D&D General Interview with D&D VP Jess Lanzillo on Comicbook.com

[CellarHeroes]

Yes, part of my opinion is that no one has explained how microtransactions are harmful. There's no evidence they will release loot boxes and I don't see much of an issue if they did as long as they're completely cosmetic.

I believe that the harm stems from a person's lack of self control, so only harmful to some. Casinos and other gambling services thrive off of these folks. Some people hold the companies accountable, and others hold the individual accountable. This then leads us down the path of "if the people didn't want it, the people wouldn't use it" which leads further into "but the companies made the people believe they wanted it".

In the end, it's a chicken and egg situation.

 

[Oofta]

I kind of feel like you missed the point of my post but suffice to say, the people who do have a concern about it don’t owe you an explanation.

They can also claim that an alien AI nanobot zombie apocalypse is going to happen any day now. I would be slightly less concerned about that but by not much. If you want to convince people there is an issue it has to be more than "microtransactions bad".

 

[Oofta]

I believe that the harm stems from a person's lack of self control, so only harmful to some. Casinos and other gambling services thrive off of these folks. Some people hold the companies accountable, and others hold the individual accountable. This then leads us down the path of "if the people didn't want it, the people wouldn't use it" which leads further into "but the companies made the people believe they wanted it".

In the end, it's a chicken and egg situation.

It's also completely hypothetical at this point. We have plenty of products to spend money on right now that for some people enhances their enjoyment of the game. I know I've spent far more time and money on miniatures than I needed to. I don't see a VTT selling add-ons as being any different.

 

[TiQuinn]

They can also claim that an alien AI nanobot zombie apocalypse is going to happen any day now. I would be slightly less concerned about that but not much. If you want to convince people there is an issue it has to be more than "microtransactions bad".

OOOOOOHHHHH.

You think this is about convincing people. Ha. No. That's probably not happening.

 

[mamba]

If you want to convince people there is an issue it has to be more than "microtransactions bad"

and if you want to convince people of the opposite ‘microtransactions good’ or ‘no one has demonstrated harm to me’ won’t be enough either

 

[Oofta]

OOOOOOHHHHH.

You think this is about convincing people. Ha. No. That's probably not happening.

Eh. You're not going to be convinced to matter what I say.

 

[Oofta]

and if you want to convince people of the opposite ‘microtransactions good’ or ‘no one has demonstrated harm to me’ won’t be enough either

If someone comes up and says "The house is on fire!" and I see no smoke I'm going to ask if there's an open flame somewhere, maybe something is glowing red with heat or a wire that's sparking. When they say no, there's not but someone else had a house like mine and it started on fire, I'm not going to take their statements seriously and I will ask them why they told me the house is on fire.

If someone can show me that I have bad wiring or the potential for a gas leak, that's a different story. So far nobody has shown why the house is in imminent danger of being on fire or why there are any significant concerns about the VTT. The potential risks (random loot, being able to spend money on add-ons) are just that, only hypothetically potential. They are also no different from things many people already choose to spend money on. So yes, I'm going to ask why people say the house is on fire the VTT will be a bad thing for D&D or somehow a terrible thing.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Here you are from wikipedia.

Regulations protecting consumers from microtransactions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They have to worry about laws from different countries.

Gamers want to feel if they spend their money to buy something, this will be theirs forever. If gamers are too sick with videogames selling too many lootboxes then they will say "stop".

If players started to feel scammed, then the company may start to lose customers.

* What about the different languanges? Maybe I am willing to spend my money to buy the pack of PC species of Humblewood but I would rather my first languange because it is more confortable to read. Maybe a right translator team could be the strategic adventange about rival VTTs.

 

[mamba]

If someone comes up and says "The house is on fire!" and I see no smoke I'm going to ask if there's an open flame somewhere

yeah, not a good analogy, there is no independent verification here, you either agree or disagree with the arguments.

You are not convinced loot boxes are gambling, I am convinced. Some countries have passed laws that treat them as such, other countries with a history of weak consumer protection laws have done nothing. Who is right?

 

[CellarHeroes]

It's also completely hypothetical at this point. We have plenty of products to spend money on right now that for some people enhances their enjoyment of the game. I know I've spent far more time and money on miniatures than I needed to. I don't see a VTT selling add-ons as being any different.

I absolutely agree.

What I would like to see done, if there were some sort of "loot crate" thing, is award them for meeting goals...much like other places have Badges.
Maybe:

• Every X hours of being in the DM role
• Every X hours of being in the Player role
• Every X hours running your Campaign
• Participating in special events like virtual conventions and Extra Life
• etc...

Reward the users for interacting with the product.