult to root out the people doing real harm. Of course both sides of the political spectrum despise real nazis.

y’all know kekistan is a joke right?

You reference the southern poverty law center in this post? Are you kidding me?

North American society has become a bunch of fucking sissies offended by the most bullshit tripe.

Speak for yourself, I would rotate through shaders all the time.

Stupid comparison. Dye in Diablo 3 costs like 500 gold, which is so negligible it might as well not cost anything, and is not RNG based at all. Shaders in Destiny are RNG based, consumable (now), and are being offered for real money.

So, Guild Wars 2 makes dyes unlockable. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got it. Mechwarrior Online does the same. Those are just two off the top of my head. And here’s another thing - these shaders CAN’T be paid for using in-game currency. It would be EXACTLY like buying a lootbox in Overwatch and getting a sweet new…

The difference is that when you change your skin in Overwatch, you don’t lose the previous skin and have to unlock it all over again.

Because some players really like being able to customize what they look like. I really hope once they start nickle and diming the parts of games you enjoy, you’ll see how idiotic and damaging the whole system is.

Here’s the thing, though. Destiny 2 is great.