Preface
My original post was deleted because FFG knows the contents of the original thread to be factual. They do not want to take proper responsibility for the products they are selling especially for minors and how they are responsible for introducing minors into gambling.
Loot Box / Blind Box
KeyForge uses blind box / loot box mechanics in order to sell the game. Why is the main game mechanic wrapped so tightly around the loot box? The reason is obvious, motivating players to purchase more and more loot boxes.
QuoteThe message is clear: they want you to stay ignorant of the contents, so that if you wind up buying something you don’t want then you’ll essentially have to come back to buy more from them until you finally get it. - source 1
QuoteIt’s also against the law to market our services to children or in public, where children might see these messages. - source 2
You may agree that physical games use gambling loot boxes in order to sell product. I do not think developers should be prevented from creating games that use this monetization strategy; however, the game should be regulated just like any other gambling activity. That includes NOT ALLOWING the game to be marketed to non-adults. The game should also have clear warnings that it uses GAMBLING as its primary source of monetization.
QuoteBoth buying loot boxes and buying card packs are gambling because they involve the exchange of money in the hope that you may get something of real-world value in return. - Source 2
The above quote is from a gambling industry expert who rightfully identifies loot boxes and card packs as GAMBLING.
Health Effects
For those interested in why exposing gambling to children is harmful to their development, please read this article (has citations). Exposing non-adults to gambling in their childhood has potential problems that go well into their adult hood. Most of the people on this forum have been exposed to gambling through various means like trading cards during their childhood and those people can't even acknowledge that loot boxes and blind boxes are actually gambling. They are gambling addicted and apart of being addicted is the inability to admit to one's gambling problems like purchasing loot boxes / blind boxes.
http://knowtheodds.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NYCPG_ebook_YouthGambling_052114.pdf
Customer First
Many have already argued that making the entire deck a loot box is somehow more customer friendly then selling booster packs. I think this is a flawed statement. The card gaming industry ALREADY has customer friendly deck building formats. One of the game companies is White Wizard Games and they produce Star Realms , Hero Realms , and Epic Card Game .
I own Star Realms and have played hero realms. I really enjoy this type of deck building game. The important part is that there is ZERO randomness when purchasing card packs or the starter deck. All the cards are 100% identified on each card pack. Its different to the keyforge style of deck building but that is where Epic Card Game comes in.
The Fix
FFG could easily fix the problem while still providing a 'unique' experience. All FFG needs to do is expose the QR code on the box so that players can SCAN the contents before making a purchase. Or they could list all of the names of the cards and their quantity on the back of the box. Or they could have a flip out that shows the contents. By allowing the contents of the box to be known before purchase, the product would no longer fall under gambling laws and would be fine. For the people who don't want to know the contents, they could easily just not look and buy the first one off the shelf.
Of course, FFG and stores would have a problem and that is the question of what to do with all the unwanted underpowered stock. The game itself has the concept of chains which is a built in mechanic to deal with over powered decks. FFG knows there will be over powered combinations and people will inherently seek those out on their purchases. So its not in FFG's best interest to be consumer friendly since the whole point of the product line is to sell as many as possible. Anyways, there is always a solution for a company that is looking to be consumer friendly but FFG/Asmodee is looking to maximise their profits at the expense of the players.
Summary
We should call out FFG now for their irresponsible business practices before Legislation catches up (which it will in the next few years). Keyforge to me is ultimately a failed product BECAUSE its main mechanic is so tightly tied to the loot box. I certainly won't be purchasing their product and will warn others of this dishonest and harmful business practice of selling loot boxes to non-adults.
