I normally groan a little bit when Electronic Arts (EA) is the manufacturer behind a game I want to play.  It isn't because of this either.    

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I hate EA games (i don't hate their games, just the way they release them) because no matter how you acquired the game they normally have some sort of additional login that you have to do via their own personal server, even if you are not going to play online.  I would imagine this has to do with one of two things.

* reduction of piracy (which doesn't work at all, TPB has all their releases) 
*  so they have the ability to control micro-transactions.

Whatever it is, it makes loading up my game take much much longer than any other game I play on my PS4.  However, they are in the news lately for the way in which they handled an inquiry about their loot boxes.

Everyone who plays games knows what loot boxes are and to me, a game purchaser, I absolutely hate them.  I never buy them and I never will.  Guild Wars 2 had loot boxes as well and there were a lot of people out there that would pay real world money for them and I mean a lot of money.

EA, rather than telling the truth and saying that the loot boxes are completely optional and no matter what is acquired inside of the loot boxes you receive no advantage in gameplay and this would be true.  They could also mention that it is a big part of their profitability and the elimination of said "feature" could impact their ability to produce quality games.

But they didn't say that...    No, instead they had to say something on the record which just makes them look like liars because that is exactly what they are.  They referred to the "loot boxes" as "surprise mechanics!" and said there is nothing unethical about it.  

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I say if you want to have loot boxes or surprise mechanics or whatever the hell you want to call them inside of your game then you can go right ahead and do that.  If buying the boxes becomes a necessary part of the game the internet speaks quickly enough that real gamers are simply going to avoid your products in the future... it's as simple as that.  

However, to outright lie about it and basically just look like a typical politician in the process, is upsetting to me.  

EA is trying to avoid these loot boxes being classified as "gambling" because this is something that is being proposed in many countries.  Belgium has already outlawed them being included as a feature, surprise or not, in any game in their country.  

And well guys, that is exactly what they are.  Just like what card you get in Blackjack is a surprise mechanic, so is buying a bundle of unknown contents that you can only see after you pay for it.  I'm not saying it should be illegal, because i hate government intervention, but EA just sounds like a bag of D**Ks when they say crap like this.