Loot boxes declared as gambling in Belgium and Hawaii

I think you are right that no-one is playing EQ because the wan't to give DBG money, it is most likely the other way around. I also think no-one would complain if everything in the marketplace was obtainable through normal gameplay.

Sometimes game features gets implemented even if the players hate it, just because the Publisher demands it(copy-protection is another example).

However there are some people who likes to spend real money, on the chance of getting something valuable back, whether it is a rare lon-booster-pack or real money, that still fit the definition of gambling.

And lets be honest, the real reason the currency is called "daybreakcash" instead of Dollars(or another real local currency), is because they don't want players to think of it as real money. It makes it psychologically easier to spend them...when you don't associate it with real money.

That is a horrible analogy unless the only thing you are gambling for are candy bars. Maybe a fat kid casino. Really gambling has a chance of losing without actually winning anything and usually the odds of losing are heavily swayed in favor of the establishment. If you look up the definition of gambling this is in no way gambling by definition and considering you have zero chance of losing anything it is not gambling. It is a game of random chance for a prize or item. Now if these game boxes or the pack of cards had a chance to be empty it would in fact be gambling. At the end of the day you are purchasing an item and you are getting an item and you know that the item you are purchasing is randomized so its not like anyone is being tricked. If people don't like playing games of chance don't play. You can make the argument that this is the distant cousin of gambling but they are not the same thing. Just because some dude in another country sitting in an authority of power says something to be true or not true does not make it fact it just makes it their opinion.

People on these forums need to stop using analogies.

Leaving all of the analogies and responses aside for the moment, if a government chooses to regard it as gambling they could potentially force some significant changes. Likely as not though, a payoff in the form of some financial transfer from game operator to government coffer would probably ease any objections. I find it most interesting to consider the timing of this possible action. What triggered it?

FTFY

Metaphors are to analogies as fallacies are to truths.

Unsure how, ultimately, this is any different than buying packs of baseball cards.

The Hawaii thing will just get struck down.

Europe is a trickier thing.

To help some.

http://www.dictionary.com/

Or maybe you could have included links to what you were talking about.

Stop confusing the issue by stating the obvious. Be at least a bit obscure and assume knowledge not in evidence.

Eh, you might be wrong about Hawaii. Just to add a few more to the list... Australia, China, and France are all seeking potential regulations.

Or walking up to a gumball/candy machine as a 4yo and seeing the sticker on the front showing all the awesome things you have a chance to get.
Thing is, all the neat toys inside are all encased in a plastic egg so once you've begged your parents for a quarter you still have no idea what you're ACTUALLY going to get when you turn that dial, and that has been going on for MANY decades.

A gum ball machine isn’t predatorial. Selling a random chance at an advantage in a competitive multiplayer game is.

What is it you feel gives a competitive advantage?

I've seen you dps, them krono's earn extra dot spots so the lack of a dot revamp - you're still above a cleric.

You obviously have not seen MacGyver. You never know when that piece of gum might be used to encase a bunch of match sticks and create an explosive device when you have been capture by a terrorist organization. In all seriousness what store bought item gives an advantage in EQ. You might have had a case for the war bear mount from LON with it having the best AC mount buff but since TBM launch the expansion upgrade mounts and expansion completion mounts have better buffs and same with the EOK and ROS mounts. I cant think of a single item from the EQ store that is going to make a player uber compared to another player who does not have the item. Pretty much everything is for cosmetics so unless there is some EQ fashion achievement that grants you an uber reward or stat increase that I don't know about I am not sure how this is relevant to EQ?

Oh! I need some gum!. Lets do this, we can make a plane fly with a trench, some wood and some mud

I am game if you are willing to be the test pilot and let me be ground control. Not because of the obvious reasons but because I have severe motion sickness of course. I would not want to paint the inside of our beautiful creation with my lunch.

LoN loot packs, Heritage crates, Pet crates basically all the new ideas Daybreak has put in the market place over the past two years.

I was watching a guy open MTG packs yesterday and it reminded me of why I stopped playing MTG and went to EQ instead. The urge for some people to simply open another pack in simply overwhelming. My self included that why I gave up the hobby.

I wont miss the end of loot crates one bit in EQ.

Gachapon is a scourge.

There was an actual episode with that