It's gambling

The UK House of Lords has made a ruling and now states that video game loot boxes are gambling.

BBC News reported on July 2^nd that loot boxes and ”the same definition should apply to any other in-game item paid for with real money, such as FIFA player packs” fall under the Gambling Act and that it must be dealt with as such. The Government has said that the Gambling Act will be amended, but the House of Lords stated that the dealing with loot boxes mustn't wait.

Quote: "If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling." End quote.

Apparently the UK government wasn't fooled by euphemisms like ”surprise mechanics” any more than the average gamer was. What this means for gaming in general remains to be seen.

In the UK, the minimum age for any kind of gambling is 18, which would punch a huge hole in all games that market themselves as ”E for Everyone” if they contain any kinds of what will be legally considered gambling in the future. Some publishers have made halfhearted attempts to alleviate this already, mostly by mumbling about parental controls but with these new regulations unless games like FIFA changes up, they will likely find themselves rated “M for Mature”, a certification that is usually reserved for those games that feature full nudity or sexual acts. Many stores refuse to even stock M rated games for fear of the morale brigade.

Will this ruling mean the price of games is going to go up? Maybe, impossible to tell at the moment. Companies did try to raise prices a few years ago, but found too much backlash and lowered them again. I for one wouldn't be surprised at all if they do wring their hands and claim that it is all just too expensive. Here's a thought in that case: maybe they could learn to use their money a bit more efficiently instead? Maybe their CEO's don't need $30-50 million a year before bonuses? Perhaps they could use more modern and effective marketing strategies that cost considerably less than $150 million per game? I'm no economist but it strikes me that the big boys waste as much as they make.

My hope is that more countries would follow suit and if they do then maybe, just maybe some of these companies will be forced to go back to making good games instead of barely disguised casinos and Skinner boxes. Unfortunately, they will likely find some way to weasel their way around this instead. But, as always time will tell.

Many gamers were happy to hear the news of this ruling, but many are angry and some are scared. My question to anyone who thinks this ruling is unfair and stupid is this:

When has a game ever been improved by loot boxes?

Do they really make games more fun? More exciting? No, they don't, no matter how many times the companies yell about “a sense of achievement and pride” because you are able to use a credit card.

But as I said, time will tell. There will be more to talk about in the future, I'm sure. But for now, I shall be content to wish you all a great week, and I shall see you again next time! 

BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53253195

Entertaining Information

Hello and welcome back to Eccentric Spheres.

Today I want to share a few of videos by Youtuber CGP Grey that I found to be extremely informative.
The world is a chaotic place right now, and the first video, The Rules for Rulers is really good. Certain recent happenings and the reactions by politicians are more understandable after watching the video. At least it was to me.

The second video is a bit of a follow up and explains why dynasties are what they are. Watch it after the Rules video.

Then there are two videos on old timey pirates and how they worked. Funny and interesting.

And that is that. I have to cut it short today, but join me again next time for more and until then stay safe and have a great week! (wash your hands)

Rules for Rulers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs&list=RDrStL7niR7gs&index=1

Death & Dynasties:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_qpNfXHIU&list=RDrStL7niR7gs&index=7

How to be a Pirate: Captain Edition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YFeE1eDlD0&list=RDrStL7niR7gs&index=25

How to be a Pirate. Quartermaster Edition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0fAznO1wA8&list=RDrStL7niR7gs&index=20

Who are they trying to fool?

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how Sony and Naughty Dog were illegally copyright striking Youtube channels who were even talking about the leaked spoilers concerning The Last of Us 2.

Now that the game is out, there is a brand new sort of controversy.

As with all highly anticipated releases all the major gaming news outlets raced to get their reviews out as soon as possible. The vast majority gave the game 10/10 with statements like “Game of the Year”, “Best game of this console generation”, etc. etc.

Then the user reviews started to pop up and they tell a very different story. The vast majority of gamers (at least the ones that bother to write reviews) hold negative views of The Last of Us 2. Very negative views in fact.

