# Pocket Camp to be Shut Down in Belgium Due to Loot Box Laws



## Ossiran (May 21, 2019)

According to Eurogamer, due to the laws passed in Belgium regarding loot boxes, Pocket Camp will be shut down in Belgium. Just a heads-up for anyone playing there.

Article can be found here: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...bile-games-in-belgium-over-loot-box-law-fears


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## Phawnix (May 21, 2019)

Not surprising. I've been waiting for the laws to catch up to these greedy game development practices. I'm hoping a similar bill will be passed in North America soon so game developers will have to re-structure and remove loot boxes.


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## GolguiAr (May 21, 2019)

Oh wow that's pretty serious! And thanks for the article, I do not live in Belgium but I did not know there was a Fire Emblem on the App Store, I will have to check it out ah ah


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## Stella-Io (May 21, 2019)

Maybe Nintendo will finally get the damn message now.


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## DubiousDelphine (May 22, 2019)

Wow. That is some inititave from Belgium  
I wonder if big games will be removed too.. like overwatch.


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## Nougat (May 22, 2019)

Oh that's just.. great. Guess where I live  I have no clue about what will happen to my account and all of my items now. I've been playing since day one. 

Sad that they didn't just disable the possibility of buying any Leaf tickets, which would be compliant while they work things out..


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## lars708 (May 22, 2019)

Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...


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## Nougat (May 22, 2019)

lars708 said:


> Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...



I think it would be fairly simple indeed, just disabling the possibility of buying Leaf Tickets would be fine and compliant with the law. It's just that they know they won't be making any money with the game anymore, so why invest even the smallest amount of resources in a workaround, right? It's all about the $$$. Or €€€ in this case


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## lars708 (May 22, 2019)

Nougat said:


> I think it would be fairly simple indeed, just disabling the possibility of buying Leaf Tickets would be fine and compliant with the law. It's just that they know they won't be making any money with the game anymore, so why invest even the smallest amount of resources in a workaround, right? It's all about the $$$. Or €€€ in this case



I mean they could put advertisements or something right? I dunno... Or maybe just remove the fortune cookies? Because the Leaf Tickets aren't necessarily the problem.

Oh well, the decision has already been made they won't budge


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## 2kimi2furious (May 22, 2019)

That really stinks! I don't live in Belgium and I don't play the game anymore, but I can see how that's devastating for those who do. I'm sorry, friends. I hope they can reach a new decision instead.


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## Alienfish (May 22, 2019)

Stella-Io said:


> Maybe Nintendo will finally get the damn message now.



yeah, honestly I hope the rest of the world will follow. PC is getting even dumber than the way FEH is going and literally all those loot gacha game should honestly de.

- - - Post Merge - - -



lars708 said:


> Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...



Honestly, I don't think it's that easy because, yeah money and if they can only give out LT's for free they have to either make it a paid full game or just give up on it and make LT's goals only etc. Probably a bit weird phrases but I hope you get the idea.

Anyway, proof that Ninty can't keep their devs in the corner obviously, like bruh.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Also advertisements is the worst idea, this is supposed to be for also younger audiences and depending on what source you would use you could get very inappropriate things, so no. I'd rather just quit it imo.


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## DragoDrago (May 22, 2019)

Oh no! I'm so sorry to you guys living in Belgium who have been playing for ages  I never really played pocket camp, all the micro transactions scared me away haha I'm just desperately hoping the switch game won't be like that


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## cornimer (May 22, 2019)

That really sucks, especially for people who have invested lots of time and money into the game and are now left with nothing. As a courtesy for players' loyalty Nintendo should leave it open and work out a compromise even if they can't profit anymore.


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## That Marshal Fangirl (May 22, 2019)

I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason.  Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.


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## MapleSilver (May 22, 2019)

I would look into getting a VPN if your country is trying to ban lootboxes. I'm not an expert in this stuff, but a lot of those services can make your device appear to be from another country. Just something to consider if you want to continue playing these games. Of course I'm sure governments will try banning VPNs at some point, but for the time being they are an incredibly useful service.


