post-it-contents/what-is-a-loot-box/contents.md

---
title: What is a loot box?
credits: XPUB
contents:
    - PLACEHOLDER COVER
    - A closed box with objects inside.
    - A digital or physical box.
    - A virtual box inside video games containing randomized items.
    - A virtual box of hidden motives, designed to persuade and trick players.
    - A virtual box where the user can pay and access products. Those items can be useful to develop your character in the game or can be collectable.
    - A lottery box.

    - It looks like a real gift, but you purchase it for yourself.
    - You choose it.
    - You get something nice.

    - A box embedded in a context.
    - It works within the context of a game.
    - It works outside the context of a game.
    - When the game gets tough, the loot box offers you a shortcut.

    - Payment
    - A virtual feature that players can purchase with real money. It is usually available in free-to-play games or full-price games.
    - "You don't get it for free, and you don't know what you get."
    - A promise for a virtual treasure that is purchased with real money. You buy a virtual treasure hoping it contains something valuable within the world of the game.

    - Fast-thinking
    - It is what motivates immediate irrational purchases.
    - It can be rational in the context of the game.
    - A quest, narrative or social pressure can justify any loot box.
    - It appears and disappears quickly in order to seem exclusive. Thus, it makes the player buy it without thinking too much.
    - Time pressure creates artificial urgency (jeopardy).

    - Excitement and anticipation
    - A feeling of excitement and anticipation could be related to the excitement of gambling.
    - You know that there is a chance of getting some items that you desire.
    - It is desirable because it creates rare chances to get powerful items.
    - It is like gambling because you anticipate what is inside.

    - Surprise mechanism
    - The element of surprise is a highly appreciated aspect of the loot box.
    - A secret treasure that is not worth the money you pay for it, nor the expectations you have for it. However, that is somehow exciting.
    - "Addictiveness is connected to the surprise mechanism: the moment of anticipation is addictive. It makes you feel that anything is possible."
    - "It's like the cat in the box: is she dead or is she alive? She is both until you open the box."

    - Surprise
    - An entertaining element.
    - It keeps the players hooked to the game by using an element of surprise.
    - The player never knows what is inside of it.
    - Surprise that comes with consequences.

    - Reward
    - An immediate reward.
    - The immediate reward makes it fun. The risk comes with pleasure.
    - It derives from the loot, a bunch of goodies that you can get as a reward after you conquer a super boss or level up.
    - A reward after accomplishing a really heroic task.
    - An immediately rewarding response preceded by a generally customized trigger.
    - A guaranteed reward in exchange for money.

    - Progress in the game
    - You have more power in the game.
    - Sometimes the game doesn’t reach its full potential without buying a loot box. That makes players feel compelled to make a purchase.
    - You will get better if you buy a loot box.

    - Emotional trigger
    - Strong emotional reactions are tied to the financial elements.
    - Pleasure.
    - Thrill.
    - Excitement.
    - Desire.
    - Disappointment.

    - "Even if you don't get exactly what you wish for, you will get something, and you feel somehow rewarded."
    - "It's collectable."
    - Incremental rewards.
    - It is disguised as safe and innocent.
    - You can keep opening loot boxes forever.

    - It interfaces the game and the real world.
    - "It’s an alternate reality experience of collecting things you can't own in real life."
    - It’s a pulse in the circulation of resources between a virtual game and the reality outside of it.

    - Loot box as currency exchange
    - The game coin.
    - Collectible item.
    - Real money.
    - Power-Up.

    - Designed to be addictive
    - Very real addictive mechanisms.
    - A repeated scheme that ensures constant spending into virtual game currencies.
    - Designed to be desirable and to be purchased again and again.
    - Some rewards are rare and that makes the loot box desirable.
    - It puts you in a condition for purchasing without thinking too much.
    - Its timespan is similar to the discount periods or Black Friday.
    - Looking under the hood.
    - A trigger for addictive behaviour.
    - A gambling mechanism, exploitative by design, that promises immediate in-game rewards to the player.
    - The rewards of the loot box can affect both the gameplay and the social environment around the game.
    - It sets the beat for repeated microtransactions.
    - "It's a repetitive rhythm for the player's temporality."
    - It builds a habit by triggering the attention and the emotional response of the player.
    - "It's fun."
    - It ensures that you keep playing potentially forever.
    - From habit to addiction.
    - You pay money to obtain something new.
    - Risk.
    - Ritual.
    - Destiny.

    - It hacks the temporality of a game.
    - It allows you to customize your game character.
    - It shifts the dynamics in the game.
    - It provides you with collectables or power-ups that make you progress inside the game.
    - A temporalized tool for the distribution and management of resources.

    - Exploitation
    - The potentially endless collection creates artificial needs.
    - Exploitative fun.
    - The benefits for you are emotional. The benefits for the game platforms are financial.
    - "A money-making mechanism that uses real-world money in video games' worlds."

    - It targets vulnerable players.
    - A trigger for addictive behaviour.
    - A trigger for toxic behaviour.
    - An escape from real life.
    - Fake promises.

    - FOMO (fear of missing out).
    - The surprise mechanism and exclusivity of the loot box creates a constant FOMO.
    - Peer pressure.
    - Social pressure.

    - Individual engagement
    - A personalized 1 to 1 interaction.
    - 1 to machine interaction.
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