Incline The Death of Freemium? Microtransactions Under Global Scrutiny

[Swigen]

 

[c2007]

Arbitrary lines are wrong, unless DalekFlay draws them.

 

[Delterius]

do vaccines cause libertarianism

 

[Delterius]

first they forbade lootboxes

and then all of a sudden shitting was illegal

 

[Goi~Yaas~Dinn]

Clearly, everything is perfect as-is and no law ever needs to be passed again.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Clearly, everything is perfect as-is and no law ever needs to be passed again.

The error is trying to make anything perfect. Laws certainly don't. Just makes 'em more complicated and gives a few jobs to people who otherwise could not find employment.

 

[DalekFlay]

The problem with simple philosophies is they inevitably collapse in on themselves, as yours has in just two sentences. We can infer from the second sentence (and a later quote from the same post "I'm against moral laws... laws whose sole purpose is to tell adults how to live their lives when they're not hurting anyone but themselves.") that you'd be fine with the "hardcore drugs" if there deleterious effects were localised to the user. For whatever reason a company offering for sale a highly addictive product that makes you claw at your skin, grind your teeth to dust, and develop lifelong psychological issues doesn't count as "direct and proven negative impact on their neighbor". I guess because they should have just said no to that first hit! Have some self control people!

Never mind the huge information asymmetry between a massive company creating and advertising designer drugs and your average pleb on the street. Yeah everyone knows meth isn't the best for you, what about that new product Examite released last week? It's probably fine. I mean it hasn't been proven to have a negative effect on third parties yet right?

Of course, gambling actually is proven to have a direct negative impact. A flutter here or there won't do much (except to your bank balance), but develop a compulsion, which is exactly what these games are designed to do, and your brain actively rewires itself to make you retarded, permanently. If intentionally inflicting that on someone to make a buck isn't harm to your neighbour I'd like to know what is.

I already said I was against legalizing hardcore drugs for a variety of reasons. It's literally poison, and it does effect your neighbor in a variety of ways. I also said if we have studies and proof that show loot boxes have a similar dangerous effect then I would reevaluate, but as far as I'm aware we do not and no one in this thread has even attempted to cite something like that. So we're left with "they manipulate you to spend more on their dumb shit." Well, welcome to capitalism buddy! Why do you think those pizza commercials do slow motion melting cheese shots or movie theaters open with close-ups of fizzing soda? Why does Steam use carefully crafted algorithms to show me what I'm most likely to spend money on when I boot it up? Why do Geico spend millions a year on creating humorous advertisements that have nothing to do with insurance just to burn their company name into your brain?

So who decides what is "too predatory"? At what point do people just have to take responsibility and not be dumbasses who spend hundreds of dollars on pointless loot? Jesus, this law isn't even advocating at all for what you guys are. Its sole purpose is to stop kids from purchasing this stuff, like the gambling age limit, which I'm fine with.

 

[Swigen]

Kotaku sez...

“The bills co-sponsors include two Democrats, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the latter of whom in 2010 supported the California-led effort to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. That state law was ruled un-Constitutional by the Supreme Court for violating the artistic expressions protected by the freedom of speech.”

https://kotaku.com/you-can-now-read-the-proposed-senate-bill-that-would-ba-1834983260

 

[DalekFlay]

Ban-happy ass-hat confirmed. I doubt loot boxes are covered by the first amendment though, as it's not content but more just a method of delivery. Hard to say 100% though, I'm not a lawyer.

 

[Goi~Yaas~Dinn]

Kotaku sez...

“The bills co-sponsors include two Democrats, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the latter of whom in 2010 supported the California-led effort to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. That state law was ruled un-Constitutional by the Supreme Court for violating the artistic expressions protected by the freedom of speech.”

https://kotaku.com/you-can-now-read-the-proposed-senate-bill-that-would-ba-1834983260

I can't believe I'm typing this, but thank you. Source could be better, but fuck me at least you tried.

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Ban-happy ass-hat confirmed.

Yep. Dipshit with an obvious agenda looking for any way to get his foot in the door.

 

[Lambach]

Then why are you so adamant in your defense of them

It's more an attack on fucking morons who lack basic impulse control rather than defense of AAA publishers. We're already living in Idiocracy, we don't have to keep piling onto it.

When you've got literally brain-dead troglodytes like c2007 who compare creating your own power grid with simply deciding to not purchase a shitty product in support of your proposal, your proposal is wrong, end of discussion.

Or do you think that casinos should be completely unregulated too?

Pretty much. Unlike electricity, water or public roads, you can happily go through your entire life without ever setting foot in a casino. Many do just that, in fact.

 

[c2007]

You have no problem with people using psychological warfare to make a buck?

Planetickets, bitch. You are the problem in the world.

 

[DalekFlay]

Bunch of commie scum in here. Only one solution:

 

[Lambach]

You have no problem with people using psychological warfare to make a buck?

Psychological warfare? Are you fucking retarded? It's like [200..300]^2 motherfucking pixels flashing in your face telling you what a good goy you are. If you can't resist that, fuck you, kill yourself right now before you run the risk of reproducing and polluting humanity's collective gene pool. Literally fucking subhuman.

 

[Gerrard]

Just walk away from the screen nigga hahahahah

 

[BR4ZIL]

Hopefully these bills will (eventually, after the usual slow pace of governaments) pass.

If only to see EA games whince in pain and to hopefully not have fucking lootboxes where it doesnt belong.

Imagine... we might see an improvement in the Mobile market landscape!

 

[Dexter]

 

[Melcar]

It's not rape if you yell surprise first.

 

[Swigen]

All y’all are the sort that would’ve spread yore butt cheeks for the PMRC back in the day just ‘cause you didn’t liek Cyndi Lauper.

 

[anvi]

jk lol

 

[anvi]

jk lol

 

[Mark Richard]

Excerpt from the hearing:



Any time the subject of basic metrics came up, EA or Epic claimed it was commercially sensitive information they could not reveal. They deny having any knowledge of working with behavioural psychologists, careful to phrase their answers in a 'I'm not aware of...' non-committal fashion. It was like pulling teeth just to get them to admit they're corporations trying to make money, instead of a benevolent race of titans whose sole motivation is to put smiles on people's faces.

Wouldn't recommend the long version, but if you've got too much time on your hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPkyERMbKU8

 

[deuxhero]

Yeah, people love surprises!

Spoiler

 

[Rahdulan]

Watch a fat man sidestep talking about his own addiction to McDonalds for 30+ minutes. Basic 101 video otherwise.