I don't disagree with you, believe me I don't. My point is that there's now tonnes of games out there who have implemented these systems into them. FIFA/Madden have built an empire off of lootboxes in Ultimate Team and more and more resources are going towards them modes. Do we make all FIFA games an 18 or R rated?
What's the best course of action here? Do we boycott all games that have any form of lootbox or microtransaction? FIFA/Madden, Overwatch, Battlefront, Shadow of War, COS:GO, GTA, NBA 2K and so on?
If those games were made R rated like GTA or COD then people would still buy them, even kids, so how do we stop that?
That's the most sinister part about it. It's a type of gambling aimed at addictive personalities (lets be honest here, that's most kids) but they can get away with it because they can say the very thing that's in question, or being debated, and that is the excuse of "Well, its not gambling really because you're always getting something back." when really that's bollocks, because no one really gives a toss about the upteenth exact same skin you unlocked for your weapons, or the 100th pair of Nike boots, only in a different colour. That and it's, you know, a video game and it contains no violence, cursing or sexual content. That's what the ESRB guidelines and publishing rules will invariably tell you. Of course, anyone with a bit of sense will know thats bollocks. It's just another snide little loophole for the c*nts to exploit, and unless we get some poor c*nt lose his life savings or his house over little Johnny spunking it all up a wall via a credit card on microtransactions, then they'll never inforce, or invent, a law that stipulates them as gambling, thus imposing the dreaded 'R' rating on their supposedly harmless sports game, or anything else that's deliberately geared towards kids, and man children, i.e Star Wars. Why do you think EA have sank their razor sharp talons into that juicy hot pie? It's ripe for it, that's why. Star Wars and microtransactions are a match made in heaven. They know they're going to get idiots dipping into their pockets because of what it is. "Ohhh *gasp* I can unlock Darth Vader's force slam like he did in Rogue One !?! HOW! Tell me, please, please...I need that. Oh, it's in the crates? Fuck it. I'll throw a tenner at that and see if I can get it!" It's sickening. For people who think this is an overreaction, just wait and see what they do with Call of Duty, and then Battlefield. They're next.
To answer the question of what to do about it (and you're right, age certificate means fuck all regarding it) I think it's down to awareness. Plain and simple. These people only recognise one thing: sales stats and what that means for their bank balance. Parents need to be made aware of it, and anyone who's been gaming for more than 2 decades should fucking know better than to buy that shit. As soon as their sales projections take a dip, the result will be swift and lasting and the U-turn will be dramatic. Trust me on that. Ask Microsoft. The twats are still trying to recover from the always online, subscription based pay-to-play bullshit they initially tried to pull with the X1. Serves them right, the c*nts.
Also, more magazines and independent reviewers need to grow a set of bollocks. It starts with them. Give a game a really harsh score, and as we all know, that score has a big impact on sales. Hard to do that, seeing that a lot of them are easily swayed by free copies of games, possibly brown envelopes, and free backstage VIP early access events, which is like offering a fat person who can't stop eating an invitation into the back of Greggs with an all you can eat policy, so long as you've nice things to say after.
