I feel like whether it does or does not need regulation is really determined by outcome.
Lootboxes need legislation because they are obviously and clearly causing real harm to people through hyper-optimised gambling mechanics, fomo and feedback loops placed into the games. It is creating unhealthy gambling addicts out of people which is the exact same reason gambling is regulated in the first place.
Trading cards? Not so much. Certainly not anywhere near the same scale. There is a very clear difference in outcomes between lootbox gambling and booster card packs. I'm sure you can probably find some instances of adults taking it way too seriously and doing unhealthy stuff but it's quite different.
Trading cards? Not so much. Certainly not anywhere near the same scale. There is a very clear difference in outcomes between lootbox gambling and booster card packs. I’m sure you can probably find some instances of adults taking it way too seriously and doing unhealthy stuff but it’s quite different.
I had friends who were really into MTG in college and uhhhh
That's a bit needlessly aggressive. Is their any evidence that card packs cause any kind of longterm gambling habits or gambling addiction? There is for lootboxes, the research on them is growing and finding that the mechanics of these games are producing nearly identical results to straight up gambling and the recommendations are that they should be treated and regulated as gambling.
I don't mean this to poo poo on your points Skoub. I've seen the comparison brought up a number of times in the past (usually used by defenders of lootboxes). I just think they're probably different in outcomes and I'm surprised if study doesn't already exist out there on the topic of them. If it doesn't exist then it SHOULD be done to investigate it, that's the best way to find out for sure whether it should or should not happen and it's also the best way to actually move things towards the goal of making it happen too.
I think the causal difference is ease of access. Digital purchases are a million times easier than the physical purchase that was always necessary for these or other pack-based things (football stickers and trading cards spring to mind).
I can see that changing with digital purchase and delivery of the product but I don't think amazon or other online stores are setup in the same kind of way that videogames with lootbox systems are to minimise the knowledge of how much is being spent. There's a difference in how the packs are purchased, with amazon and online stores you directly purchase a pack with your money straight from your card but in the videogames you actually buy 10,000 points that you then go and spend on various items/boxes in-game to disassociate the feeling of spending the money and make it harder to feel negative emotions about what is being spent. There are multiple things in the system that go deeper than even online purchases of physical card packs. Not to mention that you have to wait for the packs and don't get instant gratification from opening them, so you don't get an instant hit of feel-good drugs from the moment you spend due to immediate opening.
I'm not saying that they're definitely different. Just that there are some material differences that may be responsible for the differences of opinions.
I feel like whether it does or does not need regulation is really determined by outcome.
Lootboxes need legislation because they are obviously and clearly causing real harm to people through hyper-optimised gambling mechanics, fomo and feedback loops placed into the games. It is creating unhealthy gambling addicts out of people which is the exact same reason gambling is regulated in the first place.
Trading cards? Not so much. Certainly not anywhere near the same scale. There is a very clear difference in outcomes between lootbox gambling and booster card packs. I'm sure you can probably find some instances of adults taking it way too seriously and doing unhealthy stuff but it's quite different.
I had friends who were really into MTG in college and uhhhh
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That's a bit needlessly aggressive. Is their any evidence that card packs cause any kind of longterm gambling habits or gambling addiction? There is for lootboxes, the research on them is growing and finding that the mechanics of these games are producing nearly identical results to straight up gambling and the recommendations are that they should be treated and regulated as gambling.
I don't mean this to poo poo on your points Skoub. I've seen the comparison brought up a number of times in the past (usually used by defenders of lootboxes). I just think they're probably different in outcomes and I'm surprised if study doesn't already exist out there on the topic of them. If it doesn't exist then it SHOULD be done to investigate it, that's the best way to find out for sure whether it should or should not happen and it's also the best way to actually move things towards the goal of making it happen too.
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I think the causal difference is ease of access. Digital purchases are a million times easier than the physical purchase that was always necessary for these or other pack-based things (football stickers and trading cards spring to mind).
I can see that changing with digital purchase and delivery of the product but I don't think amazon or other online stores are setup in the same kind of way that videogames with lootbox systems are to minimise the knowledge of how much is being spent. There's a difference in how the packs are purchased, with amazon and online stores you directly purchase a pack with your money straight from your card but in the videogames you actually buy 10,000 points that you then go and spend on various items/boxes in-game to disassociate the feeling of spending the money and make it harder to feel negative emotions about what is being spent. There are multiple things in the system that go deeper than even online purchases of physical card packs. Not to mention that you have to wait for the packs and don't get instant gratification from opening them, so you don't get an instant hit of feel-good drugs from the moment you spend due to immediate opening.
I'm not saying that they're definitely different. Just that there are some material differences that may be responsible for the differences of opinions.