if you dont know what is happening, possibly due to being in a coma for a few months, lootboxes have infested recent games. EA took it too far with their newest star wars game and now governments are looking into lootbox legislation.
while I do not think that SK is anywhere close to that bad with lootboxes, I am still curious if and if yes, how this may influence the game.
But then again, the thing was mostly about them being an element of gampling not suited for kids. If Overwatch lootboxes are affected by the EU decision, so will SK boxes.
I would definitely like to see US government bringing down the hammer on loot boxes as a whole, as this loot box enigma soak into the fabrics of the internet culture, SK may actually come under fire, GH may actually have to change their misbegotten ways for once and release actual content. Like new DLCs and such.
If anything, the boxes could be a huge turn off to new players in the long run as RNG based reward system become a destained practice.
@Midnight-Dj: I don't know if you are serious or just being sarcastic. It looks like you are saying that the microtransactions SK has are bad and it is all GH fault and that they should be forced to change it, on top of that you are saying that they havent been releasing "actual content".
Do you even know what it would take to make content with a game that isn't making much money at all, let alone them having a small team and most if not all of them having other jobs as well.
For being such a small team and for having such tight income from SK they have listened to us and givin us stuff we wanted. Like the pirate stuff, the style update, the sleep update and they said they would try to start doing some merch. Plus they have said they are working on bigger updates, it will just take them a long time.
I may not be understanding the purpose of your post but to me it looks like you are giving unfair criticism to GH.
As far as if this loot box investigation stuff will effect SK I kinda doubt it will, at least not for a long time. I myself am loving the direction that it is going and I hope EA has finally learned their lesson. You cant just force something like this on a product that is a part one of the biggest franchises ever.
@Nuclear-Lynx
I don't know if you are serious or just being sarcastic.
Both actually, while I may have exaggerated the possible out come of this fall out, you have to keep in mind how big EA's screw up can impact the gaming landscape as a whole. That would include SK, while SK is F2P, it does contain gambling elements, like the randomized gear from a prize box that you have to part with your real life money in order to acquire.
A lower sale in prize box could motivate GH to change its monetization style, maybe even bring mist back. From GH's silence the only thing I see that can force them to change is hurt them in the same way as EA, in the wallet.
It looks like you are saying that the microtransactions SK has are bad and it is all GH fault and that they should be forced to change it,
And why is it wrong for me to say that? SK has been on a decline and GH is calling all the shots, and since they are still on radio silence, then I assume they too are willing to take all the blame for any screw ups as they shut themselves away from the fanbase a long time ago. A dumb move by the standard of any game developers.
on top of that you are saying that they havent been releasing "actual content".
They haven't, sleep update is simply re-implementing something that was already in the game with a few new tweaks. I haven't checked the new 'fashion knight' update, though from the looks of it, it is just a few change in the shader. When I say 'ACTUAL CONTENT', I mean 100% new content, new story, new mission and new enemies ect.
While I am aware the definition for content can skewer from person to person, but to me, SK has hardly changed in any meaningful way in the past few years. And a lack of change for a MMO could only entail decline. As the evidence have shown.
Do you even know what it would take to make content with a game that isn't making much money at all, let alone them having a small team and most if not all of them having other jobs as well.
I do, I have worked with two guys this year to make a video game as a project, even with a whole year to work on it, they barely passed the pre-alpha stage. I am not saying GH need to make new content every months if RNG boxes are actually banned someday, but rather, they would be forced to change their monetization style, bring something new to the table.
For being such a small team and for having such tight income from SK they have listened to us and givin us stuff we wanted. Like the pirate stuff, the style update, the sleep update and they said they would try to start doing some merch.
That is the one thing I contest, until one of GH's real developer actually give a general nod (ie. post something here) to the fact they do listen, I am calling bluff to this type of optimistic thinking. For all we know, they could have done any of those things for other reasons. Our opinions be damned.
For example, they might already have a pirate prize boxes in the working, and when they released it, people start screaming that this is somehow the proof they GH listens, even though the suggestion was three years old.
I may not be understanding the purpose of your post but to me it looks like you are giving unfair criticism to GH.
I am not going to give GH any leeway unlike any of you, they have much to account for, for the amount of screw ups in the past, like how long they responded to the radiant drought (and the end game is still way too grindy IMO, it turned me off from the game). You may have forgiven GH, but I will always remind people just how much of SK's potential GH have squandered.
This EA loot box debacle could finally make GH seek another way to monetize the game as loot box become stigmatized. So I do not think it is a bad thing for GH to change. As much as I think they are terrifyingly afraid of it.
"Maybe even bring mist back."
I haven't heard a worse suggestion than this in my entire life.
thats the worst you heard?
you know how often I have had people suggest they remove orbs? and no, not just back to crafting with energy, just remove them without replacement.
@midnight-dj
how are boxes in SK a reward system?
the only affected boxes would be promo ones and maybe ones that are opened with silver keys. neither of those boxes are in any way part of a reward system. well, maybe lockboxes, but who opens those.
and yes, I agree that your criticism is blown out of proportion.
now I would like you to go back on topic. anyone else too for that matter.