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## DJStarstryker (May 22, 2019)

ThatOneMarshalFangirl said:


> I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason.  Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.



It's because some people see loot boxes as similar to gambling. A lot of places restrict gambling to only adults, and sometimes only certain types of gambling is even legal in a country. It starts getting into the morality of gambling, and how it's addictive and makes you spend more money than you should. There's plenty of people who don't have enough self-control for their money, to their own detriment. 

I'm personally against loot boxes, but not because of gambling morality. I think loot boxes are ruining gaming. Game companies put them in because they see lots of dollar signs, but then the game developer makes it so you can't (or is very difficult) to get these things when playing the game naturally, or they will put very little effort into the rest of the game and just expect you to pay-to-win.


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## Nougat (May 23, 2019)

ThatOneMarshalFangirl said:


> I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason.  Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.



In Belgium these are not banned because of a pure ban on loot boxes, but because of a law that defines illegal games of chance. 
This law has been in effect for years and years, and recently the Gaming Commission has made it crystal clear (after an in-depth analysis of multiple video games and their monetisation tactics) that loot boxes are in fact an illegal game a chance. There is no skill involved in the item you're getting: it's purely chance. Exactly this mechanic defines it as an illegal game of chance, as there is no license given for this game of chance to be implemented in these video games. In Belgium, it's very heavily regulated which games of chance can be operated and where. The Gaming Commission has a website with more info, for those interested: https://www.gamingcommission.be/opencms/opencms/jhksweb_en/law/. 

Nintendo implied in their messaging about the shutdown of these games that they are doing this because of "the unclear situation regarding the law on loot boxes", but it's interesting to know that the Minister of Justice has already given media the response that it's very clear: without the loot boxes, the games are perfectly fine to operate and monetise. 

So to summarise: you can of course monetise your game in Belgium, as long as what it is exactly that players are buying is not left up to chance. So if I'd want to buy those new Fairy Wings, I would be allowed to spend $100 or even $1000 on it if that is what Nintendo charges. But Nintendo is not allowed to get me to buy 20 Fortune Cookies (even if they cost only $1 each) and still not get a single Fairy Wings set. And we all know this has happened to many players before


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## Phawnix (May 23, 2019)

Nougat said:


> In Belgium these are not banned because of a pure ban on loot boxes, but because of a law that defines illegal games of chance.
> This law has been in effect for years and years, and recently the Gaming Commission has made it crystal clear (after an in-depth analysis of multiple video games and their monetisation tactics) that loot boxes are in fact an illegal game a chance. There is no skill involved in the item you're getting: it's purely chance. Exactly this mechanic defines it as an illegal game of chance, as there is no license given for this game of chance to be implemented in these video games. In Belgium, it's very heavily regulated which games of chance can be operated and where. The Gaming Commission has a website with more info, for those interested: https://www.gamingcommission.be/opencms/opencms/jhksweb_en/law/.
> 
> Nintendo implied in their messaging about the shutdown of these games that they are doing this because of "the unclear situation regarding the law on loot boxes", but it's interesting to know that the Minister of Justice has already given media the response that it's very clear: without the loot boxes, the games are perfectly fine to operate and monetise.
> ...



I'm sorry to hear you won't be able to play anymore. You definitely have a unique perspective of this whole situation being that you're in the middle of it. I've always wanted game developers to face the music and take loot boxes OUT of their games, not shut down the game entirely for a whole region. I hope you, or Nintendo, can find a way around this issue. Please, if you can, keep us up to date on your situation. Maybe things will change for the better in the future.


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## Justin (May 23, 2019)

I think Nintendo prefers to just shut down the games entirely rather than simply temporarily disable in-app purchases mostly as a sort of power move against the regulation / government. By taking away the games entirely, it makes more of a dramatic effect essentially saying, let us do what they want or we'll just close out of your country entirely. And that also sets an example and warning for other countries considering similar laws of what will happen if they do so. Not to mention potential political pressure from their residents upset over losing complete access to games.

