EA is facing a class action lawsuit in Canada. The lawsuit mentions that it's been running an illegal gambling operation in 60 of their games (FIFA, NHL etc.) and that CEOs were willfully negligent and at all times aware of unlawful nature of it but chose to turn the blind eye to it.
This is potentially huge because unlike in other countries like UK where there are talks about updating their gambling laws to include lootboxes and such Canada is of the opinion that EA is violating their existing gambling laws.
EA is facing a class action lawsuit in Canada. The lawsuit mentions that it's been running an illegal gambling operation in 60 of their games (FIFA, NHL etc.) and that CEOs were willfully negligent and at all times aware of unlawful nature of it but chose to turn the blind eye to it.
This is potentially huge because unlike in other countries like UK where there are talks about updating their gambling laws to include lootboxes and such Canada is of the opinion that EA is violating their existing gambling laws.
A number of years ago i was in an EB Games in the 6th largest city in Canada. The EB Games employee was not happy with EA because they didn't update their NHL series to the latest generation of consoles at the time. I think it was the XBOX One//PS4 generation. I replied that the NHL series doesn't have the sales levels to justify the kind of upgrade/update FIFA and Madden NFL received. We should just be happy that EA continues to pump resources into the NHL series. I added that the EA NHL series remains the best hockey sim option available. She was having none of that. LOL. She was pissed.
She went back at me with some angry reply. I said , "listen, i bought an old used EA NHL '94 cartridge with my paper route money when I was 10. That is still my #1 hockey game."
it was pretty fucking hilarious. It is also hilarious that EA is still going to the "NHL '94 feed trough" again this year. Its the 27th year anniversary. i guess the number 27 is special to Canadian boomers... https://www.ea.com/games/nhl/nhl-21/news/nhl-94-rewind
i gotta admit... this picture is very effective marketing for the NHL `94 crowd. That 16-bit pixelated missing tooth is fucking awesome.
EA really knows how to tug at the heart strings of Canadians. I guess doing that can result in some blow back...
EA is facing a class action lawsuit in Canada. The lawsuit mentions that it's been running an illegal gambling operation in 60 of their games (FIFA, NHL etc.) and that CEOs were willfully negligent and at all times aware of unlawful nature of it but chose to turn the blind eye to it.
This is potentially huge because unlike in other countries like UK where there are talks about updating their gambling laws to include lootboxes and such Canada is of the opinion that EA is violating their existing gambling laws.
I hope EA gets ripped to shreds from my Canadian brethren.
The industry has gone nuts on Loot boxes and it really is out of control.
The Netherlands Gaming Authority will be allowed to fine Electronic Arts €500,000 every week it sells loot boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team, after the feature was deemed in violation of gambling rules.
The decision was approved by the court of The Hague on Thursday, following a lengthy legal battle between the Gaming Authority and EA.
The independent body ruled in 2018 that FIFA’s Ultimate Team Packs mechanic was in violation of its Gambling Act, and suggested the weekly fine (up to a maximum of €10 million), which was then challenged by EA in court.
A weekly €250,000 fine will be charged against both EA and its Swiss subsidiary, which is responsible for the sale of FIFA, for a total of €500,000 a week.
According to NU.nl, the FIFA publisher had argued that the content of its FUT packs only had value within the game itself, as they could not be converted into money.
However, the judge dismissed EA’s objections on Thursday and ordered that if the company wants to avoid the weekly fine, it would need to disable loot boxes within three weeks.
In a statement provided to VGC, EA’s Benelux Country Manager, Dirk Scholing said the company would appeal the decision.
“Players all over the world have enjoyed FIFA and the FIFA Ultimate Team mode for many years and as such, we are disappointed by this decision and what it may mean for our Dutch community.
“We do not believe that our products and services violate gambling laws in any way. We are appealing this decision and we seek to avoid a situation impacting the ability of Dutch players to fully experience and enjoy FIFA Ultimate Team.
“Electronic Arts is deeply committed to positive play. We seek to bring choice, fairness, value and fun to all our players in all of our games. We remain open to discussions with the Netherlands Gambling Authority and other stakeholders to understand and explore solutions to address any concerns.”
The loot box mechanic has faced mainstream criticism in recent years amid comparisons to gambling.
Some European countries have already classified loot boxes as gambling, while all three console platform holders have introduced policies that require games made for their consoles to disclose loot box odds.
Loot boxes have also attracted the attention of the UK’s House of Lords. In September 2019, a report from the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee advised the UK government to regulate loot boxes under gambling law and ban them from sale to children.
There is currently no legal consensus in the US on whether loot boxes constitute gambling. However, games ratings board the ESRB has begun flagging games that contain random in-game purchases such as loot boxes or gacha mechanics.
In January, UK trade body Ukie launched the ‘Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. Campaign’, which is designed to help parents promote healthy gaming using console safety features.
And in April the Pan European Game Information rating system introduced additional information on physical game packaging and on digital storefronts for titles which include in-game purchases that include random items like loot boxes or card packs.
Loot boxes are a disgusting disgrace. And companies linking those loot boxes with player fun and still claiming they aren't gambling are very obviously bullshitting. "We have been doing this bad thing for years, so it must not be bad" is about the worst possible argument for anything, too.
As someone with a kiddo with whom I game now, trying to keep him away from loot box mechanics is basically my only concern with his video gaming habits.
They’re such predatory mechanics and gaming was the thing I was looking forward to sharing with him as he got a bit older.
