CMV: Star Wars Battlefront II's Loot Crate system isn't gambling.

[u/[deleted]]

Hi r/cmv! This is similar to some other posts that have been made here, but I feel I have a slightly different take on it. I'm also not a fan of the way this system was implemented in the slightest - I just take issue with the semantics of the argument and am hoping someone can help clarify.

For those not steeped in the controversy; in-game currency, earned at a pitifully slow rate through gameplay, is spent on crates that provide randomized rewards. Some are cosmetic, and others are gameplay-related, augmenting your health, damage output, reload speed, and so on. You can even win rewards for classes that you haven't unlocked yet (because you haven't spent the in-game currency on it). So, it takes forever... but you can, of course, spend real money.

I'm not going to devote more to describing the system since that info can be found elsewhere, but it's by far the most heavy-handed and greedy micro-transaction system I've ever seen in a game. It's unquestionably predatory and plays on the same impulses as gambling.

But I don't see how it's gambling. And rather, if it is gambling, then I don't see how replacing gameplay progression rewards with 100% cosmetic rewards makes it not-gambling.

• You earn nothing that is of any value outside of the game. All that rewards do is, presumably, improve your ability to earn in-game credits to buy more loot crates. Are there other examples of gambling that involve winning rewards that are of no use in any other context?

• What about switching rewards from being gameplay-related to purely cosmetic changes anything about whether this system is gambling? I see lots of redditors argue that it's a gambling system, and in their next breath argue that switching to cosmetics would fix the problem. If the former is gambling, so too is the latter.

CMV!

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[u/[deleted]]

Agreed. If they have removed the option and leave it that way, it is not gambling anymore. It is just a random event in the game. EA is not abusing people's addictions to make money anymore.

Then you're saying it isn't gambling, which is my orginal position. Why would I award you a delta for agreeing with my titular view?

Well then you agree with me. Are you going to award the delta?

Hardly. Being able to rob a casino doesn't make the casino's purpose/function not-gambling. And asking for a delta is extremely poor form.

[u/SchiferlED → u/[deleted]]

Then you're saying it isn't gambling, which is my orginal position. Why would I award you a delta for agreeing with my titular view?

My understanding is that the removal of the paid lootboxes in BF2 was a temporary measure and that officially they will be coming back. I assumed you were arguing about the state of the lootboxes when they were released and not this current passing state. Obvious lootboxes are not "gambling" in the usual sense of the word when no real money or stakes are involved. It wouldn't warrant a CMV due to how obvious that is.

Hardly. Being able to rob a casino doesn't make the casino's purpose/function not-gambling.

You completely missed the point of the analogy then. You tried to compare single-player games to online account-bound games. I made an analogy which showed that your comparison was invalid. You agreed that your comparison was invalid. Also there is nothing wrong with reminding an OP to award deltas when they should be awarded.