Not that I'm defending that practice, but that's probably the reasoning here.

Really appreciate your perspective by the way Nougat. It's easy for people from other countries to say it's good, but they're not dealing with the ramifications of having the game taken away from them entirely, even after they've already dumped lots of money into it potentially.


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## Nougat (May 23, 2019)

Phawnix said:


> I'm sorry to hear you won't be able to play anymore. You definitely have a unique perspective of this whole situation being that you're in the middle of it. I've always wanted game developers to face the music and take loot boxes OUT of their games, not shut down the game entirely for a whole region. I hope you, or Nintendo, can find a way around this issue. Please, if you can, keep us up to date on your situation. Maybe things will change for the better in the future.





Justin said:


> I think Nintendo prefers to just shut down the games entirely rather than simply temporarily disable in-app purchases mostly as a sort of power move against the regulation / government. By taking away the games entirely, it makes more of a dramatic effect essentially saying, let us do what they want or we'll just close out of your country entirely. And that also sets an example and warning for other countries considering similar laws of what will happen if they do so. Not to mention potential political pressure from their residents upset over losing complete access to games.
> 
> Not that I'm defending that practice, but that's probably the reasoning here.
> 
> Really appreciate your perspective by the way Nougat. It's easy for people from other countries to say it's good, but they're not dealing with the ramifications of having the game taken away from them entirely, even after they've already dumped lots of money into it potentially.



I was quite angry/disappointed about it yesterday, since I really love playing the game, but I've calmed down today. We're just too small of a country for Nintendo to make any changes to the game, so as much as I'm disappointed about not being able to play anymore I understand their decision. And I definitely agree with what you're saying Justin, this is a big precedent so I bet this won't be solved overnight either. 

I'll just play more New Leaf for the moment and spend some time hoping that the Switch version does not contain any loot box mechanics, so it doesn't get banned here as well. That'd really break my heart!

- - - Post Merge - - -

Also, I'm doubting whether to keep playing until the end (still have three months left to play!) in hopes of everything magically being resolved in the meanwhile. If not, I guess I'll just take some screenshots to remember my campsite with


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## Alienfish (May 23, 2019)

Good points, Nougat and Justin. First, the lootbox/gacha is never a good idea for a smaller game like these app games, regardless if you need to actually spend orbs like in feh(they do obviously give out but since it's not for aesthetic you basically need to purchase the pack/"loot boxes" if you wanna play in the high leagues), or if it's more or less aesthetics like PC. Honestly, as I probably mentioned here or elsewhere I totally understand why they take it away since they probably won't change this and while people have spent money on whatever game might as well be taken away they should just take some meeting and think about how they could maybe change it(game) to avoid it worldwide and maybe people in Belgium can still play it. PC is/was a dumb idea in its current state and considering how they drive it in the mud even more lately with bull**** event rates and such honestly I'd just be glad if they did something to it regardless of what it is.

While people, and I(dumb me lol) spent on it I hope this can send a message to gave devs and not include those dumb elements solely to make $$$ from kids(and their parents), even if we won't get the money back. And your suggestion or as how it would be legal in Belgium would be a better idea, even though they would earn less money on it. Honestly this rng/gacha crap is in too many games, mobile or not and if people really want something they would spend either way. Sure I can purchase a pair of wings knowing that I would get them and since we can't trade or gift this dice rolling % stuff is just dumb.

They could definitely leave it up if they wanted it alive, or maybe do it an one time purchase for not too expensive and remove the gacha so it could stay. On the other hand they could have done that to Miitomo as well honestly so, eh.


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## cornimer (May 23, 2019)

Nougat said:


> So to summarise: you can of course monetise your game in Belgium, as long as what it is exactly that players are buying is not left up to chance. So if I'd want to buy those new Fairy Wings, I would be allowed to spend $100 or even $1000 on it if that is what Nintendo charges. But Nintendo is not allowed to get me to buy 20 Fortune Cookies (even if they cost only $1 each) and still not get a single Fairy Wings set. And we all know this has happened to many players before


I see how this makes sense and not gonna lie I WISH the fairy wings drama was illegal because they really are ripping people off, but I wish they had a better solution than shutting the whole game down.


