ScarletRain (#29399)

i too would love more PSAs and information! it's definitely a big step in the right direction, given how many parents are completely unaware of the fact that their kids can be developing gambling habits even with fake pixel currency in a mobile game. as for legislation, i think countries like belgium and the netherlands have a good start on it. lootboxes are considered gambling mechanics, and are therefore not available to anyone under 18. you brought up card games like pokemon and magic the gathering earlier, and i agree those fall into sticky territory, but there have been cases about them before and they were deemed okay (for the time) because they don't include some of the brain-stimulating sensory experiences like digital lootboxes do. plus, as a 15 year old, it's a lot harder to get a ride to a physical store and purchase the cards--or, if you buy them online, you have to wait for shipping, thus removing the instant gratification and easy spending habits of digital gambling.

i'm not really here to argue legality though--i'm not a lawyer, and i'm not educated enough about the law to make those calls. i'm here to express my disappointment in dappervolk over this from an ethical standpoint. iirc, legally, DV's turnip gachas are not considered lootboxes, because you have the option to obtain the items in a purchase. i agree that DV's gacha mechanic is less predatory than a lot of other games out there. that aside, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth from a moral standpoint. as an adult with a fully developed reasoning center in my brain, i can look at the bundle and say "yeah, i'm definitely gonna do that instead of taking the chance with the gacha." but if i were a kid, or someone predisposed to addictive/risky behaviors? i could very well take my chances with the gacha machine to get the item i /really/ wanted instead of the whole pack, for a cheaper price. the items are tradable, yeah, but some are gonna end up more popular than others, and that's not even my point--i just think it's kind of shady and a bad precedent to introduce a RLC chance mechanic like that in a game that's aimed at young adults and children. it just feels skeezy to me, especially with the mix-up about the premium spin points. i'm not a fan of RLC gacha in any form. maybe that's not a good enough reason to disagree with the site's decision, but that's my two cents.