A quick look at Metacritic shows that the professional critic score is a whopping 95/100 while the user score is a paltry 3.7/10 as I'm writing this. So how is this possible? Speculations started to fly immediately that Sony and Naughty Dog had bribed the outlets to get good reviews, but there is no actual evidence of that.

No, the sad fact is that the major outlets are terrified of being blacklisted by Studios and Publishers. To them, being blacklisted means being thrown out into the cold, and not getting preview copies. In order to stay on the Publishers good side, they kowtow and bend over to every whim thrown their way, instead of doing their jobs and being journalists. It has come to light that Sony and/or Naughty Dog had “requested” only positive comments about The Last of Us 2 and forbade the “journalists” from mentioning the second half of the game at all! With these caveats there is no earthly way to write a real review. Might as well have the marketing department write it for them.

I'm old enough to remember the time before the internet, when you got all your gaming news from magazines. These gaming mags were the only way to not only find out if a game was good, but to learn it was being made in the first place. You could trust that the magazines were reasonably honest since the gaming companies needed the magazines, and the magazines needed their reputation to remain intact.

But now... it is a sad state of affairs, and it doesn't have to be this way either. If even a small number of these outlets put their feet down and said, “No, we're going to make up our own minds and tell it like we see it” things would get much better. Sure, they might get blacklisted, but so what? All they really need to do then is publish that fact, and their integrity and redership could rise over night. People respond to that. And if enough outlets follow suit, what are the game companies going to do about it? Not tell anyone about their upcoming games? Stand on the street corner with a sandwich board and yell “New game is coming out next fall!” Or maybe hire some old fashioned paper boys? “Extra extra, Sony to publish new game next year! Read all about it!”

But as with all cases where an authority is abusing their influence, it takes someone to make that brave first move in order to motivate others to follow suit, and I don't see that happening.

At least gamers have other means to discover the truth about a new game. It just takes a little longer and a bit more work than reading an article. Do your research, people.

Whew, rant over. Join me again next time and until then, wash your hands and have a great week!

Game News

Both of the next gen gaming consoles have been revealed and predictably, the console war immediately kicked off again.

If you are not in the know, the console war is the pointless argument between (mainly) Playstation and Xbox fans who argue on and on about which console is better and why the other person is an idiot for supporting the other system.

The new specs are incredibly similar this time though. I mean crazy similar. If anything, the Xbox Series X looks slightly stronger, but some tech people speculate that the Xbox specs don't take into account the machines operating system, which could make the two machines practically identical inside. The biggest difference I can see so far is in backwards compatibility, where Xbox reaches back further. But as always the big selling point is the game catalog. Sony will continue to put their games on their console, because of course they are.

The prices haven't been announced as I'm writing this, so do not believe any prices you see. They are place holders at best or just speculation. There is still plenty of time, as the planned release for both machines is the holiday season 2020.

This is all pretty academic to me personally as I'm a PC player. But for the first time in ages (or indeed ever) Sony is putting some of their titles on PC. Horizon Zero Dawn, the game both fans and critics loved is already on the Steam store as coming Summer 20, and a sequel is in the works for Playstation.

For years now, there has been a rumor that Bloodborne, the Dark Souls like game of gothic horror would come to PC, but it has always been just that: a rumor based on wishful thinking. Now, the rumor is stronger than ever, and man do I wish it would come true. But we do not yet know.

One announcement that made pretty much everyone scoff in unison is that GTAV is coming to the next gen consoles. This game was released in 2013 to Xbox360 and Playstation 3! Then it moved over to PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 – and now to the new generation.

Look, everyone knows that GTA Online, which is a part of GTAV has made over a billion dollars, but come on, how about GTAVI? No? Okay.

It been tricky to follow game news this year as everything in meatspace has been canceled, but here at Eccentric Spheres we keep trying. This is all I had this week, but join me again next time. Until then have a great week and stay safe!

What is it really like?

Hollywood. Tinseltown. The Dream Factory. Accurate names as the projects they produce do not reflect reality.

At least most movies don't and nor should they. Movies and shows are about entertainment and reality is mostly pretty boring. Imagine a film about an archaeologist slowly and painstakingly digging a hole and gently, gingerly even, brushing away sand and debris from shards of ancient pottery. Go on, imagine it.