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## Alienfish (May 23, 2019)

Vampnessa said:


> I see how this makes sense and not gonna lie I WISH the fairy wings drama was illegal because they really are ripping people off, but I wish they had a better solution than shutting the whole game down.



Yeah, man this rng is crap and I wish you all my wings, for real.
--

Yeah it sucks they are shutting down but honestly I seriously agree with Belgian law it shouldn't really be allowed, like are they trying to be some addictive casino game or? Gonna wonder if any other countries will do this or how they will be pushing this game over a cliff.


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## AnimalCrossingPerson (May 23, 2019)

Hopefully this can spread to other countries too. It's a predatory practice. Odd how Nintendo isn't just disabling fortune cookies in Belgium instead though.


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## kemdi (May 23, 2019)

I'm ok with micro-transactions, as long as I know what I'm getting. But loot-boxes are a cancer to gaming. I hope other countries do this so game developers get the message.


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## CaramelCookie (May 23, 2019)

If you use QooApp, you can keep playing, guys! I used it to download the game when it was first launched and only accessible to a certain country (Australia? Can't remember) because I didn't want to wait. 
It's sad that's come to this, but there's no need to stop if you don't want to!


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## DubiousDelphine (May 23, 2019)

CaramelCookie said:


> If you use QooApp, you can keep playing, guys! I used it to download the game when it was first launched and only accessible to a certain country (Australia? Can't remember) because I didn't want to wait.
> It's sad that's come to this, but there's no need to stop if you don't want to!



Yeh i think Pocket Camp came to Australia first.


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## Alienfish (May 24, 2019)

AnimalCrossingPerson said:


> Hopefully this can spread to other countries too. It's a predatory practice. Odd how Nintendo isn't just disabling fortune cookies in Belgium instead though.



I suppose they would have to do it in every country or they would have to remake the game which will probably take time and they will lose money in the end bc they are sad capitalists lol *rolls eyes* But yeah serious they would lose money and they they'd just shut it down like Miitomo (which was a good game but yeah I could see that they would lose on it since they basically gave out stuff all the time and you didn't need to purchase really).

@kemdi yeah same. i'd gladly pay a few bucks for like, a skin or wings or such but yeah gambling is a bad idea.


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## Sweetley (May 24, 2019)

So, did I understand that right: Because the game gets shut down thanks to the new laws, 
people in Belgium are not only not able to play that game anymore, but also gonna lose their 
save file and wasted money (if they spent any into this game) for nothing at the end? If this
is the case then damn, that sucks. I mean, great that they gonna do something against this,
but the fact that Nintendo thinks shutting down the game is a better option instead just 
removing the option to buy any Leaf Tickets anymore is just silly from Nintendo's site. 
Hopefully Nintendo will understand this problem and learn from it.


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## Nougat (May 24, 2019)

Merry the Mime said:


> So, did I understand that right: Because the game gets shut down thanks to the new laws,
> people in Belgium are not only not able to play that game anymore, but also gonna lose their
> save file and wasted money (if they spent any into this game) for nothing at the end? If this
> is the case then damn, that sucks. I mean, great that they gonna do something against this,
> ...



It's not entirely clear whether we'll be losing our save file. I really hope that won't be the case so in the unlikely chance that this gets resolved sometime, we can access it again. 
The law isn't entirely new though, it's an "old" law that applies to any sort of chance game that isn't authorised by the gaming commission.


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## whattheheck123 (May 24, 2019)

About time. Loot boxes are unnecessary and unfair. Sucks for anyone in Belgium that play FE, ACPC, etc. :/


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## Phawnix (May 24, 2019)

It appears Nintendo *did not* learn any lessons and instead decided to double down.

