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It's not clear to me whether this is a "someone somewhere once defined it as such (and we'll use this working definition to not make things unnecessarily compli
by Aachen 4y ago
It's not clear to me whether this is a "someone somewhere once defined it as such (and we'll use this working definition to not make things unnecessarily complicated and will reserve a proper definition for after we've looked at the problem broadly)", or an actual "this is how we are defining this for legislation purposes".
- caylus 4y agoThis goes far beyond a "working definition" in that it encompasses literally every game that unlocks content in any way. /Some/ distinction is needed to differentiate a "loot box" from every other game mechanic. It would be like using "a metal object that can harm people" as a working definition of an assault weapon. If the definition also includes ladders, cars, and push-pins, it's far too broad to be useful in any discussion.
- eterm 4y agoFirstly, this is a white paper way before formulation of actual law. Secondly, that's kind of how UK law works, read up on the knife crime regulation: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-knives-bladed-and-pointed-articles https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-kniv... It's formulated as, "Carrying an article with a blade or point or an offensive weapon in a public place". Which of course covers everything from legitimate things to non-legitimate. Which is why the law also allows for a "reasonable excuse" to be carrying such an article. By the time any regulation is made into legislation it'll iron out the difference or define things in such a way that a reasonable person can tell the difference between an actual game mechanic and a problematic "loot box".