U.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Loot Boxes And Pay-To-Win Microtransactions

[Taernath]

Microtransactions as a whole aren't necessarily bad, but I do think loot boxes and things like them need to be recognized as gambling and regulated as such. The 'think of the children' angle is a little weird, and I'm slightly worried they're going to use it to push more censorship via ESRB bullshit. I'm going to get a good laugh out of them trying to define pay2win though.

[Stumplicker]

Explain the cigarette to gaming analogy then please? That's the part that throws me; the part where you imply gaming companies now are doing things as bad as cigarette manufacturers pushing another narrative in the name of profits.

Gambling is a heavily regulated system because of its propensity to be addictive and financially ruinous.

Drugs are heavily regulated because of their propensity to be addictive and financially ruinous.

What the game companies have done with marketing is pick out the addictive parts of other, heavily regulated systems that they can use to their advantage, squinted at them in a way that they can be called "technically not illegal yet" and then employed the exact same tactics that are heavily regulated in other industries, often targeting children specifically. Now they're heavily lobbying against illegalizing what they're doing despite knowing full well that it's the same thing that other industries have been regulated for. If you're aware a thing is wrong, and you spend billions of dollars fighting for it anyway just so you can extract a few more dollars out of some addicts, you should pay for that with your freedom when you finally lose that fight.

[Gelston]

This bill only targets intentional microtrans to minors. It will have very little, if any, effect if it passes.

[Taernath]

This bill only targets intentional microtrans to minors. It will have very little, if any, effect if it passes.

No, games “whose developers knowingly allow minor players to engage in microtransactions.” is extremely broad. Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Skyrim etc. all fall under that M rated umbrella.

[Gelston]

No, games “whose developers knowingly allow minor players to engage in microtransactions.” is extremely broad. Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Skyrim etc. all fall under that M rated umbrella.

Knowingly allow is intentional, in my book.

[Clunk]

Since Gemstone markets itself as T for teen and has a “note to parents”, GS is definitely a “kid’s game”.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by age for players in the games.

My guess is the over 30 folks far outnumber any under 18 in Gemstone. Many of us have been playing well over 20 years.

[Stumplicker]

Ehhh..it seems...ambiguous unless they kinda fix the wording. I mean, you have to be over 18 to consume internet pornography. But they solved that problem of ensuring not to serve pornography to minors by having an "Are you over 18 years old?" question on the splash page of every website. That worked so well at restricting access to minors that they don't even bother to do it anymore! And I've never heard of a porn website being sued for serving content to minors, so they seem pretty legally covered. "They said they were 18, so we now have no reason to believe they aren't!"

[Gelston]

I'm curious who would enforce this. I'm guessing the FTC.

[Stumplicker]

I'm curious who would enforce this. I'm guessing the FTC.

The bigger companies I don't think would be an issue if a law got passed. I mean, I'm still fairly certain this gets killed before it ever becomes an issue, but the first second EA steps out of line after a "no more microtransactions" law, there will be a far pastier, nerdier, and digital equivalent of the march on Ferguson. The internet police would make a big enough stink to get SOMEBODY to act. Overall though, yes, very difficult to enforce. I'd imagine they'd have to do it like they do with online casinos. Force you to have a wireless connection for geolocation, and a copy of your SS# and driver's license. It's a gigantic pain in the nutsack.

Edit to add: I'd LOVE to see it work like that, by the way. Make it an opt-in system for adults rather an an opt out where you have to police against minors coming in accidentally. You have to jump through the same hoops as you would playing at a casino online if you want to utilize microtransactions. That'd kill that business model fast.

[Gelston]

The bigger companies I don't think would be an issue if a law got passed. I mean, I'm still fairly certain this gets killed before it ever becomes an issue, but the first second EA steps out of line after a "no more microtransactions" law, there will be a far pastier, nerdier, and digital equivalent of the march on Ferguson. The internet police would make a big enough stink to get SOMEBODY to act. Overall though, yes, very difficult to enforce. I'd imagine they'd have to do it like they do with online casinos. Force you to have a wireless connection for geolocation, and a copy of your SS# and driver's license. It's a gigantic pain in the nutsack.

Edit to add: I'd LOVE to see it work like that, by the way. Make it an opt-in system for adults rather an an opt out where you have to police against minors coming in accidentally. You have to jump through the same hoops as you would playing at a casino online if you want to utilize microtransactions. That'd kill that business model fast.

I just figure people under 18 shouldn't have debit or credit cards in the first place, and if they do, it is because their dumb parents gave it to them. Don't blame it on the games for their parents failing.