Valve invents new Counter-Strike 2 loot boxes that successfully dodge anti-gambling regulations
-
Don’t hate me for asking a question. I don’t endorse loot boxes and do think they suck. But help me understand:
Isn’t this better than loot boxes?
You get to see what you’re paying for before you pay. You pay more for rarer items that clearly have very high monetary value and you’re allowed to sell on items for real money of you want.
Valve also still sticks with a cosmetics only model and no gameplay affecting transactions. Selling cosmetics only is probably the best way to monetise.
Previously, loot box’s gain is a probability distribution over (market price - fixed box price). Now it’s (market price - rarity price according to Valve).
I think in the end the market will take the Valve price (fixed or with rarity) into account since it’s known and the same to everyone. Then it’s again just playing against the probability distribution of items.
-
Don’t hate me for asking a question. I don’t endorse loot boxes and do think they suck. But help me understand:
Isn’t this better than loot boxes?
You get to see what you’re paying for before you pay. You pay more for rarer items that clearly have very high monetary value and you’re allowed to sell on items for real money of you want.
Valve also still sticks with a cosmetics only model and no gameplay affecting transactions. Selling cosmetics only is probably the best way to monetise.
and you’re allowed to sell on items for real money of you want.
Just to be real: You can sell them for Steam Wallet funds, which is not “real money” since it can only be used on Steam.
-
This post did not contain any content.
I think being able to see the item and having the option to purchase is much better than opening a random box that you have no idea what you’ll get.
-
This post did not contain any content.
Oh so it’s loot boxes mixed with a limited time store multiplied by FOMO. Very cool.
Not!
Also: “At what point do they become macro transactions?” IMO at $2. That’s the micro/macro cutoff for me.
-
You get to see what you’re paying for before you pay.
Yes, for the first box. The box after is not shown. So its basically just „hey, if I open this Box, it could very well be that the next box will be a legendary knife”
So you are just betting for what comes after that
The new case doesn’t have legendaries.
-
and you’re allowed to sell on items for real money of you want.
Just to be real: You can sell them for Steam Wallet funds, which is not “real money” since it can only be used on Steam.
You can sell them on hundreds of third-party marketplaces that let you withdraw to your bank account or crypto wallet.
-
You can sell them on hundreds of third-party marketplaces that let you withdraw to your bank account or crypto wallet.
You can do that, but you’re not allowed to do that.
-
Who is buying these skins. I feel like such an alien sometimes. I just can’t understand wanting to spend any money at all on a cosmetic skin
I wouldn’t spend money on skins in most games but Counter Strike is different. You can buy a skin, use it for years, and then sell it for more than you paid. In fact, skins are actually a very good investment that have historically had less volatility and better returns than stock indexes like the S&P 500.
-
You can do that, but you’re not allowed to do that.
Valve may not endorse it, but they certainly allow it. In fact, there are many skins that cannot be traded on Steam’s official marketplace, but only on third-party sites due to their high value.
-
-
I wouldn’t spend money on skins in most games but Counter Strike is different. You can buy a skin, use it for years, and then sell it for more than you paid. In fact, skins are actually a very good investment that have historically had less volatility and better returns than stock indexes like the S&P 500.
These skins have 15% returns? That seems dubious but it could be. I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.
-
These skins have 15% returns? That seems dubious but it could be. I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.
I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.
There are skins worth millions, so definitely you can.
-
Who is buying these skins. I feel like such an alien sometimes. I just can’t understand wanting to spend any money at all on a cosmetic skin
Agreed. The only time I’ll buy a skin is if it literally improves camouflage. I see no reason to buy a flashy skin that only serves to make you more visible to enemies.
-
These skins have 15% returns? That seems dubious but it could be. I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.
That’s the case with a lot of collectibles. LEGO is a great investment but you have to keep it somewhere
-
This post did not contain any content.
Leave it to Valve to find the most predatory monetization possible.
-
You get to see what you’re paying for before you pay.
Yes, for the first box. The box after is not shown. So its basically just „hey, if I open this Box, it could very well be that the next box will be a legendary knife”
So you are just betting for what comes after that
Still the point is you don’t spend money without knowing what you get so it is better. Still predatory, but better
-
I don’t think you can sink $300k into skins like you can vanguard, though.
There are skins worth millions, so definitely you can.
…who is paying a million dollars for a skin??
-
This is pretty disgusting. Just make a normal skin store where people can buy the skins they want at whatever price you(valve) decide they are valued at. No fomo. No gambling.
Isn’t that what they did? Except to help preserve the “value” if the rare items you still have to get lucky to be allowed to buy them.
If they had a store where you could buy the ultra rare skins for 1000$, that would push down the “value” if the skins more quickly.
-
Before this shit existed (like back when the hottest shit was Quake), I thought it might be cool to get a professionally made skin everyone in the game could see for like $0.25-$0.50. A dollar, at most.
The first iteration of a system that could have potentially made that a reality, the things you’d actually wanna buy were $25-50. Like who the fuck workshopped these ridiculous prices?
Adjusted for inflation, the price is probably the same
But seriously they just charge whatever people will pay. It’s not like it’s free market, if people can’t make their own custom skins.
-
Isn’t that what they did? Except to help preserve the “value” if the rare items you still have to get lucky to be allowed to buy them.
If they had a store where you could buy the ultra rare skins for 1000$, that would push down the “value” if the skins more quickly.
The way they are preserving the value is a form of fomo.
