Hacker News Reader

Comment by esotericn | Hacker News Reader

I don't really think "just digitized" captures the problem with these boxes.

Imagine a fairly boring interface that has Pokemon cards or football stickers in. Like your hands holding them and trading them and sticking them on things.

Now contrast that to the loot box stuff that has exciting music, flashing lights, A-B tested into oblivion, the money comes from some ethereal 'account' rather than involving an actual exchange, etc.

I think the analogy is more with the flashing exciting slot machines at the pub (which seem to have evolved a ton since I were a small as well...)

View on HN

I was part of the development on a game which had loot boxes and we had a lot of talk about the reveal, building excitement, etc.

One team member had previous experience from working on casino games and he said that at least there they had clear rules for how they were allowed to handle it and who they were allowed to target.

The flashing lights are a nice bonus, but the comparison to trading cards is still valid imo. It's basically the same thing. Yes the technology has advanced, but the risks are the same.

Companies that sold trading cards, stickers, whatever did the same marketing and testing as video game companies.

Maybe just a little bit of a way to remove the dopamine high, or make it slightly worse, would be to have the kid physically hand you the money before they open the case so they feel the pain of spending the cash.

Which surely only works for older kids who've had the experience of earning money with hard graft.

maybe... though, I think even at that age we are all the same with respect to losing things that you had. i think though that if you are letting your kids do lootboxes before they have earned the money to open them it's probably too soon anyway.

Well, you can do it the good ol' way with ceramic piggy banks that do not open but need to be crashed with a hammer.

Anecdata, I had one in the shape of a dinosaur, must have ben 5 or 6 and I still remember (some 50 years later) the day I decided that I needed a new toy the doubts about actually breaking it (with the assistance of my dad) and perfectly remmber the dinosaur, whilst I cannot remember at all which toy I was willing to get, probably a toy gun, but I am not sure.

Not just that, digitized also means that it is available for purchase pretty much anywhere and at anytime verses in a specific place during business hours. Also unlike stickers and collectible cards these games get to advertise their newest goods everything you interact with the product.

I completely agree with this - those flashing lights, music and big reveal is all optimised for a dopamine hit. It feels pretty manipulative.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com