- "In RPG games the Mimic is a monster that appears as a treasure chest."
- |-
In RPG games the
Mimic is a monster
that appears as a
treasure chest.
- "When a player tries to interact with it in order to get the contents of the chest it reveals its true nature and attacks her."
- "The name of the Mimic come from its act of mimesis: this creature is like a predator that disguises itself in order to sneak up on its prey."
- "A treasure chest in a game can be seen as a temporary safe zone because it interrupts the flow of incoming threats by offering a reward to the player."
- "The Mimic endangers this temporary safe zone and breaks a kind of contract between the player and the game."
- "The treasure chest is transformed in a risky russian roulette, that inoculates danger in the safe zones of a narration."
- |-
The treasure chest is
transformed in a risky
russian roulette, that
inoculates danger in the
safe zones of
a narration.
- "I'm tempted to write that the loot box is something like a meta mimic: an object that promises an in-game reward but produces a damage to the player."
- "What's more is that this damage is inflicted in the real world not to the player but to the person."
- "What's then the difference between a loot box and a Mimic?"
@ -57,18 +66,37 @@ contents:
- "Before the Ecology, loot boxes were just shapeshifting subterranean creatures that didn’t like sunlight. Incredibly flexible hermits, basically."
- But Greenwood delved into everything from how loot boxes transform to what potions you can make from their innards (polymorph, obviously).
- "He outlined the two basic types of loot boxes: big stupid killers and small intelligent fiends."
- |-
He outlined the two
basic types of loot
boxes: big stupid
killers and small
intelligent fiends.
- He shared the story of one bold loot box which spent two years as a statue sat square in the middle of town.
- Curiously near a sewer vein "filled to a depth of more than 60 feet with human and animal bones."
- |-
Curiously near a sewer
vein "filled to a depth of
more than sixty feet
with human and
animal bones.
- "It’s no exaggeration to say he changed the face of loot boxes forever."
- "Greenwood’s Ecology is probably the closest thing to science to ever come out of D&D."
- "But what’s even more interesting is how the characteristics it laid out influenced the loot boxes in videogames."
- Look at the ones in the original Ultima, released in 1980. These are aggressive monster chests that pounce when the player gets close.
- |-
Look at the ones in the
original Ultima, released
in 1980. These are
aggressive monster
chests that pounce
when the player
gets close.
- "Sounds remarkably faithful to the Monster Manual, doesn’t it?"
- "Now look at Luggage from Discworld, released in 1995—after Greenwood’s ecology."
- Luggage is most definitely a loot box, but he’s also your companion.
- |-
Luggage is most
definitely a loot box,
but he’s also
your companion.
- "He’s a little disobedient, but sentient, almost dog-like and kind of cute."
- "If nothing else, he’s far more intelligent than Ultima’s loot boxes."
- "In fact, Luggage is one of the only ‘smart’ loot boxes in videogames."
@ -76,22 +104,57 @@ contents:
- So why are most loot boxes automatically enemies?
- "To paraphrase a certain Doom review, wouldn’t it be something if we could talk to them?"
- "Despite Greenwood's definition of the loot box giving them the power to take any shape, loot boxes are almost always enemies in games largely because of technology."
- D&D players have the luxury of interacting with as many NPCs as they can imagine, but
- for early PC games like Ultima, creativity was measured in bytes.
- "With an Apple II’s specs, there was barely enough room for a fantasy world, let alone rich dialogue."
- |-
Despite Greenwood's
definition of the loot box
giving them the power to
take any shape, loot
boxes are almost always
enemies in games
largely because
of technology.
- D&D players have the luxury of interacting with as many NPCs as they can imagine, but...
- For early PC games like Ultima, creativity was measured in bytes.
- |-
With an Apple II’s specs,
there was barely enough
room for a fantasy
world, let alone
rich dialogue.
- "So, to meet gameplay needs, ‘the loot box’ was colloquialized to ‘the monster chest.’"
- Discworld had a little more wiggle room.
- "Computers had improved since the ‘80s and it wasn’t a fantasy RPG like Ultima"
- Discworld was a point-and-click adventure game, and those are popular because of their writing and charm.
- Thus Luggage was born, intelligence and disobedience intact.
- "Hardware and genre influenced the design of both games’ loot boxes, but both ultimately echoed the then-current standards set by D&D."
- "Jump to Baldur’s Gate in 1998."
- "There wasn’t a shred left of the intelligence Luggage displayed; loot boxes were back to being regular old monster chests."
- "Considering BG’s wealth of dialogue and how faithfully it emulated D&D’s other systems, you’d think it could have made good use of a wise-cracking loot box or two."
- "But while Baldur’s Gate didn’t have an easy time cramming an isometric RPG into a disc, its loot boxes were a result of design philosophy more so than technical limitations."
- |-
Jump to Baldur’s Gate
in 1998.
- |-
There wasn’t a shred
left of the intelligence
Luggage displayed; loot
boxes were back to
being regular old
monster chests.
- |-
Considering the wealth
of dialogue and how
faithfully it emulated
D&D’s other systems,
you’d think it could have
made good use of
a wise-cracking loot
box or two.
- |-
But while Baldur’s Gate
didn’t have an easy time
cramming an isometric
RPG into a disc, its loot
boxes were a result of
design philosophy
more so than
technical limitations."
- Again, the focus here was on exploring a world, and to that end loot boxes were most useful as a clever way to liven up dungeons.
