Progression is unrewarding, grindy and overall poorly designed

I never said buying crystals was gambling and I dont think it is, so please dont misquote me. I said buying loot boxes is gambling because you dont know what you are getting until you have already paid. In addition the probabilities which determine the chances of each type of item turning up in a loot box can be changed at anytime by EA. If you claim that you can keep an eye on this because from the very small sample of loot boxes you have opened you can tell the shape of the probability distribution for what may to date be servaral hundred thousand of opened loot boxes then you are gravely mistaken. This is a common misunderstanding that any mathematics professor will correct if you attend Statistics 101. You can not, and to get a very rough idea of the shape of the distribution (i.e. the odds of each type of item turning up in a loot crate) you must know what the contents were for a vast amount of all opened loot crates to date, in particular over 50%. If we the customer are in the dark about this and if/when they change the odds to effectively make us spend more cash then we are in a very weak and position and are prone to manipulation.

The first sentence in wikipedias definition of gambling says:

Gambling is the wagering  of money or something of value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. 

We are expected to use money or something of value to get loot boxes which have an uncertain outcome regarding material goods. How would you not describe this as gambling???? Please dont say you know you are getting X in a loot crate so just view all the other bits as a gift because as explained above you do not know nor will you know if/when they change the odds in the future that you will get X. And if you say you are 'buying' random goods and not 'wagering' money to 'win' random goods then you are just playing with words/ The 'sense' meaning of the behaviour is exactly the same.

EA try to use the excuse that you are not obliged to spend money on loot boxes so it is not gambling. They are wrong, it is still gambling but you are not being forced to gamble. However, if they make progression such a grind that you are compelled to buy loot crates then you are being coerced into gambling. Its a bit like saying 'do what ever you want but if what you do is not what I want you to do then ill shoot you in the leg'.

To be frank (and I hope not rude) I am under the impression you are making excuses for EA regarding loot boxes because you are being rather nieve.

Peligrad wrote: Buying crates is the ONLY way to level up your characters once you've completed the handful of milestones that give you crafting parts. 

Exactly. And I would like them to tale loot boxes out and for a normal transaction to take place instead in which they offer a particular items for X amount of cyrstals and we can simply decide if what we want upfront and know the cost up front. Let just remove the randomness and gambling bit. Let not be fooled that because this is the ONLY method they have provided to date for getting crafting parts that it is the only method possible.

its grindy but if u really analyse u only need certain skills abilities, most of them are rubbish anyways lol if u are good at fps games it does matter, just play the game and enjoy it, game is not all about meme its more of a team effort, lol i sux but sometimes i even surprise myself lol...

---

@chinnyreckon wrote:

Peligrad wrote: Buying crates is the ONLY way to level up your characters once you've completed the handful of milestones that give you crafting parts. 

 

Exactly. And I would like them to tale loot boxes out and for a normal transaction to take place instead in which they offer a particular items for X amount of cyrstals and we can simply decide if what we want upfront and know the cost up front. Let just remove the randomness and gambling bit. Let not be fooled that because this is the ONLY method they have provided to date for getting crafting parts that it is the only method possible.

---

I guess to me it makes no difference at all. It's a 6 of 1 half dozen of the other kind of deal for me.

I kind of like getting random stuff. I would never buy emotes or other cosmetic stuff but if I get it as just part of progressing then I get fun interesting unique things and don't feel bad about hindering my progress by doing so. Plus if at any point down the road if I pick up a new hero or troop, I'll have basic cards for it which for me is a major obstacle for trying new things.