This Week on JungleDrums:
Your JungleDrums host, AcuteJungle66, is joined by SergeantJay to delve into this week’s gaming and tech news! Belgium says loot boxes are gambling (or did they?) and the FCC announces plans to scrap their net neutrality policy.
- Last week we reported that Battlefront II‘s loot crates were under investigation from Belgium’s gambling authority. The follow-up this week was that they had indeed been deemed as gambling, and Belgium’s Justice Minister was calling for a loot box ban in Europe. As it turns out, Belgium’s Gaming Commission has not actually finalised its decision on whether loot boxes are gambling or not! Online translation is far from perfect, but the report indicates that game operators can be ‘aggressive’ with in-game sales and often target ‘young people.’ It also calls for ‘closer cooperation between governments, software developers, and rating agencies,’ and says that ‘with the right rules and consistent enforcement,’ it should be possible to ‘protect players from the harmful effects of gambling without compromising the games themselves.”
- The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission unveiled plans to repeal ‘net neutrality’ rules. #NetNeutrality is an important issue that needs to be discussed, but those on both sides of the argument need to look objectively at the actual facts of the matter. The amount of misinformation and scaremongering floating around is astonishing, and the issue itself is now politically charged rather than fact-driven. Should we research the arguments ‘for’ as well as ‘against’ and make our own informed decision? Or just swallow the rhetoric that is being shoved down our throats on social media? AJ and Jay discuss the subject at length.
About JungleDrums:
JungleDrums is a weekly news show run by Scholarly Gamers’ Content Coordinator, AcuteJungle66. Topics discussed in the show focus heavily on gaming, highlights, streams, and tech, but will typically hover around hot-button topics of the week. Joining AcuteJungle66 are a rotating selection of guests, ranging from friends and those interested in the topic at hand, fellow Scholarly Gamers, or members of raiding parties from gaming staples of his such as Destiny 2, The Division, or Rainbow Six Siege.