Now compare that to Indiana Jones. Not hard to see why Indy's adventures are a bit more fun to watch, eh?

That said, it is really fascinating to learn what reality is like compared to what movies show us. Lately I have been consuming a lot of videos where experts critique elements of different movies and shows. Navy Seals, fighter pilots, archaeologists, fencing masters, police officers, even pole dancers and astrobiologists chime in on what entertainment gets right and what is wrong or even impossible.

Here is one list from the Insider channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9tM_YHvhuA&list=PLKfWL8IXgKBuonEBHu-lhO28bCinSqNv4

And one from GQ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L7o6HtX8Vg&list=PL0hKMB1-xkc8bPJ_N9BoGNnPBOFG1ZSZf

So with that I'll urge you to stay safe, wash your hands and have a great week!

Okay, here is a video to get you started:

Culture!

Okay, it's culture time!

With the still ongoing lockdown, we have to keep being careful and so on...

To make the time pass a bit faster many play games or binge TV shows, read books etc. All good choices, but how about going to a museum?

Yeah, I know you can't actually go, but a few world class museums have virtual tours available for free!

All you need is the internet browser you are reading this on to visit:

The Smithsonian: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour

The Anne Frank House: https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/secret-annex/

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: https://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssenmultimedia/virtual-tours

The Vatican Museums: http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.html

The National Gallery, London: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours

There are probably many other museums around the world offering the same thing, but here is a small sample to get on with.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see some art. Join me again next time and until then stay safe and have a great week!

Big changes

During the last few weeks I've been playing some World of Warcraft, mostly to pass a bit of time during the whole Corona debacle. It helps keep my mind off things and to be honest, it is fun again.

I used to play from vanilla through the Cataclysm expansion, but ultimately quit due to boredom. I popped back a couple of times, but never for more than a week, until now. With the new policy of making the entire game available for just a subscription apart from the newest expansion, I have a ton of stuff to do even without the Battle for Azeroth expansion, which I'll get as soon as the Shadowlands expansion hits in Q4 this year.

Then a lot of interesting news and rumors started surfacing about the upcoming changes in Shadowlands that will transform the entire game from the bottom up. I've been watching quite a few videos on the subject, and I'll link the channels below, but I thought it could be fun to talk about a couple of these changes.

Important Notice: All the information below is Alpha Test info, and or data mined info, which means it can all change. Do not assume this is set in stone, even though I personally believe these changes will happen.

The level squish. Characters that are currently level 120 (max) will be reduced to 50. New level cap is 60.

The 280% flying speed will be scrapped. Basic flying is upgradable to 310%.

Flying will be automatically available in Draenor and Legion areas. Flying in BfA areas will still require unlocking.

Allied races will no longer require reputation. All you need to do to unlock them is to play the required missions and get the achievements.

Apparently all new characters will share a new starting zone until they are level 10. Then they can choose between the regular world, and any expansion areas to level to 50 in. Then it is off to Shadowlands areas to level to 60. I feel like there is something we're missing about this, but time will tell.

A major overhaul is coming to all classes to make them more fun to play. Blizzard has admitted they over-simplified each class and spec which made some too specialized. It's a gigantic list, but it seems to be a very good change.

Tons of new options for making new characters. It seems trolls and orcs will be able to stand up straight. Perhaps this will also affect the Forsaken (undead). The Forsaken will be able to be whole, that is, not have all their bones sticking out. Lots of new eye colors, hairstyles, warpaint, skin colors, face shapes and more.

New profession changes are coming. To be fair there is not a lot of info right now, and what there is makes no sense to me. Keep an eye out if you're interested.

Maybe this is enough for now. Here are couple of good links:

Class changes: https://www.wowhead.com/guides/class-changes-in-shadowlands-covenant-abilities-the-unpruning

Wowcrendors channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wowcrendor/videos

Hazelnutty's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Hazelnuttygames/videos

These two are where I get a lot of my news. Enjoy if you like.

Here is a dressing room feature on Wowhead where you can preview some of these cosmetic changes.

That's that for this week. Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands and have a fantastic week!