Lootboxes seem to be one of the biggest controversies in gaming today.  Gamers are boycotting AAA titles, governments are considering banning them, but what's the big deal?  Let's take a look.

Harmless?  Credit: Overwatch

     If you've ever taken a community college psychology class you would have heard about B.F. Skinner.  Besides having a villain-esque name he is known for inventing the operant-conditioning chamber.  An operant-conditioning chamber is designed to provide a positive stimuli in exchange for completing an action such as pulling a lever or pressing a button and a negative stimuli as a consequence.  It's used as a way to study compulsive behavior in mice.  These are more commonly referred to as Skinner Boxes.  Sound familiar?  The animations and sounds are also designed to provide suspense and reward.  According to an interview of Overwatch developers Michael Heiberg and Jeremy Craig:

“When you start opening a loot box, we want to build anticipation,” an Overwatch developer said. “We do this in a lot of ways—animations, camera work, spinning plates, and sounds. We even build a little anticipation with the glow that emits from a loot box’s cracks before you open it.” (Credit: Link)

     So aside from the fact that these are based on psychologically addicting people, what's the big deal?  I can play the game without it right?  Not anymore young padawan.  Large parts of content are now being locked in these boxes.  In order to unlock all of the content in Star Wars Battlefront 2, it would take approximately 4,528 hours according to fan site SWTORStrategies (article).  So just use the loot boxes you say.  The same article approximates the cost of unlocking everything at over $2,000.  It would be cheaper to buy a real life light saber. 

The EAmpire Strikes Back.  Credit: u/osman123

     What can the average gamer do about this?  It seems like loot boxes are here to stay and boycotting the games we love feels counterproductive.  The Entertainment Software Ratings board has ruled that it's not really gambling, but "simulated gambling" with real money.  Multiple European countries are considering banning loot boxes, but it would take a major move from the largest consumers of games (South Korea, Japan, U.S.) to stop them.  In the meantime it looks like lootboxes are here to stay, we have to be aware of their design and intention.