The EU votes to address loot boxes, gold farming, and gaming addiction

[Puiu]

Really? I was born and grew up in the Soviet Union, and had the first of my children before the USSR dissolved (though luckily by then I had emigrated). I was a good Konsomol member in my youth: I know what communism is. And I can tell you that the propaganda being used to rationalize the regulation of loot boxes is identical to the justifications I heard then for regulating "dangerous" Western goods like blue jeans and Hollywood films. Allow children to be exposed to the decadent bourgeois fads and fashions of the West? Are you insane?

So yes, I am most certainly familiar with communism and the justifications used to remove people's freedom. You'll need to do better than that.

you are comparing "fashion bans" with something that is known to cause harm... why?

and if you really were from Soviet Russia you wouldn't care about this. (or you are confused and are making weird comparisons that have no place here)

propaganda? western products? how are any of these relevant in this discussion? they're not.

we are talking about stoping dangerous practices of gaming companies that refuse to self regulate. if self regulation does not work (and we are both clear on this: it isn't) then government regulation is a must.

if gaming companies refuse to stop selling loot boxes and continue with predatory practices targeted at children then we nothing else to discuss. regulate them. no amount of "freedom" fluff is going to change this simple fact.

things like this are just slaps on the wrist for them when they are making billions:

The ‘dark patterns’ used by Epic Games that led to the largest FTC penalties ever

The agency alleged the company employed these deceptive tactics to trick young gamers into spending more than they realized. But other companies use them, too.

www.marketwatch.com

this reminds me of a time when I tried to cancel amazon prime for somebody who asked for my help since he couldn't do it. I'm a freaking IT specialist and it took me almost 1 hour to figure it out.

 

[Burty117]

Hilariously, Russia also have Gambling laws and regulations. The guy from Russia moved from one country with Gambling laws to another country with similar Gambling laws but when a new form of gambling turns up, Loot Boxes, he goes all American "You're violating my rights!".

Absolutely incredible.

 

[Endymio]

if gaming companies refuse to stop selling loot boxes and continue with predatory practices targeted at children then we nothing else to discuss

If gaming companies refuse to stop selling violent videogames and continue with predatory practices targeted at children, we have nothing else to discuss. I've already proven beyond dispute that the proven harm from these forms of games far exceeds that from loot boxes. So let's save the children, and ban both, eh?

propaganda? western products? how are any of these relevant in this discussion? they're not

Of course they're relevant, for two reasons. The first of course is your claim that I "know nothing about communism" and its resultant restrictions on freedom. The second is the chilling similarity in their propaganda and yours. Authoritarians speak in tropes.

Soviet academics had mounds of research and evidence that western films were dangerously harmful, particularly to children -- far more than what exists against loot boxes. And you know what? Much of what they said was true. But in the final analysis, freedom was far more important than those tangential harms.

The only harm you've shown from loot boxes is that, if the parent allows them unlimited credit, they can cause children to "make poor spending choices". So what? So do ten thousand other things. The true harm here is the overly-indulgent parent. Give any young child a no-limit credit card, and see how wise their spending choices are.

The guy from Russia moved from one country with Gambling laws to another country with similar Gambling laws but when a new form of gambling turns up, Loot Boxes, he goes all American "You're violating my rights!".

Actually I moved from the USSR. And if I'd wanted USSR-style restrictions on freedom, I would have stayed put.

 

[Burty117]

Actually I moved from the USSR. And if I'd wanted USSR-style restrictions on freedom, I would have stayed put.

Since you consider any restrictions on gambling, completely against freedom. Then why did you move? Since you know, the US also has gambling laws.

But I'm tired of reading this anyway, you don't understand gambling at all. I'm sure your advice to anyone addicted to anything is "just stop being addicted" which is as helpful as a chocolate teapot.