A.R.S.E.

I half-watch my kids playing Minecraft sometimes. Ruby likes the PvP stuff and success in those bouts seems to be tied to what armor and weapons are available in crates at the start - I'd better check she's not paying anything to access better stuff!

No problem if it's like TF2 where the game is free and you can if you wish gamble on skins and hats but they have no bearing on play.

It's a big issue in CS:GO even with 'Just cosmetics'. All the kids I hear talking about blowing $100 on the cases, all the youtube video's of people spending thousands. I've put more than my fair share into it, and hate myself for it every time.

I do the same in Overwatch and Elder Scrolls Online. Buy a few crates or a costume. There's nothing wrong with that but you have to ask "how much am I willing to spend on a game?". Wargamming are good ones for the double hit. Their premium vehicles in tanks or warships do give an edge but the second hit is getting the xp off them to spend on other vehicles in nations tech tree.

They have some interesting stuff coming up. I hope they can sort their shit out fast. I remember playing Elder Scolls Online in beta and launch. It was released too soon but in the past 18 months, they've got it right but it was painful for a long time. Some nasty stuff in ESO dlc nowdays though

Does this also apply to Blizzard and Overwatch? They have loot boxes, which you can buy, or 20,000 XP (leveling up) gets you a box. It's also a gamble as to what you get in the box but it's cosmetic. It's $2.95 for one box but they have deals for more. I ask this as no one seemed to have a problem with what Blizzard did. In fact most people use Overwatch as a model that EA should have followed. But by definition, it's still gambling.

I am going to vocal about Battlefront 2 as the damn thing hooked me from the first moment and I'm really enjoying it. However I didn't spend any money on those loot boxes as they offer nothing. I have been getting them just by playing the game. I feel any micro transactions should come into a game at a point after release, not right away and not be a key part of the game. Dice and EA can save this but they need to change quick and either ditch the system or speed up the rate you earn in the game. It's overshadowing a good game.

Yeah I'm banging on about but fuck me it's very a much a first world problem.

Yes. The Belgium Govt. is aiming to them banned in Europe and define it as any purchase where you don't know exactly what you're going to get. So any form of loot box. Not sure how it will impact card games, but those are partly designed around trading the cards so it may be different.

http://www.pcgamer.com/belgium-says-loo ... in-europe/

There's been growing opposition to it for a fair while. Battlefront seems to have been the straw that broke the camels back The CSGO gambling issue a while back almost got it there (though I notice the gambling sites are still around). I guess the popularity of Star Wars along with how far EA took it was enough to finally get mainstream attention.

Some countries already have laws about them. In China they have to declare the odds of receiving every type of item.
https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/5/155584 ... nces-china

It's a predatory practice and the sooner it's gone, the better. Just because you don't have a gambling issue doesn't mean it should be ok for games to exploit those who do, or are just too young to understand what they're doing.

Look I agree it should be dealt with as it's clear no one give a crap about ratings on games. The game is pegi 16 like I said earlier. But parents need to pay attention to these games if the kids are under the age recommendation. It's there for a reason. One could argue that at least with a loot box you get something in return. Maybe this is the straw that broke the camels back. Kids do need to be protected but if kids have access to buy online on their own accord without parents permission, then that's a bigger issue. There has to be limits set.

But we are bombarded endlessly with gambling though. The Ashes start tomorrow and channel 9 will embed a betting company in their program and ad's will run all day. So any young kid watching will see it.

We were endlessly bombarded with cigarette advertising as well. Just because something is pervasive doesn't mean it can't be changed.

One of the main reasons why that got changed is it started to hit governments in the hip pocket due to the health implications. These gambling companies are making donations to these same people, as big tobacco did. But gambling in games will be considered a small if nothing issue. You don't have to buy into it and legally EA have their arse's covered.

I don't have much to add except that I liked the line about gamers having infiltrated most areas of government

Good find Darren I think if it's going to cause this much trouble then enforce a rating if companies want to keep this element in their games.

But now for the unthinkable, hold on kids... Starfighter Assault is sooooo much fun! I've just been playing a normal fighter even though I do have hero ships. I'm in the bottom half of the table with 20 kills at most but it's damn good fun. It's very satisfying to shoot down people running star cards. A lot of people are not as they seem to be proving a point via skill. It's flying via mouse or controller as there seems to be no joystick support. It's not really an issue as it's not a complex flight model. Hopefully they keep adding more missions and modes for it in the future. Also I'm enjoying the single player campaign too. It's hard to pick out the snipers though if you don't use the radar. Just a shame they created so much controversy over it all, it's fun!

She's number 1

https://powerup-gaming.com/2017/11/23/b ... australia/

If I ever find that Reddit post about the gaming tiers and how they're waiting for the "whales" in tier 3 I'll link it.

Online feels mad in 40 a side battles. Rubber banding is an issue though. It's also hard to spot people on maps and then someone on the other side gets enough points in the battle to use an AT-ST walker

I think Monty would enjoy hunting down rebel scum!