Apple Now Requires Game Developers to disclose odds on "Loot Boxes" [MERGED THREADS]

Vdh2008 · 2017-12-21T16:58:46+00:00

Any comments on this?<br/><br/><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/21/16805674/apple-loot-box-app-store-games-odds-probability-disclosure" rel="nofollow">https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/21/16805674/apple-loot-box-app-store-games-odds-probability-disclosure</a><br/><br/>

Vdh2008

Any comments on this?

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/21/16805674/apple-loot-box-app-store-games-odds-probability-disclosure

Comments

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bdawg923

Watch them get around this somehow

WhatRYou

Its a question of time before they disclose those odds!! I always found it odd that Kabam wanted me to gamble but not giving us the odds of winning...like common, even the casinos discloses the odds of winning!

DanielRand

They'll get around it by only posting on things that you pay actual money for. Items purchased with units won't apply.

Jeepetti

Do we really need to see the actually percentages though? We already know the odds of having a good pull is low from all the people here that whine and are going to delete their accounts but never do

SarcasticTaurus

bdawg923 wrote: »

Watch them get around this somehow

You know they will. They would never disclose that information!!

HAVOC

3.1.1 In-App Purchase:
Apps offering “loot boxes” or other mechanisms that provide randomized virtual items for purchase must disclose the odds of receiving each type of item to customers prior to purchase.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

The last paragraph in the Introduction states “This is a living document;”.

So how long do you think it will take for Kabam to roll out the Percentages for those Featured Champion Crystals?

SarcasticTaurus

DanielRand wrote: »

They'll get around it by only posting on things that you pay actual money for. Items purchased with units won't apply.

Yep the whole legal team is finding loop holes as we speak lol

Jeekman24

Great news! Thanks for the post.

CoatHang3r

From what I have read it doesn’t require the odds for loot boxes as a whole, just the ones you purchase so that could/would mean those that are exchanged for money. Given that and assuming Kabam wants to keep the odds hidden then it would make sense for them to remove the hero crystals from the daily offers and no longer offer any hero crystal for purchase from the unit store.

I also don’t care enough to investigate if there are grandfather exceptions, so it could be they will not have to do a single thing.

bdawg923

Technically we do purchase crystals, even though it's with in game currency. But apple doesn't specify that this applies to loot boxes purchased with money, just "purchased".

Bird_Bear

They never will. Sweep under the rug

Thatweirdguy

God bless Apple. I would be surprised if getting around this rule only required offering crystals via unit/digital currency. I feel like Apple would be smart enough to know that. These rules are being floated by politicians so I am sure there will be regulations.

Beanebox

The drop rates are working as intended
Kabam

Brandonius

Should they not also disclose what could be available in those Loot boxes? Aside from a totally generic statement like in the GGCs?

Kestrelle

Well this seems pretty straightforward. Let's see those rates!

Kestrelle

This is amazing!

[Deleted User]

Hey Summoners, we've touched on this subject a bit before, but just to re-emphasize - we adhere to any rules, regulations, and laws that we are required to abide by. We are currently working with Apple to better understand these new guidelines, are still learning about them ourselves and what the impact of these changes will be. We don't have any further information to share or discuss at this time, but once that changes, we will of course let everyone know!

Kestrelle

This is really a gigantic win for gamers. I am very impressed with Apple on this one

wSWeaponX

So does that mean we'll know the odds of these crystals finally?

Omni

Kestrelle wrote: »

This is really a gigantic win for gamers. I am very impressed with Apple on this one

Not for us if it drastically changes the in game economy in a negative way

Spino

Bird_Bear wrote: »

They never will. Sweep under the rug

Then, Apple store might as well cease to offer their app.

MasterFlint

People are naive if they think there are flat percentages for things. The algorithms are very complex and tuned to control what people open and their progression in game.

For example:
New account opening a PHC has greater odds to pull a 4 star than an older currently active account.

This will definitely change the game dramatically...

A very welcome change, it was complete robbery before.

Kestrelle

Omni wrote: »

Kestrelle wrote: »

This is really a gigantic win for gamers. I am very impressed with Apple on this one

Not for us if it drastically changes the in game economy in a negative way

I strongly disagree. This definitely does have the potential to have a big impact on this, and every other game with loot crates. Even if it looks like a negative on the surface, I view this as an unquestionable positive

Badrose

FINALLY, now you can really see where you waste money!

roastedbagel

Genuine question... What does this change?

When it says "this featured 5* crystal has 1% chance to pull X", what will that change? Will you no longer open one? Of course you will. Just like you do now knowing the odds are super low.

I'm not trying to be snarky, I just think this will have 0 affect on the game and how we choose to open crystals. We already know the odds are ****.

weapon_xtreme83

I think what Apple just did is fantastic. Players have been asking for the drop rates for years, and keep getting denied. Good to see a major company taking action now.

Omni

Kestrelle wrote: »

Omni wrote: »

Kestrelle wrote: »

This is really a gigantic win for gamers. I am very impressed with Apple on this one

Not for us if it drastically changes the in game economy in a negative way

I strongly disagree. This definitely does have the potential to have a big impact on this, and every other game with loot crates. Even if it looks like a negative on the surface, I view this as an unquestionable positive

Kabam makes x amount of their money off of loot crystals. If they now disclose drop rates and it changes people’s purchasing pattern and less revenue comes in they will have two choices.

Strip the game team down to keep their profit target or change the economy of the game to entice people to purchase other in game items directly. If you thought a 5 star crystal was expensive now, wait until they figure out how much to charge to keep their same profit margin.

MasterSmoke

Why does everyone care about knowing the odds?? Can someone explain to me what this would actually change as far as pulling champs go??

Thatweirdguy

roastedbagel wrote: »

Genuine question... What does this change?

When it says "this featured 5* crystal has 1% chance to pull X", what will that change? Will you no longer open one? Of course you will. Just like you do now knowing the odds are super low.

I'm not trying to be snarky, I just think this will have 0 affect on the game and how we choose to open crystals. We already know the odds are ****.

This is a valid point but the transparency would be appreciated if nothing else. Also, this will require the drop rates between new players and old players to be disclosed and eventually evened. Once there is a light shined on the better rates for new players vs old I think it might make Kabam have to even things out.