There's an easy way to make lots of profit.

Sell a high quality product that lots of your customers want and enjoy.

 

Problem is to do that you have to ACTUALLY LISTEN to what the customer wants to buy and deliver that product.

 

And Bioware has always failed at that; and has instead delivered a product the Lead Producer wants to play.

 

All The Best

It’s such a simple concept, but it goes right over Biowares heads

I believe Amplifiers are worse than crates. They feel like one shot scratch cards and can quickly rack up large costs. A truely horrible addition to the game. Easily one of the largest credit sinks to be added to the game.

Yes, this is true...

You can work around them a little bit by doing content that constantly drops proper 306 gear (MM FP's) and roll an armoring up until 50k and if you don't get the amp you want just move to the other one and start over.

It gets interesting when you really want and and amp, REALLY WANT it and you don't get it . 2 days ago a totally gave in and spent 20 mil credits on an armoring and still didn't get the 1.20 yellow weapon expertise... heck I wasn't even getting any purple ones. It's like this game is telepathic, it knew what i wanted but refused to give it to me...

I felt totally horrible because I gave into gambling ... and the need for quick reward totally enslaved my brain .

Amps are horrible slot machines and you have to be really careful because they can melt your credits if you aren't careful. they SHOULD reduce the costs of rerolling . I repeat, don't go past 50k-70 for rerolling. Be patient if you don't get the amp you want, you will have enough chances to try again on other armorings .

Also, the vendor Takana is abysmal. No words. It almost never drops anything you want. I was looking for the 80 armorning and 80 mod, but after melting 10k tech frags into it, it never dropped any of that.

 

Kerry Hopkins from Electronic Arts stepped in to say:

"we don't call them loot boxes - we call them surprise mechanics."

 

(Now we know where Ben Irving was getting his instructions from)

From the same office where current producer gets their instructions from.

It gets interesting when you really want and and amp, REALLY WANT it and you don't get it . 2 days ago a totally gave in and spent 20 mil credits on an armoring and still didn't get the 1.20 yellow weapon expertise... heck I wasn't even getting any purple ones. It's like this game is telepathic, it knew what i wanted but refused to give it to me...

I felt totally horrible because I gave into gambling ... and the need for quick reward totally enslaved my brain .

Conditioned.

BioWare's job is done.

Conditioned.

 

BioWare's job is done.

You always think : " Gonna roll a little more because SURELY I will get it now until I reach 100k, then you say **** it, go to 150k ! Still didn't get it ? Ah , 300k is nothing... I have plenty of credits. " Then you reach 10 mil and you are still getting anything but what you actually want.

You always think : " Gonna roll a little more because SURELY I will get it now until I reach 100k, then you say **** it, go to 150k ! Still didn't get it ? Ah , 300k is nothing... I have plenty of credits. " Then you reach 10 mil and you are still getting anything but what you actually want.

On the PTS when we tested this, I used 4.1 billion credits rolling for one specific amp that never dropped.

And it happened fast because the costs go up and compound each time. One minute I’m rolling 1 mil and the next it’s 100 million.

That’s what first made me think of slot machines. I just kept the pushing it to get that amp. Just one more turn and I have to get it for sure.

I posted my findings and some suggestions on how to tonne down the slot machine feeling and obvious gambling feature. All were ignored

I then tried to appeal to their morality and pointed out that gambling addicts or people susceptible to such thing could be severely affect by these sorts of gambling mechanics.

Nope, complete silence from them.

Im sure there are some nice people at BioWare, but those making the final decisions and n things must be morally bankrupt. It’s a real shame the other BioWare guys don’t make an actual stand like other employees are doing in other companies.

On the PTS when we tested this, I used 4.1 billion credits rolling for one specific amp that never dropped.

And it happened fast because the costs go up and compound each time. One minute I’m rolling 1 mil and the next it’s 100 million.

That’s what first made me think of slot machines. I just kept the pushing it to get that amp. Just one more turn and I have to get it for sure.

I posted my findings and some suggestions on how to tonne down the slot machine feeling and obvious gambling feature. All were ignored

I then tried to appeal to their morality and pointed out that gambling addicts or people susceptible to such thing could be severely affect by these sorts of gambling mechanics.

Nope, complete silence from them.

Im sure there are some nice people at BioWare, but those making the final decisions and n things must be morally bankrupt. It’s a real shame the other BioWare guys don’t make an actual stand like other employees are doing in other companies.

It is interesting that it's actually much better to just roll up 50-70k range and if still no luck, just move on to the next armoring you'd like to use. Just last week I had 9 pieces of 80 - 306 dps armorning and I wanted to get 2.20 periocid intesintity.... Out of the 8 pieces I got in on 3 of them. without rolling more than 50k.

