We've seen it age and age again, the young people and new people are too ignorant and weak. The only way is through learned family values, which take far too long to impart. Maybe, once the gaming community settles and all parents who vote with their wallet tell their kids to vote with their wallet...
The rate at which young people appear and give leeway to companies catering to inexperienced kids enforces a no-consequences for zero innovation and continuously evolving dark patterns cycle.
We have to solve the company bad behavior problem a different way. We had a very small window with tb years ago, but even then we flubbed it as a community.
Their argument is just "this is gambling, gambling is illegal in ny"
But it is also "you should be doing more to prevent this, this is your responsibility"
But then also "you let kids gamble*
And then sort of ALSO "therefore, you're evil and all of your profits are ill begotten and you've built an industry around 100% preying on gambling for children and circumventing our moral highground laws that outlaw sin"
So, just based on the first one, yeah, guilty.
The second one, maybe. Requiring Valve to do all that suddenly would be a massive undertaking. I'd be curious to see what they could turn out. They'd go from game devs, to store owners, to a small government.
Letting kids gamble though.... Like, this is such bullshit. Fuck off with that nonsense. This is unfair targeting on THAT issue. For what's actually happening everywhere, this is such a targeted and unreasonable change of expectation of consequence. Yeah it has to happen somewhere, but can it happen to fucking EA instead? Or even Pokemon. Do it to the TCG market or the console market. Why the PC market's best platform? Not muh boy Gaben. He's been so good to us all. OUR LORD AND SAVIORRRRRRRRRR
I'm curious to see what happens though. If Valve does lose, I hope things change for the better and not for the worse. I wonder what the Trump admin and other Nazi benefactors and idealists want. Probably to see Valve fall.
This is a mess. I've rewritten this a bit of this and added sections and removed sections. The gist of what I think is just that I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this, and it's a very VERY complex topic that I just want to be done with...
In addition to asking Valve to modify or eliminate its loot box system, the New York suit asks for Valve to make “full restitution to consumers” for the disgorgement of “all monies” received from its gambling system, and for fines of “three times the amount of its gain.” Ars Technica has reached out to Valve for comment.
Lol.
Okay, so,
Loot boxes, like other forms of gambling, can lead to addiction and result in real harm.
But Valve’s loot boxes are particularly pernicious because they are popular among children and
adolescents, who are lured into opening loot boxes by the prospect of winning expensive virtual
items that convey status in the gaming world. Research has shown that children who are
introduced to gambling are at a significantly higher risk of developing gambling addictions later
in life.
I read the "nature of the lawsuit" part of the lawsuit, as I think it's enough to understand the gist of what's going on. The lawsuit is like 50 pages long and I'm not a lawyer, I'm just laying in bed with my eyelids getting heavy.
Basically, 1-11, and 13 are entirely THIS IS GAMBLING with sprinkles of GAMBLING IS BAD. Like, yeah, no fucking duh. 14 states:
As described further below, Valve’s actions violate Article I, Section 9 of the New York
Constitution, and Sections 220.05 and 220.10 of New York’s Penal Law.
Looks like article I section 9 is 'gambling is illegal in ny'. It doesn't immediately say what 220.05/10 are, but going off the really big focus on THIS IS GAMBLING AND GAMBLING IS ILLEGAL trend, I can guess what it says.
So, why the fuck is ny going after valve NOW? Why not... I dunno, a decade ago? This is so weird! And why not sue ALL the companies that have been doing it for many decades now? Niantic, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, the hoards of gacha games and trading card games? It can't really be that the valve definition really just hit some specific conditions, like being otherwise useless skins, most crate opens are worth basically nothing, etc. can it?
And then mixed in is a pretty heavy amount of protect the children. Which... Yes, virtue signal, but yes. Valve shouldn't allow children to be gambling. But also, I think this is a case of a mean-well situation that developed in the wrong way. Valve needs to check themselves and fix this, 100%.
