How Loot Boxes Became the Bane of Players’ Existences

Sometimes you just need that little bit of extra help. When that boss just seems insurmountable or that level keeps kicking your butt. And sometimes you just want to look funny, quirky or outright ridiculous.

The latter instance of cosmetic adjustments was at the start of loot boxes in videogames. You could buy a loot box and suddenly your fierce martial artist would run around with cat eyes or a bushy fox tail. It was fun and it was harmless. But over the years, players have come to hate the concept of loot boxes with a passion and here is why.

They have become pay to win vehicles

While paying for a new fighter or a new weapon in and of itself is fine, it’s not cool to dig into players’ pockets if they want to win. The harsh reality is sometimes players need to dish out full price for a game, but then would hit unfair roadblocks that can only be smashed with the help of a weapon or a skill that is locked behind a loot box.

EA Sports has become a main offender in this category and when your joypad skills just aren’t enough anymore to lift the league trophy and you have to buy loot box after loot box to get your player to the level of other online competitors in online matches, the fun gets sucked right out of the game.

Loot boxes are glorified lotteries

What’s even more frustrating about the use of loot boxes to win is that you will never know what your loot box contains. It’s a ridiculous gamble and you could just as well make your way to one of the Pay N Play casinos to gamble. At least, there you know that you will win real money.

Some frustrated players have even tried to get loot boxes classified as gambling, but since you always get something of value out of a loot box (admittedly not always the case in Pay N Play casinos), they can not be constituted as gambling.

Another argument is that the contents of loot boxes don’t have monetary value and can therefore not be called winnings. But since items can now be exchanged for real money in marketplaces, this evaluation might have to be…well…re-evaluated.

Should underage players be banned from purchasing loot boxes?

With the frustrating experience with loot boxes might deter responsible adult players from continuing to buy them, they can be especially harmful for problem gamblers and children.
Because since you don’t know what your loot box will contain, you might get the same “prize” several times and addictive personalities run the danger of constantly purchasing until they get exactly the item or player that they were shooting for.

The same goes for children, and it is hard for parents to always have an eye on their gaming behaviour. So, it might be a wise idea to get some regulation going that would inhibit children to buy loot boxes.