- "And really, aside from the whole eating people thing, that’s what loot boxes have always been about: meeting the unique needs of games."
@ -106,13 +169,38 @@ contents:
- Loot boxes became a mainstay of Japanese RPGs in the late 80s, which we normally think of as console games.
- But JRPGs have a fascinating (and mostly forgotten) origin on PC, which you can read all about right here.
- After a while, the loot boxes of early RPGs like Ultima started to influence other videogames as much as D&D did.
- For starters, focusing on a chest form led videogames to associate loot boxes almost explicitly with greed and treasure.
- |-
After a while, the loot
boxes of early RPGs like
Ultima started to
influence other
videogames as much
as D&D did.
- |-
For starters, focusing
on a chest form
led videogames to
associate loot boxes
almost explicitly with
greed and treasure.
- And they were a convenient way of introducing risk/reward in dungeons.
- Why do you think loot boxes usually drop rare and valuable items?
- "Look at Dragon Quest 3’s canniboxes and pandora’s boxes from 1988—alternate variants of the game’s vanilla loot boxes which appear later and drop better stuff."
- Look at Avarice, a boss in the more recent Titan Souls that not only is a gilded treasure chest but guards a roomful of treasure.
- |-
Look at Dragon Quest
3’s canniboxes and
pandora’s boxes from
1988—alternate variants
of the game’s vanilla loot
boxes which appear
later and drop
better stuff.
- |-
Look at Avarice, a boss
in the more recent Titan
Souls that not only is a
gilded treasure chest
but guards a roomful
of treasure.
- Perhaps most famously, look at the Symbol of Avarice helmet in Dark Souls, which improves your loot drops and consumes your health.
- "It’s a sister item to the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring, which also ups your loot."
- Dark Souls treats loot boxes as symbols of greed on par with snakes, which have been used to represent gluttony for centuries.
@ -122,30 +210,60 @@ contents:
- Early RPGs established a relationship between loot boxes and greed, but they also essentially codified them as chests.
- Which may be why they appear so rarely in other genres or other forms.
- "Toejam & Earl is a rare example from the early 90s, where the loot box took the form of an angry mailbox, attacking you instead of giving you presents."
- Again, greed is the throughline.
- |-
Again, greed is
the throughline.
- "Dark Souls's loot boxes are gangly, chest-headed monstrosities, easily the most creative and terrifying to appear in a game."
- "They also illustrate how some qualities in Greenwood’s Ecology evolved into gameplay mechanics."
- From Software held off on making ladder loot boxes (to the delight of a grateful universe) but
- |-
They also illustrate how
some qualities in
Ed Greenwood’s
Ecology evolved into
gameplay mechanics.
- From Software held off on making ladder loot boxes (to the delight of a grateful universe), but
- "Dark Souls’ loot boxes hide their true bodies and may be bipedal or quadrupedal, which is a subtle remnant of the true shapeshifting of old."
- "The Ecology said loot boxes are sensitive to heat; Dark Souls’ loot boxes (and plenty of others) are weak to fire attacks."
- |-
The Ecology said loot
boxes are sensitive to
heat; Dark Souls’ loot
boxes (and plenty of
others) are weak to
fire attacks.
- "Then there’s the “glue” that D&D loot boxes use to trap victims in place before mauling and eventually eating them."
- "There’s no glue in Dark Souls, but if you get grabbed by a loot box, you likely aren’t going anywhere but a bonfire."
- "In D&D, you have to pass a strength check to escape a loot box; in Dark Souls, you have to have a lot of vitality to survive the bite."
- "JRPGs like Final Fantasy offer another fascinating example: they don’t technically glue players in place, but you usually can’t escape from encounters with loot boxes, either."
- Many JRPGs also streamlined loot boxes even further.
- "By viewing the fundamental idea of ‘player expects loot, gets a fight instead’ through the lens of random encounters, they created the ‘box of enemies’."
- |-
By viewing the
fundamental idea of
‘player expects loot,
gets a fight instead’
through the lens of
random encounters,
they created the
‘box of enemies’.
- "The chest itself isn’t even a monster anymore, just a trigger for a random encounter."
- "Does that make it a loot box? No, but it’s still a different means to the same end, and it’s still hardware dictating design."
- Random encounters were instituted to free up memory, after all.
- |-
Does that make it
a loot box? No, but
it’s still a different
means to the same end,
and it’s still hardware
dictating design.
- |-
Random encounters
were instituted to free
up memory, after all.
- "Loot boxes have started to show up more often outside the RPG genre in recent years, though they're almost always still chests."
- Games like Magicka and Borderlands 2 treat them as easter eggs.
- Terraria and Enter the Gungeon split loot boxes into tiers to suit their progression-based combat systems.
- Torchlight loves to hide loot boxes in groups of chests.
- |-
Torchlight loves to hide
loot boxes in groups
of chests.
- Others still feature distant ancestors.
- Shovel Knight’s angler fish boss uses a treasure chest lure to draw in players.
- "The ‘maneater’ in Dragon’s Dogma uses treasure chests like a hermit crab does shells."
@ -153,7 +271,10 @@ contents:
- "Then again, the truest characteristic of loot boxes in Greenwood's Ecology is that they can take any form."
- Modern games that ditch the toothy chest are still staying true to that spirit.
- These things are everywhere if you really look.
- |-
These things are
everywhere if you
really look.
- In other words, stay suspicious, because it’s probably a loot box.
