Are Loot Boxes A Form Of Gambling?!

This video tries to answer the question that governments, businesses and gamers have all been asking. Are loot boxes a form of gambling? The answer will differ from person to person but the answer to this question has major implications for the gaming industry.

Huge thank you to Mr. Beat for collaborating with me on this video! Make sure to check out his channel and his video on Murphy V. NCAA!

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[iammrbeat]

Thanks for collaborating with me and fantastic job with this video. However, I do have to ask you, did you really buy that package of Pokemon cards? :D

[GamboBombuski]

There's one key aspect that you didn't mention. Casinos and Loot-Box Enabled videogames use flashing lights and exciting sounds to emotionally goad you into making your purchase decisions without having the time to properly consider the consequences of your actions. For physical trading card packs, you physically have to hand over the money to a vendor to purchase the goods, instead of just click to buy them.

[swapsplat]

SKOL!! Thanks for showing that Vikings/Saints highlight. I never get tired of watching it!

[lsdesignweb]

I wonder why Mr Sinn left out the inconvenience detail that the card are in your power as long as you wanna hold them ... but your game account is in your power until THE GAMER OWNER shuts downs the servers.

[shannonbeat]

I didn’t know that’s what they were called!

[GiffysChannel]

Definitely a form of gambling. I just never thought about trading cards being the OG of lootboxes. That explains why I loved opening the packs so much

[davestrasburg]

This is hardly actual gambling. ln any event, as a de facto libertarian, l think folks should be able to do what they want, including gambling, within supervision.

[jeffreyhebert]

Just subscribed..anybody ever tell you that you look and sound like Will Wheaton from star trek next generation..

[Idontwantyourcookie]

good content but by god please stop with that awful loud popping sound

[friendlyfire]

To be honest... The best "Lootbox" idea is just cames from Overwatch. Which you can GET about I dunno 5-4 daily? maybe even more than that. AND ALSO THIS!
How often do you get Legendaries in Overwatch?
A Legendary item is included in about 7.5% of all boxes. A Rare Victory Pose is included in about 23% of all boxes.
7.5 Legendary. Its quite litterally common. Which some games "Legendaries" are 0.1%

[jpe]

The video seems to switch back and forth between two very different definitions of “gambling.” One is the conventional meaning of “a game of chance that pays out in something fungible (usually money)” and the other is the much, much broader meaning of “an action whose ultimate outcome is unknowable beforehand.” Playing roulette is gambling by both definitions; playing Russian roulette is only gambling by the second.
When I buy M:TG cards IRL I will get a certain (predetermined, and precisely known) number of cards. Which exact cards I get is a gamble by the second definition, but since I will definitely be getting the quantity of cards I paid for, and nothing else, it is not a gamble by the first definition.
Where this gets grey is in virtual worlds. Some lines are fairly clear: if I gamble (in the first sense) with virtual money but can convert it to real-world money then it is clearly still gambling in the first sense, but if can not convert virtual currency back into real-world currency then it is not. But if I bet virtual currency for the chance to win virtual goods that can later be sold through a marketplace for real-world money, while that is clearly gambling by the second definition I’m not sure it is by the first. Let’s add another layer, and say that my loot box doesn’t give me anything I can sell directly but does allow me to “buff” a virtual character that then has real-world value.
Going back to the real world, imagine if one in every 500 baseball card packs included a $100 bill instead of a stick of gum. Then buying baseball cards would be gambling by the first definition.

[QuixoteX]

As I've been saying for years, gambling or not, it's piss poor game design and a predatory mechanic. Additionally the game developers are at liberty to take away or alter items you receive. They are also often not freely tradable. The comparison to collectable cards is slim.

[PierreaSweedieCat]

Oh, PLEASE, lose the POP sound. And I'll subscribe anyway! I know why you did it. it is like a loot box pop-up. But detracts from an EXCELLENT vid.
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Although to call these things random is rather false. The owner-operators can tell one-armed bandits how much to pay out, how often, and even when, yo quite some degree. Oh, yes, it is done by ranges ($10-30, $50-100, $500-1000, and etc) but it is not completely random. They can thus guarantee their profit. But to the gambler, it appears random...

[jpe]

My 11th grade economics teacher taught me that the law of diminishing utility was the idea that having even more of something becomes less useful the more we already have. For example, imagine you are visiting an amusement park and you are hot and thirsty... you might be willing to pay $3.00 for a 500ml bottle of water, the utility of that first bottle is fairly high, and you might pay $5.50 for a 1 liter bottle, and even possibly $10.00 for a 2 liter bottle, but if the vendor said “I’ll sell you 20 2 liter bottles for only $100.” you would look at him like he was crazy. There is vey little utility in bottles beyond the first one or two. That’s diminishing marginal utility, the more you have of something the less value (utility) you place on having the next increment of it (the marginal product).

[randallbatson]

I came from Mr. Beats channel. I had ran for a US Senate Senate back in the day, and have a unique perspective as to how even if they are that they can be transisted into non gambling, but as a reward for service rendered.

[christophekeating]

It sounds to me like both trading cards and loot boxes fit the definition of gambling you provided. Just because they're a different form of gambling (with stakes other than money) doesn't mean it isn't gambling. If the value of credit chips in casinos were to change over time, and people could buy and sale them to other players, would gambling with credit chips cease to be gambling?
As for the possibility of banning loot boxes without proof the one buying them is of legal age, I say the sooner the better

[Riael]

3:00

You mean... like people going to work for money?

...That guy is a genius.

[muzzy]

It's like buying a lottery ticket.

[treeckob]

Man parents try to sue Pokémon company for the Pokémon TCG form of gambling

[Jacobaseballyt]

its me again sinn Dogg. love this video too. can you do another video in call of duty modern warfare. I need to know more about indigenous people. thanks Dogg.