Talk:Gambling in Video Games
Length: I went through and checked the length of the article. As of now, the article is around 970/ 3000 words. In order to achieve the 3000 word objective a little bit more content will need to be provided on the subject.
- Suggestion of topics to talk about/ include:
- Gambling in pc game games vs mobile games
- Look into the mobile game (chat room style game) called Hotel Hideaway. It’s basically a gambling game that involves players spinning a wheel and opening random loot boxes for clothing items for their avatars. I feel like this would be a good example of a more casual game that has these aspects, this can also lead to a conversation around how gambling is disguised/ encouraged in games based around gameplay objectives and user interactions. For example, a person may want to feel a sense of “popularity” or “importance” and having a better looking avatar might provide this, which would encourage them to spend more money in games and partaking in low-drop random gambling for items.
- Call of Duty Mobile also really encouraged gambling, which can be related to the underage gambling. Especially with mobile games! I feel like kids are on their phones more (for example, pre-pandemic school environment), and a lot of mobile games are encouraging gambling (especially via loot boxes)
- I don't know if this would be off-topic but related to the ethical concern of underage gambling, it’s almost like kids toys at the store are normalizing underage gambling. There are a lot of toys being promoted (e.g. minibrands) that introduce gambling at a young age, so when kids see gambling in the games they play it might not appear like a bad idea.
- Could also talk about how easy it is to partake in gambing online, just a finger tap away.
- You can also discuss how video game companies don’t often provide adult validation, etc.
Structure: Opening paragraph summarizing issues: While the opening paragraph does describe what gambling in video games looks like, it does not address any of the ethical concerns that are associated with it. I would suggest including these concerns at the end of the opening paragraph.
Body article in one or more sections: The multiple sections provided help me to understand the topic better as a whole. I do feel that some sections could be linked to other ethical concerns, or go more in depth by providing statistics (e.g. transparency of drop rates for loot box goods)
Statements backed up by references to reliable sources: I feel like a lot of the sources are blog posts from websites that I'm not quite familiar with. As of now I think this is fine since the article length has not yet been completed. I would suggest looking for sources from scientific publications and articles about the topic. For example, since the article is about gambling, perhaps pull some statistics about how addicting gambling is from a reasonable source.
- Recent research on video game loot boxes:
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206767
- http://www.tascl.org/uploads/4/9/3/3/49339445/drummond_sauer_nhb_2018_loot_boxes.pdf
Clarity: Overall I understand how gambling in video games can be considered problematic for the promotion of underage gambling, but more context will be needed to address other ethical concerns. I think it might be valuable to address the point of view of how gambling in video games could be seen as good/ unproblematic (e.g. people feel better about themselves bc of the items they have for their avatar, people are free to spend their money the way they want)
Objective Reporting (neutral point of view): With only one ethical implication, I personally feel like a few more should be included. I would suggest talking about “gambling addiction”, “gambling disorder”, “companies taking advantage of vulnerable individuals”, “low win rates, high loose rates (in the case of loot boxes, how the good items are SO HARD to obtain)”, “stealing parent/ partner money for gambling”
- This source might be helpful: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5797763/
