The thing is that they don't cost real money. And the whole game could constitute promoting gambling, not that I want BDO as a whole to get banned, but that's absurd reasoning. And since the lootboxes we can buy from NPCs are no problem, if they simply added them to NPCs the problems would be gone.

But the whole game is gambling. And getting the boxes outside of the pearl shop is no issue. So... I think it has more to do with BDO's policy.

Yes and no, we're relatively free to do many things we want. That said, I agree on regulating loot boxes to protect children and gambling addicts, but we're talking about boxes here that you can get sometimes outside of the pearl shop as well, about 10 mil silver that s not real money... the only thing is that they are in the pearl shop. Add them to an NPC, problem solved.

And about VPN. Not even sure if that is allowed. Have to admit I tried last time tho, but with my VPN (Express), it does not work.

This seems to be closer to the truth. If the other arguments would hold true, 90% of all current day games would be banned >.<

Ah, my friend...

Politicians would care less if they're boxes given away or ones that are bought with real money.

They'd argue that the free ones would be complimentary ones, to make the players addicted... you know, gachapon games?

PA had to remove them from Belgium and the Netherlands because the lawmakers there said "you do it or we block your game".

Trust me, I find it stupid and I agree with you.

I'd almost want to talk about controversial subjects like videogames and violence and how they're viewed by politicians, the media and the normies or the representation of women in games and SJWs.

It is easy to get scapegoats when one finds a rotten apple and call all of the ones in the basket rotten as well.

I now wonder how contradictory it is to allow games that mimic casino games and yet try to make gambling addicts get away from their favorite poison.

Anyway, to conclude on this all, politicians have the hardest time to grasp how gaming is really about and take the decisions "to protect the populations, especially the weaker-willed", instead of tackling the real issues in their respective countries.

Are the ones that are reponsible enough and yet get these laws in the face "collateral damage"? Maybe so.

That said, imagine living in Australia. I heard it's way worse there, regarding the law matters.

Yeah politicians rarely know how things really are with games and other things like it. I fully agree with all this. But I do wonder what's keeping PA from adding them to NPCs.

I stated it above, it's to comply with the laws of the country... or risk being fined or banned.

You know, a bit like when games are censored because it's forbidden to show this and that, for various reasons, be them violence, suggestive themes, some political context of the past and its imagery, profanity and so on.

In this case, it's about gambling and the perception of encouraging it.

I think I have said enough on this matter.^^

But if you think about it, everything in BDO is RNG. EVERYTHING. Heck, creating your character / account gives you hidden stats. Killing a monster gives RNG drops. Enhancing is RNG. The red light / green light game is RNG on whether or not it's possible to even complete it. Is there anything in BDO that isn't RNG? Not saying it's bad but I'm just wondering what is and isn't considered illegal in said countries and why certain things are blocked if it doesn't involve real money? Like, even using pearls shouldn't be illegal because you have to buy pearls with A-coins which is how the majority of publishers get away from gambling laws.

True enough, but the more you'll think about it, the more lost you'll feel.

I just go with the flow and know where I am going.

Oh and yes, for sure, indirect ways are convenient, as long as they are not illegal.

that concept of online gambling in this game is just messed up to me, though, it is not like we can get real money in return.

...and we return to square one.

But you can get silver with real money thanks to the ability to sell pearl shop items on the CM, which means that while it's indirect, you can choose to spend real money on loot boxes that cost silver.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any loot boxes that you can buy from NPCs, but even if there are, ultimately, what it comes down to is that PA is going to ban anything from Belgium and the Netherlands that they think will get them in trouble based on their interpretation of the laws there. That may lead to banning some stuff that technically doesn't need to be banned, and it could lead to them not banning stuff that actually could get them in trouble. And in some cases, they may have simply missed something. However, items in the pearl shop which are clearly loot boxes are obvious and are likely to get more scrutiny.