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Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

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Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#91

Post by jeppester »

erxam wrote: post #13

Okay? How will this actually change anything? I don't think I have ever paid attention to a single age rating in my entire life. Does anyone do outside of fundamentalist parents who wouldn't let kids play most video games anyways? Very spiritually European move. What regulators should do is focus on easily applicable percentage-based fines. Make sure it's not just another line item.

> Okay? How will this actually change anything?

It's my understanding that lots of parents use these numbers as guidance. I will make my own decisions about what my child can play, but the ratings and all the labels makes it much much easier to make an informed decision.

For the parents that are not into gaming, being able to just go by these numbers is much better than having no such guidance.

> Does anyone do outside of fundamentalist parents who wouldn't let kids play most video games anyways?

Yes. In fact I believe they help breaking down the fundamentalism by making it so clear that gaming is not inherently bad or good for your child. It all depends on the content.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#92

Post by PunchyHamster »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #89

Loot Boxes are like Pokemon cards, you buy a pack, don't know what you're going to get, and then you can trade or sell them. Banning this is just preventing kids from developing a proper risk/reward instinct later in life.

Vast majority of those games don't allow trading or selling the things you got from lootboxes.

And "learning" about gambling doesn't need to happen at 8 years old. What a fucking delusional view

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#93

Post by aboardRat4 »

messe wrote: post #85
aboardRat4 wrote: post #83

[flagged]

Yeah, kids should be able to wander into bookies and place bets as they please. Let's let them buy cigarettes too while we're at it.

I don't know, maybe I'm an old fart, but I hadn't held a sum of money large enough to buy a pack of cigarettes until I turned 16.

I presume my parent knew what they were doing, so, yeah, nanny state.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#94

Post by PunchyHamster »

Razengan wrote: post #48

Yet again more moves which take away the liberty of all citizens and users instead of restricting predatory companies and products.. How much access to money parents want to give their kids is up to the parents. What people do with their own money, including kids, is up to the people. WHY are countries not enacting laws that punish companies for once? Say something like: • "After 3-5 purchases of the same item with r…

That is just equalizing forms of gambling tho

"Traditional" gambling is already not allowed below 18yo

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#95

Post by alpaca128 »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #89

Loot Boxes are like Pokemon cards, you buy a pack, don't know what you're going to get, and then you can trade or sell them. Banning this is just preventing kids from developing a proper risk/reward instinct later in life.

You can not trade or sell the contents of lootboxes.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#96

Post by nottorp »

amiga386 wrote: post #84
mikkupikku wrote: post #5

Do they let 16 year olds gamble in casinos in Europe? Odd to ban it for kids but only some kids.

What are "kids"? Age of majority is all over the place, there's no hard and fast rule for when adolescents become adults, every society on the planet has a different take on it. For example, you can get married at 16 in the UK, but can't drive until 17 (it's not a priority as we didn't build so many car-dependent hellscapes), and you can buy alcohol at 18 or be given it with a meal by your parents at younger ages, be…

> but not the same level of destructive activity as gambling for cash

... are you sure?

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#97

Post by rcxdude »

amiga386 wrote: post #90
messe wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lootboxes are not slot machines or FBO terminals. If they can't be "cashed out", they are more like collectible card games... which are also IMHO a plague on humanity, but not the same level of destructive activity as gambling for cash. They do need regulation, given how prevalent they are in games popular with teenagers, but need different regulation from casinos. Even if they can't be cashed out officially, there…

Needing a secondary market to cash out is not the same as the vendor providing both the game of chance and the winnings. You can sell/trade MTG and Pokemon cards, but that doesn't make them "casinos"

Doesn't stop people from treating them as one, with all the corresponding issues. TBH I think a comparison with CCGs should make people question the CCG model itself, which tends to get far too easy a pass in most people's minds.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#98

Post by hofrogs »

"Lootboxes", "cases", "packs" and other chance-based systems that involve spending real money or an in-game currency that could be obtained by spending real money should be banned completely, all of those systems exploit brain vulnerabilities for profit. Also, prediction markets, sports betting, online casinos, shitcoin exchanges.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#99

Post by rcxdude »

hiccuphippo wrote: post #46
nurettin wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Differ all you want. No child will bankrupt a family at a trading card game store. These are physical goods paid in bulk with provisioning and there are laws for returning them. Another point of contention is the randomness of packs. The way you play is: You save up to buy the entire set of boosters and already get almost all cards you need for competitive or fun play. The rest you need to trade for or buy individual…

Allowing trading is a big part of it. Most online games never allow trading the things bought with real money, they get tied to your account. I guess as a way to prevent CC fraud but it still contributes to the issue.

It's a double-edged sword. For the seller, the ideal would be getting people just as addicted but not allowing trading, since that increases the average spend required to get a specific desired pull substantially.

Re: Games with loot boxes to get minimum 16 age rating across Europe

#100

Post by Lutzb »

smelendez wrote: post #30
dietr1ch wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk about pokemon cards, but I'm sure the wotc guys use something to make sniffing newly opened packs addicting.

That’s funny. I don’t think I’ve opened a pack of Magic cards in about 25 years and I can still remember the smell.

It's a good smell. My kids are opening packs and I can totally recall the sensation of opening mtg cards in the 90s.
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