What really is probably illegal at this point is officially calling it all “pledges”, i.e. “donations”, and calling ships and stuff a “reward for the generous donation”.
Dudes, this is literally what a purchase is. If I don’t donate, I don’t get a ship (or even a base game).
This seems to be a ground to sue the hell out of them.
The great thing about capitalism is that I can choose where I spend my money. And use my money to make money. If people wanna be stupid with their money, that’s on them. I don’t give a shit if they go broke because that is on them.
What’s illegal about it? Are they committing some kind of fraud? Is there some threat of harm if people don’t buy it (i.e. extortion)? Where exactly is the potential crime?
Yeah, it would be pretty stupid to buy this in general, especially if you can’t actually afford it, but being stupid isn’t illegal.
Fomo is a form of coercion, and im pretty sure that’s a crime in this case. The industry uses underhanded and shady practices to get people to spend money on things that have no intrinsic value.
I can see from your comment that its possible you haven’t looked into this very much because you sound like me a few yesrs ago when i didnt see the harm as im not particularly susceptible to the ways they pedal microtransactions/in game purchases.
So it requires the threat or implied threat of serious harm or abuse of the law against a person.
And no, not looking cool or being at the top of a game isn’t “serious harm,” you’d be laughed out of the courtroom and perhaps fined for wasting everyone’s time if you tried to make that legal argument.
The original context of this chain is a legal one:
Isn’t it time to get some regulations on m(i/a)cro transactions? This seems very illegal to me and it is exploiting people’s addictions.
Yes, you didn’t say that, but you responded in that context. I asked “what is illegal about it?” and you directly replied with the note about coercion. To me, that clearly implies you think this is a form of legal coercion, and now you’re backpedaling because I showed that’s explicitly not true. You’re moving the goalposts.
That completely fair. You can definitely interpret that implication from what i said. I need to be more careful with my choice of words in future.
However, i assure you my intent was not to make a legal argument.
I was saying that coercion is illegal, which is true. And that i believe that fomo is a form of coercion, which would be my opinion. But it doesn’t read that way.
No worries, it just gets confusing when terms are used loosely and differently in a conversation.
For the record, I disagree that both that FOMO is a form of coercion (even the regular dictionary definition implies force is involved) and believe it shouldn’t be illegal to entice adults with it, but there should be limits on marketing to children. That said, any form of advertising can be considered a form of fomo, so I’m not exactly sure where the line should be. That said, we do have limits on fraud, which covers things like making unrealistic claims (e.g. this cosmetic will make you win). It’s disgusting, but shouldn’t be illegal.
Plus a lot of micro transactions and all kinds of bullshit like this are targeting the adolescents so at least they should be bound by law that whoever purchases those virtual goods is above 18 at least.
I agree, that part might be illegal because adolescents cannot legally consent (in most cases). So there’s a chance there, but my guess is that an adolescent isn’t going to be making a $48k MTX purchase (they aren’t old enough to legally have debt, and probably not old enough to earn that much).
In general though, I can’t think of any law this violates.
What’s fraudulent about it? Here’s the definition of fraud:
A deception practiced in order to induce another to give up possession of property or surrender a right.
The legal definition is either an intentional or (usually reckless) negligent misrepresentation of fact. From what I’ve seen, every manipulative MTX game never misrepresented any facts (you will get X if you pay Y), they just create an environment where you want the thing more than you normally would (e.g. the thing won’t be available tomorrow). That’s not fraud, it’s just FOMO, the crux of advertising.
There’s a difference between being “a fraud” and being unsuccessful. Development continues, and people seem to like the direction it’s going, so it’s not like they abandoned the project and ran off with the money.
I think it’s part scam, part poorly managed game, but I don’t think it fits the legal definition of “fraud” since they’ve largely delivered on their promises, just incredibly slowly and inefficiently.
If you’re paying almost $50k for video game items the only person fucking you over is you. Grow up and learn a little bit about personal responsibility.
But what if you don’t actually want it, but you are addicted because other people exploit the psychology of humans?
One could argue that it’s “their fault”, but then everything is ones own fault. Furthermore this wouldn’t change the fact IMHO, that we shouldn’t prevent people from exploiting or harming other people, yk what I mean?
Anyways, as this doesn’t seem to be a loot box or such, I think I agree with you here mostly.
Addicted to what? This isn’t a loot box, there’s no gambling seratonin rush. This package unlocks stuff you could earn by simply playing the game. It’s an expensive cheat code. How many people are addicted to that? Does your crime have a victim?
I don’t think they expect anyone to buy this. I think this is a marketing move. “Our game is so big that if you were to buy all these items individually they’d cost as much as a new Lexus. What a value!”. Pure PR stuntery. And here we are, discussing it, so it worked.
Isn’t it time to get some regulations on m(i/a)cro transactions? This seems very illegal to me and it is exploiting people’s addictions.
What really is probably illegal at this point is officially calling it all “pledges”, i.e. “donations”, and calling ships and stuff a “reward for the generous donation”.
Dudes, this is literally what a purchase is. If I don’t donate, I don’t get a ship (or even a base game).
This seems to be a ground to sue the hell out of them.
Exploiting peoples addictions is what literally drives capitalism.
