Goddammit you are right, this is what I got from a Google search:
Loot Boxes (2004/2010): While randomized items originated in earlier Eastern games, Valve introduced loot crates (crates and keys) to the Western market in Team Fortress 2 (2010)
I checked to verify the information, as it was part of an AI response. And it is true.
But at least it was a free to play game. Later other companies also had it in games that were charged full price for.
Rocket League went from crates to blueprints when the crates became illegal in games in the EU.
I stopped buying shit immediately. I went from shelling out ~$50/month (I had to set a limit on my create opening spending), to $0/month. Because now, the shit I would consider spending a create key on costs more than what I paid for the game*, for a single little cosmetic item. Their prices are insane. So now they get nothing from me, and have done since.
(*) I played since before it went F2P.
It’s definitely better than crates, because that was probably thousands of dollars I spent on basically nothing, but their prices are way too high now. They missed the mark.
I don’t mean anything by this question, but do you see any casino as a scumbag company too? or is there a difference in how valve is operating that puts them in that category?
I don’t think we have always thought of gambling in general as scummy. Although maybe. I don’t know. But inherently I think it is, because it exploits something we all share as humans — hope, without an innate understanding of probability and statistics. And I don’t think the early gambling profiteers understood how much they were actually exploiting people. But I don’t know much history there, so maybe they were. If so, more to my point of scumminess. 😅
Weird, I was told that Mass Effect 3 started loot boxes.
The other person who replied to you shows that loot boxes predated Mass Effect 3, which came out in 2012. (Fun fact: the Legendary Edition removes all that crap.)
Valve started this shit.
Valve is and always has been a scumbag company.
Goddammit you are right, this is what I got from a Google search:
I checked to verify the information, as it was part of an AI response. And it is true.
But at least it was a free to play game. Later other companies also had it in games that were charged full price for.
Rocket League went from crates to blueprints when the crates became illegal in games in the EU.
I stopped buying shit immediately. I went from shelling out ~$50/month (I had to set a limit on my create opening spending), to $0/month. Because now, the shit I would consider spending a create key on costs more than what I paid for the game*, for a single little cosmetic item. Their prices are insane. So now they get nothing from me, and have done since.
(*) I played since before it went F2P.
It’s definitely better than crates, because that was probably thousands of dollars I spent on basically nothing, but their prices are way too high now. They missed the mark.
Good thing you stopped wasting money on that shit. 👍
Yeah dude. Better to put that money on new games instead! 😅
Fifa Ultimate Team which eventually made its way into Madden and then 2K with NBA
The fucking hat simulator, who here remembers?
I don’t mean anything by this question, but do you see any casino as a scumbag company too? or is there a difference in how valve is operating that puts them in that category?
Not the person you asked but I definitely see all casinos as scumbags, holy shit yes. Very exploitative business, definitely. Preying on weakness.
that’s fairly true, preying on weakness and all that. I guess I shouldve angled the question a bit different.
is there any form of gambling that isn’t scummy? I don’t think gambling is inherently exploitative, personally.
Gambling among friends, without a ‘house’ to rake a percentage off the top, is arguably non-scummy.
I don’t think we have always thought of gambling in general as scummy. Although maybe. I don’t know. But inherently I think it is, because it exploits something we all share as humans — hope, without an innate understanding of probability and statistics. And I don’t think the early gambling profiteers understood how much they were actually exploiting people. But I don’t know much history there, so maybe they were. If so, more to my point of scumminess. 😅
Weird, I was told that Mass Effect 3 started loot boxes.
The other person who replied to you shows that loot boxes predated Mass Effect 3, which came out in 2012. (Fun fact: the Legendary Edition removes all that crap.)
Fifa ultimate team for video games pre-dates Valve doing crates in TF2