This system is not for casuals at al.. Yes, I have a lot of credits, but still... you have to be responsible for the rolls. It's so easy to give in.. because you want to be instantly rewarded.

As for amps working ? They do.. I have several friends who parse and they make a difference. The DPS ones at least. Still.. if you casual and don't do any sort of competitive PVP or serious raids, you don't need them.

There are some things that will never change in MMO's … RNG is one of them. It may not be called that by some developers … but it's there !

Justification: This part of the debate will never be settled. How much is too much is generally the point of contention.

Point of fact: RNG on "drops" in game is most generally where most players expect a certain amount of this. Even back in the "hay day" of WoW my son has testimonies (note : plural) that the first release of that game in the tougher raids people were running aspects of that part of the game repeatedly for MONTHS hoping to get a single piece of gear. And frankly people were eating it up .. well for the most part. Finally too many were leaving for that same reason and the development team changed things. That worked really well for years. What does NOT work is when this is applied to vendors where players are attempting to purchase specific gear NEEDS , boots , or specific tuning applications.

This was never demonstrated more clearly than PRE- 6.0 release. PAGES of discussion ensued..

And frankly I'm probably once again alienating myself from people that I would prefer to be friends with. It's really had to answer this sort of thing sometimes.

My fear is that if this is ever changed to where there is significantly less RNG at the vendors (regarding gear) as a result of player out cry … we'll pay for it somewhere else. (one way or another). I have seen this before my friends... more than once.

IMO... this is one of the most frustrating parts of any game or community.

There has to be a way where both development team and players can get along better.

There has to be a way.

I want that 3rd option !

There are some things that will never change in MMO's … RNG is one of them. It may not be called that by some developers … but it's there !

Sure, but it's not the existence of RNG in a game but how it's implemented and in what context. The last two expansions, meaning 5.0 and 6.0 have been crap gearing systems that rely heavily on RNG. 6.0 in particular reduced endgame gearing to RNG and credit sinks. That's the whole system.

I admit the initial 306 mini game that cares only about iRating rather than having the right stats was initially fun until I realised that was the whole of it. I erroneously assumed that 306 was the new lowest tier for endgame and that higher tiers would have to be earned in operations. Well, once I realised that wasn't the case, saw the cost for ripping mods and amps I saw the problems more clearly.

I now cancelled my sub because I have fully geared characters, most of them even fully augmented and nothing left to do. But also the game keeps rewarding me with tech frags that I can no longer do anything with that is of any use to me.

The whole system is terrible in the end. Not because of the existience of RNG but because it IS the system. You do x content, you get loot boxes with random loot. So you can get dailies and weeklies done with loot boxes with random loot and get conquest done which gives you loot boxes with random loot. And in FPs and Ops you kill bosses that are loot boxes that give you random loot.

And crafting, well, it's so expensive it's barely worth it. Gated by conquest mats that you need for ANYTHING interesting to craft. So it's much easier to play the RNG game than actually craft gear.

Of course once you're done with the RNG, you have credit sinks left in the form of amplifiers.

And what's next? A new tier of gear so you can start all over again?

I just can't..

Sure, but it's not the existence of RNG in a game but how it's implemented and in what context. The last two expansions, meaning 5.0 and 6.0 have been crap gearing systems that rely heavily on RNG. 6.0 in particular reduced endgame gearing to RNG and credit sinks. That's the whole system.

 

I admit the initial 306 mini game that cares only about iRating rather than having the right stats was initially fun until I realised that was the whole of it. I erroneously assumed that 306 was the new lowest tier for endgame and that higher tiers would have to be earned in operations. Well, once I realised that wasn't the case, saw the cost for ripping mods and amps I saw the problems more clearly.

 

I now cancelled my sub because I have fully geared characters, most of them even fully augmented and nothing left to do. But also the game keeps rewarding me with tech frags that I can no longer do anything with that is of any use to me.

 

The whole system is terrible in the end. Not because of the existience of RNG but because it IS the system. You do x content, you get loot boxes with random loot. So you can get dailies and weeklies done with loot boxes with random loot and get conquest done which gives you loot boxes with random loot. And in FPs and Ops you kill bosses that are loot boxes that give you random loot.

 

And crafting, well, it's so expensive it's barely worth it. Gated by conquest mats that you need for ANYTHING interesting to craft. So it's much easier to play the RNG game than actually craft gear.

 

Of course once you're done with the RNG, you have credit sinks left in the form of amplifiers.

 

And what's next? A new tier of gear so you can start all over again?

 

I just can't..

I understand your position .. and had hoped that you would focus on the remaining part of what I posted.

