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ESRB to Begin Labeling Games with In-Game Monetization + Provide Parent Information - MMORPG.com Ne
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
ESRB to Begin Labeling Games with In-Game Monetization + Provide Parent Information - MMORPG.com News
The ESRB is going to start labeling physical editions of games to include information about any ability for the user to spend real world currency. This will apply to loot boxes, subscriptions, skins, season passes, DLC, soundtrack purchases or even the ability to disable in-game ads. In addition, the ESRB will be launching a new site to better inform parents about loot boxes and other monetization options their children might face.
Comments
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
So are you saying you are a parent but you don't look at ratings for movies, music, games but perhaps evaluate them for your kid(s) in some other way?
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
The option to buy things isn't the issue. Most games have additional content for purchase. The issue is that lootboxes utilize the same mental manipulations as actual gambling without the regulations or age restriction that comes with such.
This is nothing more than a meaningless, slimy attempt by the ESA/ESRB to do as little as possible to impact the profits made off the back of lootboxes while getting governments off their backs.
If they put that it had Lootboxes and cosmetics to buy, or Subscription+soundtrack on the back, then that helps a person make a slightly more informed decision on the game and is far from being a meaningless gesture.
Parents might see lootboxes on the back and go, wait....im already spending 60 for this game, and knowing my kid, they're gonna hound me for more cash because of these lootboxes? nah, hello kitty 3: mr bones wild ride it is, at least that one doesn't have any extra purchases.
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
It's a step in the right direction but not nearly enough.
A step up from this in meaning would be having different types of monetization influence the ratings like slapping an "A" on games with loot boxes and an "M" on anything with other MTs.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Does anyone think a label is going to make a developer think twice,not a chance,carry on per usual.Good job ESRB i am sure tax payers dollars well spent,every 10 years maybe do a review and maybe add one more label lol.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
WARNING! If you give your child your credit card number, YOU WILL GO BROKE!!
You stay sassy!
The "problem" will still remain though. This only covers physical copies. Of which roughly no DLC (by definition), expansions, loot boxes themselves, or now roughly only 20% of all game sales total are. On top of that, of the most egregious offenders, how many free-to-play MMOs, MOBAs, or other box heavy games even offer a physical copy to being with?
Just stick a link on the sale page with odds on it. That puts it in the realm of baseball cards with inserts, which nobody ever had an issue with for generations now. If you don't look at the odds too bad, they were there. If you do look then you are making a conscious purchase knowing that you probably won't get what you want. Without odds you are purchasing on simple blind hope.
Otherwise, just get rid of lootboxes. We can go back to, on average, more expensive DLC and expansions, with the only way to get any of those awesome costumes or cash shop items would be to pay the 30+ bucks to get it directly. Then people can complain about the high cost of cash shop items again. Then publishers can try to figure out some way to make those things available for a lower price at some kind of odds...
Honestly I haven't even considered buying an actual boxed pc title from a store as of recently. I might if it includes a physical collectible i want. Last game I purchased a physical copy of was Simcity (2013) and only because it was on sale cheaper at Target then through Origin.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Console games I almost always get physical since I get 20% off and can always sell them back if I wanted to. I don't sell back often though. The games I get on day 1 releases tend to be the ones I really wanted and almost always love, and the rest I wait until they're so cheap that there is no resale value heh.
Not only do the boxes take up too much room and so much clutter...
I usually ended up spending hours trying to find cdkeys if the game was really old and I misplaced it (usually in moving time and things thrown in boxes)
And the disks would sometimes get scratched and be unusable, even if kept "safe" in those cd holder things that you put a bunch of cds in, made of leather or whatever it was.
As soon as steam launched, I threw out all my game boxes and disks into the trash to never bother with them again. I'm only 100% digital in regards to gaming, so much easier. And I don't have to worry about a bunch of trash game boxes cluttering my room.
And I never need to rage when I can't find a cd key...or...the cd key stops working for some reason cause some pirate stole it, that happened a few times. That pissed me off so much...digital is the only way to go
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Anyone who expected a different response from the ESRB at this point hasn't been paying attention.
The proposed label by the ESRB will put every type of transaction under a blanket "in game purchases" label while failing to give lootboxes a higher rating. It would effectively lump nearly every game together, placing The Witcher 3 alongside SW:BFII on the same level.
Moreover, even if it does specificially mention lootboxes on the label, that gesture is going to have little impact in itself if it does not effect the age rating of the game in such a way that actually grabs parent's attention. A T or E rating is not going to draw parent attention. Even M ratings tend to go overlooked these days, let alone the criteria by which the game is rated as such.
So, I repeat myself. This is a tiny, tiny step by the ESRB to attempt to get the government off of their backs while doing as little as humanly possible to fix the situation. But don't take my word for it. Here's Jim putting it more eloquently than I ever could, mere hours after I gave my 2 cents on the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRJ9sJLfKU8
Funny story, went to 3 stores to buy PS4 version of Hellblade Senuas Sacrifice for my sons birthday and after multiple puzzled "Never heard of its" I realized it was online only and bought it on Prime.
Who knew? Console games come on cartridges, at least in my world.
Newfangled distribution channels.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
-Permanent content unlocks
-Subscription
-Non-permanent content unlocks (other than subscription)
-In-game items, services or currency
-Loot boxes or other random purchases
And the store type should also affect age recommendations. I think that permanent unlocks and a single subscription giving access to everything should have no effect on the recommendation, cash shop should make it 12+, loot boxes and random purchases should make the game 16+.