Plus making people pay for essentials by gatekeeping everything behind the owner class
Addictions like food, clothing, shelter… and capitalism is the best system we have for providing those things.
Given that EVERY single company in the top 10 largest companies by market cap are luxury goods, your comment is less valid
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Tesla hardly sell essential products
Amazon sells food, clothing and shelter.
Cope
No U
The great thing about capitalism is that I can choose where I spend my money. And use my money to make money. If people wanna be stupid with their money, that’s on them. I don’t give a shit if they go broke because that is on them.
Hahahaha
What’s illegal about it? Are they committing some kind of fraud? Is there some threat of harm if people don’t buy it (i.e. extortion)? Where exactly is the potential crime?
Yeah, it would be pretty stupid to buy this in general, especially if you can’t actually afford it, but being stupid isn’t illegal.
Fomo is a form of coercion, and im pretty sure that’s a crime in this case. The industry uses underhanded and shady practices to get people to spend money on things that have no intrinsic value.
I can see from your comment that its possible you haven’t looked into this very much because you sound like me a few yesrs ago when i didnt see the harm as im not particularly susceptible to the ways they pedal microtransactions/in game purchases.
No, fomo is not a form of coercion whatsoever. Here’s the legal definition in the federal legal code:
So it requires the threat or implied threat of serious harm or abuse of the law against a person.
And no, not looking cool or being at the top of a game isn’t “serious harm,” you’d be laughed out of the courtroom and perhaps fined for wasting everyone’s time if you tried to make that legal argument.
Im not making a legal argument… im making a philosophical one.
The original context of this chain is a legal one:
Yes, you didn’t say that, but you responded in that context. I asked “what is illegal about it?” and you directly replied with the note about coercion. To me, that clearly implies you think this is a form of legal coercion, and now you’re backpedaling because I showed that’s explicitly not true. You’re moving the goalposts.
That completely fair. You can definitely interpret that implication from what i said. I need to be more careful with my choice of words in future.
However, i assure you my intent was not to make a legal argument.
I was saying that coercion is illegal, which is true. And that i believe that fomo is a form of coercion, which would be my opinion. But it doesn’t read that way.
Sorry.
No worries, it just gets confusing when terms are used loosely and differently in a conversation.
For the record, I disagree that both that FOMO is a form of coercion (even the regular dictionary definition implies force is involved) and believe it shouldn’t be illegal to entice adults with it, but there should be limits on marketing to children. That said, any form of advertising can be considered a form of fomo, so I’m not exactly sure where the line should be. That said, we do have limits on fraud, which covers things like making unrealistic claims (e.g. this cosmetic will make you win). It’s disgusting, but shouldn’t be illegal.
Fair enough.
What the everloving fuck?
What?
Isn’t it what regulations are for?
Plus a lot of micro transactions and all kinds of bullshit like this are targeting the adolescents so at least they should be bound by law that whoever purchases those virtual goods is above 18 at least.
I agree, that part might be illegal because adolescents cannot legally consent (in most cases). So there’s a chance there, but my guess is that an adolescent isn’t going to be making a $48k MTX purchase (they aren’t old enough to legally have debt, and probably not old enough to earn that much).
In general though, I can’t think of any law this violates.
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What’s fraudulent about it? Here’s the definition of fraud:
The legal definition is either an intentional or (usually reckless) negligent misrepresentation of fact. From what I’ve seen, every manipulative MTX game never misrepresented any facts (you will get X if you pay Y), they just create an environment where you want the thing more than you normally would (e.g. the thing won’t be available tomorrow). That’s not fraud, it’s just FOMO, the crux of advertising.
deleted by creator
There’s a difference between being “a fraud” and being unsuccessful. Development continues, and people seem to like the direction it’s going, so it’s not like they abandoned the project and ran off with the money.
I think it’s part scam, part poorly managed game, but I don’t think it fits the legal definition of “fraud” since they’ve largely delivered on their promises, just incredibly slowly and inefficiently.
deleted by creator
The government is not your parents and they do not exist to protect you from your own bad decisions.
Why am I paying them to allow consumers (which I am a group member) to get fucked over?
If you’re paying almost $50k for video game items the only person fucking you over is you. Grow up and learn a little bit about personal responsibility.
Did you buy the pack but it sucked?
I just couldn’t resist, the devs showed up at my house with guns, it was a whole thing. If only the state would step in and regulate stupidity!
That’s exactly what they exist for
They exist to protect you from other people. You can waste your money on whatever dumbass shit you want.
But what if you don’t actually want it, but you are addicted because other people exploit the psychology of humans?
One could argue that it’s “their fault”, but then everything is ones own fault. Furthermore this wouldn’t change the fact IMHO, that we shouldn’t prevent people from exploiting or harming other people, yk what I mean?
Anyways, as this doesn’t seem to be a loot box or such, I think I agree with you here mostly.
Addicted to what? This isn’t a loot box, there’s no gambling seratonin rush. This package unlocks stuff you could earn by simply playing the game. It’s an expensive cheat code. How many people are addicted to that? Does your crime have a victim?
I don’t think they expect anyone to buy this. I think this is a marketing move. “Our game is so big that if you were to buy all these items individually they’d cost as much as a new Lexus. What a value!”. Pure PR stuntery. And here we are, discussing it, so it worked.