EA: They’re not loot boxes, they’re “surprise mechanics,” and they’re “quite ethical”

[[McD] James]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/ea-loot-boxes

 

Oh, bugger off, EA.

[NeedHealth]

Completly out of touch with one of the flaws of a human brain. The flaw that makes gambling addictive.

[scalliano]

"Please, we spent all that money on the dynamic difficulty patent! If you ban our big money maker, it would all be for nothing!"

[Ichor]

"surprise mechanics" makes me think of someone who replaces your tires and fixes your knocking engine, but also pours Kool-Aid crystals in your gas tank and cuts your brake line.

[Mr. Freeze]

Actually NOT a Hard Times article.

[Mordeth]

15 hours ago, NeedHealth said:

Completly out of touch with one of the flaws of a human brain. The flaw that makes gambling addictive.

 

You mean, completely IN touch with that. These gambling mechanics were not introduced by accident or happenstance.

[HavoX]

thats the shittiest logic ever EA

[Graf Zahl]

They provide excellent ammunition for legislators who would like to stop this thing once and for all.

 

[Immorpher]

Sounds almost as sketchy as surprise sex.

[DooM_RO]

It's as if they called shitstains nutella.

[Nymbus_Hustle]

It's bizarre that we live in a time where companies will say that gambling isn't gambling. What kind of doublethink is this; you literally pay money for the chance to get particular drops!

 

 

19 hours ago, Ichor said:

"surprise mechanics" makes me think of someone who replaces your tires and fixes your knocking engine, but also pours Kool-Aid crystals in your gas tank and cuts your brake line.

 

Oml this killed me lmao

[scalliano]

If you can't defend it, REBRAND IT!

[geo]

Now all they need to do is have it make slot machine sounds. Ethical because their consumer base is over 18 and has disposable cash and no kids would ever waste money? Chances are there's someone out there opening thousands of these loot boxes before calling their credit card and saying oh it was stolen and not have to pay for anything. Happened a lot with TF2.

[FractalBeast]

Oh man, if only there was some powerful government organisation that could take big tech companies and break their backs like some kind of Bane...

 

RIP wallets in the USA and UK (soon). Hahahaha.

[leodoom85]

Quote

They’re not loot boxes, they’re “surprise mechanics,” and they’re “quite ethical”

No shit sherlock EA.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

 

13 hours ago, FractalBeast said:

Oh man, if only there was some powerful government organisation that could take big tech companies and break their backs like some kind of Bane...

 

RIP wallets in the USA and UK (soon). Hahahaha.

 

Well those 2 countries specifically have a lot of people who defend lootboxes (just like japan and china). People are so deep the gambling hell they think it is normal economy. Sugar it with the devs need money to make the gamblers feel like they are helping those people, and totally not giving all the reward to the CEO and shareholders.

[yakfak]

what properties do EA own? i wonder how hard it really is to never play a single one of their games ever again
i don't mean games that they defacto own cos of picking up companies, I mean the games that have been made under their banner

[Immorpher]

44 minutes ago, yakfak said:

what properties do EA own? i wonder how hard it really is to never play a single one of their games ever again
i don't mean games that they defacto own cos of picking up companies, I mean the games that have been made under their banner

I don't think it's too difficult to avoid their products. Their top sellers are sports games and the newer Star Wars games (I think). One of their most recent games is Anthem. https://www.ea.com/games

Pretty much crap games all around. I think the only good game to come out of them (as a publisher) is "A Way Out" in recent times.

It's funny seeing people in the game stores trying to sell their EA sports game back and being offered 50 cents or something. They get so angry lol. But then the employee usually (and rightfully) says they are lucky to even be given an offer.

[Fonze]

Quote

From article:

 

compares the mechanics to surprise toys, which have been around “for years, whether it’s Kinder Eggs, or Hatchimals, or LOL Surprise.”

 

I mean I don't think the prizes in these things are quite as collectible but at the same time the same argument could be made for trading card games, like the old pokemon starter packs.

[crazyflyingdonut]

"Ethical", my fucking asshole! They're literally charging people to gain access to content that is already inside of the game!

 

Imagine if Doom did that, back in the day?

 

Quote

Sorry, the BFG is a paid-only weapon. Please send a check to our mailing address if you wish to use the weapon.

 

[rehelekretep]

7 hours ago, yakfak said:

what properties do EA own? i wonder how hard it really is to never play a single one of their games ever again
i don't mean games that they defacto own cos of picking up companies, I mean the games that have been made under their banner

as far as a i know i havent played an EA game since NFL Street in the 2000s - its pretty easy to not give these bellsprouts money.

[[McD] James]

I think the last EA game I played was probably Sim City 4. 

[scalliano]

"I never murdered him, your Honour, I gave him a surprise funeral."

[silentzorah]

Loot boxes are not "surprise mechanics."

 

Monster closets are.

[RichardDS90]

Just imagine if they pulled this off back during the Sega Genesis days, they would've been long gone by then. Not to mention a load of their games were pretty good back then, but anyhow, all this pay to win nonsense is just pointless and is one of the reasons I generally avoid modern gaming. Plus on top of that, the way they're defending to loot box mechanic certainly proves how little they care about their reputation nowadays.

[Novaseer]

It's "quite ethical" the same way that the atomic bomb was. Hell, loot boxes have probably ruined more peoples' lives than the bomb (if we're just talking direct casualties).

[DynamiteKaitorn]

That's Electronic Farts for ya. :P

[Reisal]

Just another synonym for "gambling" or "loot boxes". You're not fooling any of us, EA.

[Gez]

Fun fact: Electronic Arts has been loathed for about as long as it has existed.

 

They were the villain in Ultima VII: The Black Gate, a game from 1992. Literally: there's an evil cult (but which initially appears harmless and good-intended), led by NPCs called Elizabeth and Abraham (who sign their letters with just their initials, E and A), and the cult builds three "generators" that let an evil demon enter the world to destroy it; the generators are a cube, a sphere, and a pyramid; EA's logo at the time was a square, a circle and a triangle.

 

[snapshot]

Piracy is also a surprise discount.