The new Mario Kart beta for mobile is apparently riddled with micro-transactions and even a loot box system.

Click here to read the article


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## Alienfish (May 25, 2019)

Phawnix said:


> It appears Nintendo *did not* learn any lessons and instead decided to double down.
> 
> The new Mario Kart beta for mobile is apparently riddled with micro-transactions and even a loot box system.
> 
> Click here to read the article



Why would Ninty learn their lessons lol. They just keep on trucking and letting devs push things as far as they allow.

But yeah on topic of the game I'm considering just dumping it forever cause they are getting real lame and instead of trying to improve they are lowering rewards all of a sudden and basically keep ****ting on all events.


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## Buttonsy (Jun 14, 2019)

That really sucks, it's not the first time I've seen game developers suffer pretty intense consequences for this sort of thing. I remember playing a game called TinierMe when I was younger, and it got shut down due to Japanese gambling laws I think.


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## Wickel (Jun 14, 2019)

Oh god, I hope they don't shut down in the Netherlands because I'm pretty sure we have the same law. This is probably one of the few mobile games I enjoy and is still playable even without spending any money on lootboxes.

But if I understand correctly, it is Nintendo's choice to take down the app and not the Belgian government's decision?


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## Ably.Saucey (Jun 14, 2019)

does pocket camp have 'loot boxes' per say?


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## Wickel (Jun 14, 2019)

Well, yes, because the fortune cookies contain a _chance_ of certain items but since you do not know exactly what you're going to get, that makes it a lootbox. And it makes it gambling, which isn't allowed without a license.


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## Phawnix (Jun 14, 2019)

Myrthella said:


> Oh god, I hope they don't shut down in the Netherlands because I'm pretty sure we have the same law. This is probably one of the few mobile games I enjoy and is still playable even without spending any money on lootboxes.
> 
> But if I understand correctly, it is Nintendo's choice to take down the app and not the Belgian government's decision?



It was Nintendo's choice to stop service to Belgium because they feared the repercussions of the loot box laws. I'm not familiar on the actual law but my guess is, it's pretty vague. If your county has the same laws it's quite possible Nintendo will chose to shut down there as well rather than risk any legal trouble.


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## LambdaDelta (Jun 14, 2019)

Ably.Saucey said:


> does pocket camp have 'loot boxes' per say?



any sort of randomized content that has the option to purchase for more randomized content is essentially a lootbox


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## Ably.Saucey (Jun 14, 2019)

Myrthella said:


> Well, yes, because the fortune cookies contain a _chance_ of certain items but since you do not know exactly what you're going to get, that makes it a lootbox. And it makes it gambling, which isn't allowed without a license.


That seems pretty weak to me, maybe they (nintendo) could do the fortune cookies with each cookie gets a 'puzzle piece' or token to trade in for items.
Or a peek, like it shows a corner of what the object is inside with a limit of 2 refreshes a day or something.
Yes, I like that. someone get nintendo on the phone.


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## Sgt.Groove (Jun 15, 2019)

You go get leaf tickets in game daily, so the game may stay. Also, loot boxes for a game like this isn't that bad tbh, literally like collecting mini collectibles, no real advantage.


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## Phawnix (Jun 16, 2019)

Darius-The-Fox said:


> You go get leaf tickets in game daily, so the game may stay. Also, loot boxes for a game like this isn't that bad tbh, literally like collecting mini collectibles, no real advantage.



In theory yes. To you or me loot boxes don't matter, they just add extra stuff to collect if you're so inclined. The problem is, the game is predominantly directed at children who have no self control or concept of what loot boxes really are. Loot boxes are technically a form of gambling and children are particularly susceptible to gambling addiction when it's a main component of their favourite games.

It really doesn't matter how old you are, loot boxes are predatory. If you take a look in some of these threads you will see what I mean. People are hooked on these things. It's up to Nintendo and/or the government(s) to put a cap on loot boxes or ban them entirely. There really is no place for micro-transactions in an Animal Crossing game.


