Gaming companies are a perfect example of the failure of unregulated capitalism.

[KManX89]

Shadow1980 said:

CuCabeludo said:

Again. It is a non issue. Nobody put a gun in their heads and forced them to buy skins in a game. They do it because they want. How people spend their own money is not my concern.

What's next? Let's ban soda and alcohol because there are people spending too much money and getting sick by drinking too much soda and getting diabetic and too much alcohol.

Anything can be addictive. But not everything is inherently or intentionally addictive. A better comparison would be tobacco, recreational drugs in general, or gambling. Tobacco is highly addictive and inherently harmful, and is therefore subject to regulation. There are restrictions on how it can be advertised, warning labels are mandatory, and it's illegal to sell it to minors. Most recreational drugs are highly addictive and extremely harmful, and are flat out banned as a result. Gambling can be psychologically addictive and many games of chance are often deliberately manipulative in nature. And in many jurisdictions gambling is subject to heavy regulation or even banned. Here in my home state of South Carolina, the only legal form of gambling is the lottery. Utah and Hawaii completely ban all gambling. And in nearly every jurisdiction in the U.S. you have to be at least 18 to gamble (21 in some places and with some types).

Also, we do regulate alcohol. You have to be a certain age to buy or consume it legally, there are restrictions on where you can and cannot consume it, and restrictions on what you can or cannot do while intoxicated. Same for jurisdictions where marijuana is legal.

Society does have the power to regulate things and activities that inherently carry heavy social burdens or are potentially dangerous. Certain forms of microtransactions (namely loot boxes) are very similar to gambling, and many monetization systems are inherently manipulative. Such systems prey on minors and people vulnerable to compulsive behavior. There is more than sufficient evidence to suggest that microtransactions ought to be subject to some form of regulation if the gaming industry fails to regulate itself. Again, every regulation we have exists because the market did not self-regulate.

This. 

Imagine believing that getting sick from drinking too much soda and suffering gambling addiction from loot boxes in games which are MARKETED TO AND RATED APPROPRIATE FOR KIDS (!) are in any way comparable.

Would you look at that! Slot machines, roulette games and pachinko minigames. In a game rated E for everyone. Which the ESRB thinks is appropriate BTW. I get the concern about the government regulating loot boxes, but when the companies responsible for putting their consumers first aren't doing their jobs, then what other choice is there?

Last edited by KManX89 - on 07 October 2019