[Spooky23]

The culture has changed and is ok with gambling being inserted everywhere, especially in tech circles.

Look at the threads about daily fantasy sports in HN. Many impassioned comments about how the ability to bet on sports is freedom, etc..

[efdee]

Having the ability to bet is freedom. Being seduced (avoiding the word 'forced' here) into betting under the guise of a game... not so much.

[Spooky23]

I don’t see the nuance between a loot box and a slot machine designed to extract $50-$100/hr from a bettor.

[efdee]

There is not much of a difference. The question is, did your $60 buy you a game, or a program that is designed to just make you buy as many loot boxes as possible?

If the games are no more than glorified casinos, they should be regulated as such.

[vertex-four]

A slot machine is clearly a slot machine, and is additionally labelled as such, with mandated warnings. A video game is not - a video game which is actually a slot machine looks very similar to an actual video game.

[falcolas]

With a slot machine, you have the chance to win money back. With loot boxes, you don't (any "rewards" are forever locked up in the game).

[simion314]

Not OP, not everyone wants to make gambling illegal just regulate it so some categories of people don't get abused. If the game is gambling then the existing rules for gambling need to apply, if you don't like the existing rules then you need to try to change them.

[pixl97]

A very strong lobby exist to prevent gambling rules from applying to games. This discussion is just one battle over it.