New 'Loot Box' Regulations in China
China has just passed new regulations concerning to online games that includes some interesting clauses relating to 'loot boxes' and other similar systems. The new law requires developers to be transparent about the exact 'draw probabilities' of these items.
What this means for Hearthstone is that Blizzard will be required to reveal what the exact chances are of opening specific card rarities in your card packs, as well as confirm the existence of other systems and algorithms related to this. For example the 'pity timer' that was discovered by players but has as of yet never been officially confirmed / talked about.
While we already know fairly accurately what the average chances are for Hearthstone it will still be nice to have it officially confirmed.
Blizzard will be required to display this information either on a dedicated page on their (Chinese) website or on a prominent spot inside the game.
You can read the relevant sections of the new law below that was translated by /u/czhihong over on reddit:
- Online game publishers (who provide virtual goods or services with any form of random mechanisms) shall not directly request gamers to to indulge in such activities through a direct injection of cash or virtual credits.
They shall promptly and publicly announce information about the name, property, content, quantity, and draw/forge probability of all virtual items and services that can be drawn/forged on the official website or a dedicated draw-probability web page of the game. The information on draw probability shall be true and effective.
- Online game publishers shall publicly announce the random draw results by customers on the official website or in a prominent spot in-game, and keep records for government inquiry. The records must be kept for at least 90 days. When publishing the random draw results, appropriate measures should be taken to protect user privacy.
- When online publishers are providing virtual goods and services with any form of random draw properties, they shall provide players with an avenue to trade for other virtual goods, either using virtual cash or any other ways to obtain similar virtual goods and services.
It is not certain how China will act on developers who do not comply to these new rules, and so far Blizzard has not yet commented if they are planning to.
These regulations only apply to the Chinese market but because Hearthstone is identical across regions everyone benefits from it! So far people around the internet have reacted very positively about the new law. Tell us how you feel about it!
I don't understand why this is such a huge deal, Blizzard won't be that affected by this.
CS:GO is screwed though.
GOOD! CS:GO skins are cancer, and Valve prioritizes them instead of improving and fixing their games. Those crates ruined TF2 and CSGO, so showing the exact chances of getting those items is gonna make people think twice before spending $2.50 on a key.
Based China! Hey China, could you make Valve do this with their crates now?
So what happens if we find out that [officially] there's a 1:40 chance of getting a legendary but we get one instead at the 45 mark, does that make Blizzard liable? I mean, what benefit does seeing the odds have on the consumer?
That's not how odds work. You can get 3 legionaries in a row with a chance of although the chance is 0.00156%. There might be a scratch ticket that cost $1 and you win $2 with a 1/3 chance. You could buy 20 tickets and not get a winner although the chance is low, but do you sue to the lottery corporation?
Good news everyone!
This pity timer meme needs to die. It simply isn't true.
Go ahead and downvote me. Doesn't make pity timer real.
The pity timer has been proven to be true. Not just that, Blizzard has similar 'bad luck protection' systems in all their modern games.
I'll bite. What proof do you have that it isn't really?
Go ahead, take your time, I'll wait.
Well then tell me what is the pity timer to get a legendary in World of Warcraft? I mean I literally rushed through Illidan a lot of times to get one of the twin blades but never got it >< there just is a chance of like 1% but not really a pity timer there (I guess). I am not saying that Hearthstone hasn't got a pity timer but I am questioning the argument that everything else does have one
the pity timer has been all but proven correct but this is still burden of proof fallacy
Anyone who buys into physical card games will notice on the back of the pack, in small text, the odds of opening certain rarities and premium cards. This is not a new concept, its about time it was added to virtual products.
I actually really do support this decision.
Finally we will be able to confirm Illuminati!!!
Nothing will stay inside one region. After all, all regions share info and championships.
Chinese government got 2 mayors noggenfogger from 50 packs, they are pissed off with this game
i actually got 2 noggenfogger from 80 packs :( sad story ....
I got 4 from 100...