@Midnight-Dj: I can understand your thoughts on the content side of things but I still think you might be going a little heavy in blaming GH. If anyome I would blame Sega. They in my opinion where the ones holding SK back from being the great game it could be.
I do understand that the stuff that I see as content (Even if it is very minor stuff) others see as just them being lazy. If you look at it though they could have said screw SK and not even added stuff into they game, let alone buy out SK from Sega. If Sega still had control I doubt we would have even gotten the sleep update.
Also GH didn't kill off SK, that happened when OOO and Sega still owned SK, yes I know that they where once part of OOO but that doesnt mean that the way the game turned out the past few years is their fault (I think they where held back by Sega). So while I don't agree with you on that I still understand where you are comming from.
@Neueragon: I don't think the boxes in SK will come under fire seing as they release the odds, they are mostly cosmetics and reskins (With the exception of the mixmasters), and they aren't really an insentive to gambling as the boxes aren't tied to progression like Battlefront 2's boxes are.
@Tech- Star and Neueragon
Bringing mist back means player would have at least a degree of control over their progression instead of relying on RNG orb drops (as if SK isn't RNG enough alread). And 5* weapon end game would be less tedious of a grind and player can actually have a sense of pride in making one as supposed to becoming a burden that have no hope of ever been fully heated.
GH essentially butchered its end game with radiants for the hope that the early and mid game suck in enough new players. But in turn they loose them probably just as fast pre free elevator since the player blitz through the mission only to face plant into the end game grind wall.
how are boxes in SK a reward system?
How is it not? People seemed to get suckered in by the idea that cosmetic =/= gambling, no, it is still gambling, every prize box is essentially a lottery ticket you buy with IRL money in the hope for a chance to get gears that are based on RNG, in another word, gambling in a nut shell.
The EA debacle is a hope for something new, maybe US can implement some type of law that forbade RNG based reward system link to real money, hence, GH would have to make the rewards from the prize boxes guaranteed.
@Midnight-Dj: Im not trying to start an argument but why do you keep saying GH implemented all the radiant crystals and the orbs? It was OOO that did that, I know that the developers in GH probably helped design that system when they where with OOO, but you saying it is GH as a whole who made those changes is giving them a bad name and accusing a company as a whole for something another company did.
Like I said not trying to argue, just trying to understand why you are saying what you are.
@Nuclear-Lynx
I treat GH as simply a remnant of OOO without the oversight of SEGA. I mean, in the past you can excuse OOO's action by putting it on SEGA, but with SEGA out of the picture, and the status quo of the game unchanged. Then the blame lies solely on OOO, or what is left of it, GH.
While indeed the bad decisions in the past may have been caused by third parties, but that doesn't change the fact GH is still responsible for the well being of this game.
how is it not a reward system? simple.
you get your rewards in the form of crowns, materials and rarities. have you ever found a prize box while exploring the clockworks? because some games give you lootboxes for winning or doing a certain task or getting a certain amount of xp. like overwatch, or robocraft or who knows how many games I dont even know about.
now if you two have to keep your discussion up, make your own thread. this is about lootboxes.
@Neueragon: I was just asking why Midnight felt that way about what was said in their first post, so we didn't completely go off topic. I am happy to oblige but you know its better to take an easy approach if you want us to stop talking about it. Outright saying to make our own thread is kinda rash. Its not like we just started talking about call of duty or somethin like that, our conversation stemmed from the questions you had about loot boxes and if/how it would effect SK. So we weren't that far off topic, in fact we included at least a few thoughts to your original question in each post.
Also I do agree a bit with Midnight, the cosmetics you get from loot boxes still have their gambling insentives. It just isn't a major insentive as it doesn't effect the gaming experience. While they may not be as big of an insentive the fact still remains that people can still fall under a gambling trap from SK loot boxes.
But I will just shut up and let you guys talk about the loot boxes.
writing whole paragraphs about stuff not related to lootboxes is off topic. if you put maybe a comment or two about lootboxes in as well, great, but this thread isnt called "what did or didnt GH do wrong and maybe talk about the lootbox debacle a little".
and take the easy approach? I did ask you nicely to go back on topic before. I was pretty much ignored.
back on topic thankfully, I didnt say loot boxes dont have their gambling incentives. I just said it isnt part of the reward system. you are not rewarded by the game in the form of lootboxes. you also cant even spend your crowns directly on lootboxes (other than trading with other people, but thats a different story). this isnt overwatch, you dont get lootboxes for completing a lvl.
GH, I know you moved this thread to GC in an attempt to bury the discussion, but I and many gamers are keeping the fight going across the internet, here is the latest development. Your days of prize boxes are numbered!
People accept it with SK since it's a F2P game and most of the boxes are not pay to win items. (Of course, there was enough complaining about mixmaster)
I doubt it would influence SK.