If you don't know, the skins thing developed over probably more than a decade. It was a way for modders and skinners to legitimately make money, rather than be barred by copyright. Valve would share in the profit, everybody would see your custom skins rather than just you, it would give everyone a sense of uniqueness, and wouldn't unbalance the game because it was just cosmetics. Then rarity and logistics, and then it spiraled out of control. It was never meant to be "hey let's give kids gambling addiction and steal their money", Valve is one of the very few companies that that ISN'T their goal, as is very evidenced by anybody who knows anything about them. They aren't EA. It's unfortunate that it ended up this way, with other companies only seeing the dollar signs, with valve landing on it where they have, with the building hate for them.
I had a bunch of other stuff written out, mostly thoughts as I went. I have many thoughts on this. I think Valve should stop lootboxes and set an example as a leader of the industry.
I'm sad to see Valve get kicked so much, and would be devastated to see Steam and Valve fall (muh library!). They generally do try to serve consumers well, it's very clear. They single handedly saved pc gaming by offering a quality service better than piracy. Always on DRM was the trade. I hope they can innovate and do better without further dark patterns. Maybe this lawsuit is just what they need to get their shit together. Maybe it'll destroy them and a bunch of actually shitty companies will continue to be the shittiest companies to ever grace the earth in Valve's place. I have a very bad feeling about this.
Valve, for all our sakes, do better, plz fix. Before this gets worse.
Valve largely stands as one of the last vestiges of consumer positive industries, save for stuff like this, which I think everyone agrees is not good. It's definitely gambling, and it definitely eroded and continues to erode gaming and civilization, in general.
However, in a world of cutthroat wolves and truly evil entities and secret boards of oligarchies, Valve alone sits as a private company, not behaving primarily as a dark pattern machine.
Attacking them needs to happen, but in a political time of rising fascism around the world, and especially as it takes hold in almost all of the federal government and many powerful institutions have recently taken radical nosedives, a power vacuum where, at WORST a grey company once stood, is the last thing we need.
Attacking Valve should happen. But not right now. "My enemy's enemy is my friend", and valve has historically stood protecting gamers, and business and industry, against many of the worst behaviors, as basically a grey paragon of hope.
Tearing them down right now is such a fool's errand where the best outcome is unfortunately a weakening of the company that gives SO MANY PEOPLE hope and peace at the end of the day.
You obviously aren't a fool, and seem quite aware of the dynamics, both legally and really. But, going off the average .ml values and rising industry of communist country gaming companies, I can only assume a motive to weaken the most powerful and successful institution that stands in the way of foreign entities gaining more momentum, be it deliberate or not.
The damage and negativity of allowing the structuring of gambling in this past time is undeniable.
But cutting off one of the hands of one of the few institutions and leading companies that isn't a brazen flagrant late stage capitalist machine, bowing and tithing the fascist federal government is fucking stupid.
Sue EA or an actual auto shitty company instead. Valve will take notice. And if they don't change their ways, wait until there isn't a Nazi sympathizer as president who's being very successful replacing the heads of all information and power throughout the country.
But until then, people need to see attacking Valve for what it really is: attacking virtually the last industry leading and extremely powerful company that stands against everything Trump stands for. As grey and imperfect as they are, they, alone, stand above as a Paragon against the darkness.
It seems an odd time to attack Valve when there are more egregious companies doing much worse of this sort of thing AND worse things happening in the world.
An extreme analogy would be like when Nazi Germany was rising to power and you sued the Jewish public transportation and train industry for false advertising of their fares.
Does that make sense to you? It's a bit complex, so I can understand if maybe that's a bit tough to fully comprehend.
Bidets traditionally do to my knowledge. Mine doesn't, but I don't have the space to get one of those nice, porcelain standalone ones with the dedicated soap and dedicated towel that I've seen in videos online.
Pits strong and vulnerable and powerful and flexing bicep and posing and ribs and waist and little hairs and smelly warmth gahhh i need to sink my teeth in
Feels like when you remember there are somehow still basically pre humans that exist in very very small numbers in extremely isolated geographic pockets on earth.
You, too. What an absolutely toxic and unhelpful thing to say to somebody.