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## zooblenoodle (Jun 17, 2019)

agh, its terrible that its getting shut down. 
ive always hated lootbox mechanics and i really do hope the whole craze dies out soon. its even been infiltrating kids toys nowadays... but just shutting down the game is definitely a weird "fix". i do think there will be a workaround though with VPNs. ive had to use a few before and the free ones are pretty decent for mobile games!


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## Michae1 (Jun 19, 2019)

lars708 said:


> I mean they could put advertisements or something right? I dunno... Or maybe just remove the fortune cookies? Because the Leaf Tickets aren't necessarily the problem.
> 
> Oh well, the decision has already been made they won't budge



I doubt they'd have advertisements, but yeah, I don't see why they couldn't just keep the leaf tickets. I don't think anyone still plays solely for the fortune cookies anyways lol


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## LilyLynne (Jun 20, 2019)

I only recently started Pocket Camp, tbh i was looking for something to do while waiting for the new animal crossing. I do really enjoy it. This is my first game with the micro transactions thing, and I agree with those who don't like it. It could be horribly addicting. Who can afford to keep that up? I wouldn't be so bad if you could be certain what you are getting for your money.


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## Michae1 (Jun 20, 2019)

LilyLynne said:


> I only recently started Pocket Camp, tbh i was looking for something to do while waiting for the new animal crossing. I do really enjoy it. This is my first game with the micro transactions thing, and I agree with those who don't like it. It could be horribly addicting. Who can afford to keep that up? I wouldn't be so bad if you could be certain what you are getting for your money.


I enjoy it too. I think the game is very well made. The microtransactions didn’t bother me until recently when I realized how much it was stressing me out trying to keep up with it.


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## Cheybunny (Jun 21, 2019)

That's awful :<


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## DinoTown (Jun 21, 2019)

A lot of loot boxes across any game is getting flack and being dealt with because a) there is only a chance at a certain item and you spend real money on that chance, so akin to gambling and b) the items you can get from loot boxes give players who get loot boxes a significant advantage over players who don't. I've seen some argue that fortune cookies don't meet either of these requirements, but I certainly think it does.

For a - It's a chance, we know that. I'm pretty sure you can even check the chances for items, as least from the Timmy/Tommy regular cookies. But it's a chance. And the fancy cookies you buy with Leaf Tickets. And you certainly do earn a lot of leaf tickets just by going and playing the game normally. I've only had it installed like a week and I'm +600, not including what I spent on the golden rod for the current fishing tourney. So you could easily get by with some cookies without spending anything real. But if you run out and want more, you _can_ buy leaf tickets with real money. It's never required but you can. And as this game has a young audience as well, even the option of 'buy more!' can be a bad idea. Speaking from experience, a little 12 year old girl with a small job that pays decently enough can get addicted to spending money on phone games even when the outcome of such spending is a given, never mind when you aren't guaranteed to get what you wanted. So yeah, gambling.

For b - On the surface level, it's mostly just cosmetics. Yeah, I know. Fancy furniture and fancy clothes. You could argue that the fact that getting some of this furniture being a requirement to unlock memories is a certain benefit, sure, but I'm more concerned about the Happy Homeroom. Happy Homeroom offers some sort of dust or something, comes in a red bag, you earn one for the first time you pass a class. This stuff, from what I've seen, is needed along with reissue material for reissued crafting. But you only earn 1 per first time class pass, and the game only has a limited number of non-event classes. This means that, if you want more than just what you can get from that (and bear in mind you need to pass the previous class to unlock the next one so it can actually be difficult to obtain) you need to do event classes. And yes, you can do the event classes that come from the free events, the tourney, gyrodite, etc, but even hen there are more cookie classes and such, and the cookie classes last a long time, even after the cookie is no longer on sale, which is unlike event-event classes which disappear as soon as the event is over. People who buy cookies get more HH dust, and people who get more HH dust get to craft more reissue stuff. Sure, it's not like these fortune cookies offer a '20% extra chance of finding rarer bugs/fish' or something but it's Pocket Camp. Yeah, the cookies only offer cosmetic bonuses to those who buy them, but Pocket Camp is like 95% about cosmetics anyway, hence I would say they meet part b also.

