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

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title: What is a loot box?
credits: XPUB
contents:
    what are the characteristics of the lootbox?
    - closed box with objects inside
    - The loot box is a digital or physical box.
    - A loot box is a virtual box inside video games containing randomized items
    - a loot box is a virtual box of hidden motives designed to persuade and/or trick players
    - a virtual box where the user can pay and access products/items that can be useful to go on with the game, or can be collectible.
    - A lottery box

    - payment
    - The loot box is a virtual feature players can purchase with real money 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 player pays real money to buy a virtual treasure box HOPING it contains something valuable within the world of the game.

    - surprise mechanism
    - The element of surprise is a highly appreciated aspect of the loot box.
    - The loot box is like a secret treasure that is usually not worth the money you pay for it, or the expectations you have for it, but that is somehow exciting.
    - I think the addictiveness is very connected to the surprise mechanism, I think that anticipation moment is what is addictive. How that makes you feel. Anything is possible.
    - Of course then you open it and its disappointing. But there is a moment before opening it when ANYTHING is possible. I like that state of being.
    - It's like the cat in the box, is she dead 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
    - a gift to yourself
    - They look like real gifts, but you purchase them for yourself.
    - you choose
    - you get something nice
    - emotional response
    - Strong emotional reactions are tied to finances.
    - pleasure
    - thrill
    - excitement
    - desire
    - microtransaction
    - the user would pay weird amounts of money to obtain something new.
    - you will get better if you buy one
    - 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 the player in a condition for purchasing without thinking too much.
    - Its timespan is similar to the discount periods or Black Friday.
    - Looking under the hood
    - "Time constraint or the lack thereof: how does this contribute to the risk/pleasure/adrenaline rush that comes with every loot box unlocking experience?"

    - trigger for addictive behaviour
    - A loot box is 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 the player keeps playing potentially forever
    - from habit to addiction

    - fast-thinking
    - It is what motivates immediate irrational purchases.
    - it can be rational in the context of the game
    - A quest, narrative, social pressure or else can justify any loot boxes.
    - it appears and disappears quickly in order to seem exclusive and to make the player buy it without thinking too much.
    - time pressure creates artificial urgency
    - gambling /excitement-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 the chances that you get a really rare or powerful item out of it.
    - It is like gambling because you don't know what is inside of it.

    - immediate reward
    - The immediate reward makes it fun, the risk comes with pleasure.
    - Loot box 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 rewarding experience
    - a guaranteed reward in exchange for money
    - progress in the game
    - you have more power in the game (and in your life?)
    - some players might even feel cornered into purchasing loot boxes as the game cannot reach its full potential without it.

    - 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 collectibles or power-ups that make you progress inside the game.
    - a temporalized tool for the distribution and management of resources
    - exploitative
    - 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.

    - repetition
    - a rewarding mechanism
    - Even if you don't get exactly what you wish for, you will get something, and you feel somehow rewarded.
    - It's collectible.
    - incremental rewards
    - it is disguised as safe and innocent
    - disappointment
    - You can keep opening loot boxes forever
    - risk

    - It targets vulnerable players
    - trigger for addictive/toxic behavior
    - It has no limitations
    - Escapism from the real life

    - FOMO
    - The surprise mechanism and exclusivity of the loot box creates a constant FOMO.
    - Peer pressure
    - Social pressure

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

    - Loot box as currency exchange
    - game coin
    - collectible item
    - real money
    - Power-Up
    - The box is 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.

    - How does exposing the inner workings and real motives of the loot box affect the players' behavior and decision making?

    - "The combination of payment and surprise can have the following effects:"
    - gambling
    - addiction
    - risk
    - ritual
    - destiny
    - exploitation
    - etc.
    - risk
    - reward
    - surprise
    - disappointment

    - this loot box found you for a reason
    - general individual engagement
    - a personalized 1 to 1 interaction
    - 1 to machine interaction.
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