Is Loot Box Regulation Censorship Of Art? (The Jimquisition)

New Patreon Reward: Jim will have a hard on for you.

Brock Barber

Blinkin' algorithms! It reminds me of those distant times in my message board days (for music magazines like Terrorizer, Zero Tolerance, etc) when moderators would essentially filter-out names of specific bands who were receiving hate at the time, the way certain edgy overgrown teenagers do when they apparently have nothing else going on in their lives. It would replace any correctly spelled instance of the artists name with "That Band" or "They Who Cannot Be Spoken Of". Sorry if I've accidentally got your Patreon feed on a list somewhere Jim... :/

Freakish Uproar

No idea. I didn’t delete it, you maybe tripped a Patreon filter or something?

Jim Sterling

Now, I kinda want to see more intros and wrapups with Jim's shelves of tat as the backdrop, just for variety.

Twit In A Hat

<a href="http://icantbelieveitsnotgambling.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>I Can't Believe It's Not Gambling</i></a> comes to mind.

Twit In A Hat

What happened to my comment? I wrote some of thoughts regarding Jaffe and Pitchford. Nothing outright offensive or abusive, just some mockery and incredulousness.

Freakish Uproar

I think you could probably make a lootbox that *was*, arguably, art- maybe by making it into a kind of meta-allegory for the compulsive, looping nature of the game it is in, openly mocking the player while holding some necessary element for progression out of reach. The way lootboxes are handled right now, however, is less "art" than the concession stand at the movie theater, while also being more expensive, less enjoyable, and probably harder on your arteries.

Kraken

<i>Technically</i> speaking there is a third "yoo wot mate?" option.

Freakish Uproar

*reads the article* Holy crap! What in the world? 😂 Thank you for the link. I cannot wait to see how this plays out. 😃

Perpetual Noob

I've seen some people claim that letting regulations hit loot boxes will effect other game mechanics based on random outcomes like hit values or loot drops, but a lot of slot machines are computerized nowadays, so doesn't that mean those mechanics already are?

i not known about the pitchford thing but if that is the" allegation" of a person younger than 18 on what some of the sites says that is messed up yes a wait and see approach is a good one as that is more than just a bit of porn. Although you have said about the awful practices of CEOs Board member of grinding the workforce down . Could this be another me too thing and how the industry will react to that as on others shows the shares are dropping like flies if it's not going to have a bust moment. And unfortunately this might be the thing needed to wake up people to the shitty practices and how it all fell down. As it will always be the poor people that develop the games that get kicked first for just doing a job. In some of these cases it is like victorian england where it's work yourself to death or die. so it's not all doom and gloom loved the Tim Curry pic and you have 1 lovely kitchen.

I work at a company that makes Video Slot Machines (I work on the back end software, not the games themselves), and it's important to note two things about the casino industry. First off, the executives who make video slot games, think they're making video games, I've been scolded by a couple people by talking about "Real video games" because what we make is supposedly also video games. I bring that up because of what he's suggesting is true then he should be against all regulation of video slot machines too, these are video games that are being heavily regulated, like you wouldn't believe. Secondly, I think it would be important to remember that the gambling industry actually have used to be what everyone thought of when you talked about the "Gaming industry" long before the first pixel blessed any screen. So effectively the AAA game industry is actually trying to say "Yeah we're gaming, but we're not class III gaming" because then they'd be subject to state gaming boards. I agree that It's only a matter of time before legislation gets passed, but then again we have to have a government that can stay open for a full year before we expect very much to come out of washington DC...

That sounds unpleasant when you read that.

noxamillion

Here is the link to <a href="https://kotaku.com/former-gearbox-lawyer-accuses-ceo-randy-pitchford-of-ta-1831679539" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Randy Pitchford accusations</a>.

noxamillion

Business != Art. One is to earn money in whatever way possible, the other is to please the eyes or senses. If lootboxes were art, then microtransactions would be considered art by that logic.<br><br>Seeing David Jaffe make these weak analogies of TV show cliffhangers and serving alcohol to gambling just confuses me. Before he send that tweet, did he not actually think about his argument and see if there are any flaws with it? Did he honestly not think about the differences and nuances between them? Why am I giving this person the benefit of rationality?<br><br>Good on you Jim to not cover Randy Pitchford yet as this situation is still fresh and we need to see what is actually true and what is false.

noxamillion

You're doing good and well-researched work that is beneficial to a wide range of people, even people that may not realize it or even decry it. It's also entertaining. Keep it up!

Even apart from the boxes themselves being art...they're still allowed to use the art in the game, as well as the content of the boxes. They just have to use a different monetisation model. Or just use them in the ingame economy, since so many of the games using them cost a lot upfront anyway.

Hansbert Emmer

Another brilliant video Jim. Thank you for this. 😃 *sighs* You know, I thought David Jaffe was one of the good guys, one of those developer greats who wanted to make good games. Apparently the money is just too good. Apparently he's enjoying being a shill too much. Good for him using the exact same scenario (just a different industry) to attempt to say loot boxes aren't gambling. Alcoholism is real, gambling addiction is real, addiction is real David. You fucking privileged idiot. Also, what about Pitchford?! I'm going to go look that up right now. Thank god for you Jim! 😃

Perpetual Noob

Looks fine to me. It’s not the first time I’ve seen individual viewers get weird sync issues on YouTube.

Jim Sterling

Editing is a bit sloppy at the end. The video/audio sync needs to be tightened up unless I'm the only one getting it. I reloaded twice once in a new tab to be sure

Harry Moore

I hereby declare Jims new name to be "Jim Fucking Two Drives Sterling Son" XD great episode.

Tim Albers

Only going by that headlinr, without twatching the video od readin the text below it... Are lootboxed art? Well, there are 2 possibilities... No, and Fuck No

Kherbellos

SPOILER: It's not!

Tim Albers