So all in all, I would 100% say fortune cookies are equivalent to loot boxes in Fortnite or whatever game has them. I hope more conturies hurry up and step up on loot box laws, because unfortunately just Belguim isn't enough. Nintendo will produce no money from the game if it ends up going down in somewhere like the USA, and then they'll have no real choice but to amend fortune cookies so they are no longer loot boxes, but still earn money. My own personal idea would be to have each cookies contain a fully stamped card, but each cookie has its own card now. Buying the five pack will contain an extra stamped card. Then you can exchange these cards for the furniture, using matching cards costs less (so the special item costs 5 cards if using cards from the same cookie, but 10 is using other cards). The old stamp feature, including an extra stamp for the five pack will remain in place.

I feel like I've typed more here than I have ever done for a college project but okay. Yeah that's just my two cents on what I think the problem is with fortune cookies.


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## Alienfish (Jun 21, 2019)

^Well written.

And yeah as I said before probably, here it's basically only cosmetics and yeah woop you got a 5 star you get a dumb memory scene for it (and a nice item, but then again cosmetics hurr hurr. I don't think FEH is any better because then you NEED the characters to get and it's even worse. So yeah I hope they stop this kind of bull**** and either remake it completely or just delete it. So glad I stopped playing both.

And I love how ironic ninty themselves are with that they don't really want it but "lol money lets strain our devs as far as we can and make them piss off"... yeah how about you handle the game 100% yourself maybe??


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## lars708 (Jun 21, 2019)

Fortnite doesn't actually have lootboxes anymore. The problem with Fortnite is that it's way too easy for kids to grab their mums credit card and start buying unlimited V-bucks to purchase all the pickaxe skins, gliders, emotes and player skins in the store. There are so many of them available (think there are different ones for sale each day), it is kind of worse than lootboxes in that way. Kids just want them all and don't see how much money they're wasting through it. They have no sense of what value means especially when the currency you're using is premium fictional currency and thus does not directly reflect the amount of money you're spending.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp also has this problem with the Leaf Ticket exclusive stuff but there definitely isn't as much of an incentive to buy all of that comparatively.


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## Romaki (Jul 20, 2019)

Why don't they just disable purchases through the app stores? Taking away games seems kinda backwards.


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## Vizionari (Jul 21, 2019)

Oh huh, PC got shut down in Belgium too? I only heard about it for FEH but I guess it kinda makes sense Pocket Camp is as well...


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## Twiggy_Star (Jul 21, 2019)

What do they mean by loot boxes? The only loot boxes I know is a box that has loot in it and you can put stuff in the box or take stuff out


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## Vizionari (Jul 22, 2019)

Twiggy_Star said:


> What do they mean by loot boxes? The only loot boxes I know is a box that has loot in it and you can put stuff in the box or take stuff out



I believe they're referring to the fortune cookies in Pocket Camp.


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## Ossiran (Jul 23, 2019)

Twiggy_Star said:


> What do they mean by loot boxes? The only loot boxes I know is a box that has loot in it and you can put stuff in the box or take stuff out



Fortune Cookies. "Loot Boxes" are considered any kind of item that give you an item at a randomized chance. You don't know what you get until you open it. It's just like "Gacha", but instead of a slot machine of some kind, it's in item form.


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## LokiBoy (Jul 24, 2019)

Isn't the USA currently working on laws to do the exact same thing as Belgium did? If Nintendo shuts down the app there too, imagine the amount of backlash they will get.

Update: Hmm... whats this?

https://www.pcgamer.com/us-loot-box-ban-bill-gains-bipartisan-support-in-the-senate/
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=08771be7-edc3-4e67-9b1d-d226a36523e3

After reading this I think I will be stoping purchases of leaf tickets :S


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