Huzzah for anything that makes this job easier for parents, many of whom aren’t tech savvy and into games like myself.
On October 30 2020 08:35 WombaT wrote: As someone with a kiddo with whom I game now, trying to keep him away from loot box mechanics is basically my only concern with his video gaming habits.
They’re such predatory mechanics and gaming was the thing I was looking forward to sharing with him as he got a bit older.
Huzzah for anything that makes this job easier for parents, many of whom aren’t tech savvy and into games like myself.
The chat is a little frightening as well.
Specifically guy in the chat.
Fortnite (his main love) is good because you can set the chat to party only, so he can chat with me if I’m on but otherwise he’s playing largely isolated from such things.
He was a little confused when he went to report someone in Rocket League when I said ‘Ak that’s nothing really’ to being shown a stream of expletives. Perhaps my youth has given me a really warped tolerance for BM
Diablo, WoW, Hearthstone and Overwatch all got substantial mentions. Nothing about Starcraft.
On October 30 2020 08:35 WombaT wrote: As someone with a kiddo with whom I game now, trying to keep him away from loot box mechanics is basically my only concern with his video gaming habits.
They’re such predatory mechanics and gaming was the thing I was looking forward to sharing with him as he got a bit older.
Huzzah for anything that makes this job easier for parents, many of whom aren’t tech savvy and into games like myself.
An interesting observation about ATVI I made in another thread prolly belongs in here.
On October 31 2020 00:15 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Luke Smith acknowledged that "Beyond Light" is smaller than Forsaken. So since Bungie left ATVI we have less product at a higher price.
I don't think this result will change the chicken littles of the video game world screaming that ATVI is making the sky fall.
Normally, when you work on the same development platform for many years you get more efficient while building better software. It is interesting that they can't make as much content after gaining two additional years of experience. They prolly have a lot less people working on the game.
Or the Engine they are working on, which they were supposed to revamp for Destiny 2 then stopped for some reason, really is a piece of shit. Nobody knows why Bungie completely reset back to square one after a year and a half on Destiny 2 but stopped they did and they did not delay the game etc.
Thus the result we got CoO, and the rest dropped like a wet mop and Bungie had to revisit Osiris in order to fix/continue the main story.
Edit: Also completely forgot that Christopher Barrett isn't working on the game anymore but on a new IP.
Haha, 2K... Releasing new loot box and not including the best item in it for the first 23 minutes. People spent thousands of dollars for nothing. When will the sports games players learn? When will this crap end?
On November 01 2020 12:06 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Or the Engine they are working on, which they were supposed to revamp for Destiny 2 then stopped for some reason, really is a piece of shit. Nobody knows why Bungie completely reset back to square one after a year and a half on Destiny 2 but stopped they did and they did not delay the game etc.
Thus the result we got CoO, and the rest dropped like a wet mop and Bungie had to revisit Osiris in order to fix/continue the main story.
Edit: Also completely forgot that Christopher Barrett isn't working on the game anymore but on a new IP.
1 creative leaving doesn't explain less content for a higher price.
Bad Engine? I read about the allegedly "bad engine". The fact they are keeping it on the same engine for so long is an endorsement of its usefulness. Otherwise, they'd move onto Unreal 4 or some other engine. Also, they made the engine. ACTIONS speak louder than words in a gossip column hit-piece on some random gamer web site.
Neither of us knows enough about the engine to say if it is good or bad. All we can do is go by Bungie's ACTIONS. Bungie built the engine and they are sticking with it for many years. Bungie's actions indicate the engine is good.
Anyhow, I'm happy with the game and I'm buying the Deluxe Edition for $85 CAD. I was also happy with D2 under ATVI. I'm still happy now. D2 has far too much content for me to ever consume ... so less content than Forsaken is ok by me. For me D2 combat is better than the combat in Borderlands3. I find the combat more "readable" in D2 than in BL3.
On November 05 2020 00:16 Manit0u wrote: Haha, 2K... Releasing new loot box and not including the best item in it for the first 23 minutes. People spent thousands of dollars for nothing. When will the sports games players learn? When will this crap end?
the NBA is all about truth, social justice, altruism and love of their fellow man. I can't believe the NBA is allowing this to happen under their brand.
@Jimmy well yeah people do talk some shite about game engines, that’s for sure.
On the other hand merely using an engine doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, there’s probably enough evidence looking from the outside that say, Bethesda’s stubborn sticking to their own bespoke engine gave them more and more problems over time.
On November 07 2020 22:55 WombaT wrote: @Jimmy well yeah people do talk some shite about game engines, that’s for sure.
On the other hand merely using an engine doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, there’s probably enough evidence looking from the outside that say, Bethesda’s stubborn sticking to their own bespoke engine gave them more and more problems over time.
And do you remember all the problems the team behind Anthem had because they were forced to use engine that was not suited for what they were trying to do?
Bungie and ATVI finalized the details of Bungie's exit from under the ATVI publishing umbrella in January 2019. Bungie has decided to stick with the current engine. Its on Bungie. If they don't like the engine.. its up to them to do something about it. They can't blame ATVI. Blaming ATVI is BS.
We'll never make a whole new engine and move destiny to it, but any future games that Bungie makes wouldn't necessarily need to use the Destiny tech if it doesn't make sense for that game.”
By using the engine for 6+ years they are endorsing it.
EPT![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/TxACubz.jpg)