You are initially correct. Yet there are other sides to this matter as well. And as I stated before there were PAGES of discussion on this prior to the release of 6.0 by several of us who were on PTS.

I do NOT support the wholesale use of RNG in this game.

One thing that I do disagree with you on (for now) … I wouldn't cancel my sub !!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-01-18-nhs-mental-health-boss-says-loot-boxes-are-setting-kids-up-for-addiction-to-gambling

 

“ The NHS' mental health boss has said loot boxes are "setting kids up for addiction by teaching them to gamble".

 

In a strongly-worded statement, NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch called for a crackdown on gambling addiction risks - and that would involve video game companies banning loot boxes from games children play.

 

Snip

 

Kerry Hopkins from Electronic Arts stepped in to say: "we don't call them loot boxes - we call them surprise mechanics."

(Now we know where Ben Irving was getting his instructions from)

 

You got to love the picture of the “ A virtual slot machine mini-game in NBA 2K20”

 

Kind of reminds me of the slot machine mechanics in the Amplifier system (but without the visual bling).

lol "surprise mechanics." They sound like politicians. I guess I'd have to hear from an actual gambler if loot boxes really seem to hit that spot or if this is BS. Can someone who gambles give their opinion?

lol "surprise mechanics." They sound like politicians. I guess I'd have to hear from an actual gambler if loot boxes really seem to hit that spot or if this is BS. Can someone who gambles give their opinion?

Do you think everyone who is addicted to gambling is addicted to the same type of gambling? (Honest question, I don't gamble so I have no idea.)

What I mean is, there are addictions to drugs, addictions to alcohol, addictions to the internet and addictions to shopping. I wonder if gambling is similar.

In other words, are some people hooked specifically on gambling from loot boxes in video games, or are people who are vulnerable to the rush at Las Vegas also addicted to the rush from opening loot boxes?

Also, I'm pretty sure that loot boxes are specifically, purposely (and scientifically) designed to provoke a specific response in the brain's reward area (dopamine system). This would probably suggest that anyone can get hooked, similar to the way that anyone can become addicted to opioids. True, the effects are much stronger with chemical interactions, but they are present in loot box systems as well. https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

Do you think everyone who is addicted to gambling is addicted to the same type of gambling? (Honest question, I don't gamble so I have no idea.)

 

What I mean is, there are addictions to drugs, addictions to alcohol, addictions to the internet and addictions to shopping. I wonder if gambling is similar.

 

In other words, are some people hooked specifically on gambling from loot boxes in video games, or are people who are vulnerable to the rush at Las Vegas also addicted to the rush from opening loot boxes?

 

Also, I'm pretty sure that loot boxes are specifically, purposely (and scientifically) designed to provoke a specific response in the brain's reward area (dopamine system). This would probably suggest that anyone can get hooked, similar to the way that anyone can become addicted to opioids. True, the effects are much stronger with chemical interactions, but they are present in loot box systems as well. https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

I would say most people have addictions and they might not even know it. Phones for example, how long is it until the average person picks the phone up after setting it down? It's usually not long. Picking that phone back up feeds that addiction. They have to see what's going on. They're already doing studies regarding the long term side effects of 'screen time'.

Sugar, another one, most people are highly addicted to sugar and they don't even know it. Mostly because a huge chunk of the population are carb burners (carb = sugar) and not fat burners. If people think they're body isn't addicted to sugar, eliminate all sugars out of the diet, including anything that is processed in the body and converted to sugar and see how quickly that sugar addiction kicks in.

And phones and sugar are legal. You mentioned dopamine, that's a huge key right there. I won't even get into that, people can google that if they're curious.

I'm not saying EAWare implemented the loot boxes to create addicts or even enable addicts, but on the flip side, unless we're in their board meetings, we have no clue what's going on. I think the loot boxes were EAWare's attempt at keeping people subbed and chasing that elusive carrot, mostly due to lack of developers. The side effect to those loot boxes is that they are indeed feeding a gambler's addiction.

And phones and sugar are legal.

Doritos. You forgot to use Doritos as an example of something legal that should totally not be legal.

***Obviously Doritos are far more perplexing than anything you wrote down when it comes to the legalities of addictive substances and/or devices/items.

Can someone who gambles give their opinion?

Used to when I was younger, try to avoid it as much as possible now I'm older (lesson learned the very hard way). Definitely have to say it's concerning me at how much RNG (aka gambling) has crept into this game over the years. Took a lot of effort to dissuade myself to stop buying Cartel Packs, however the same intrinsic mechanics have crept into the game itself, from my perspective I see it as conditioning players for the money orientated parts like the Cartel Market.

At some stage I'll likely pull back from touching this game completely if it continues in the manner it has, or isn't drastically altered to have comparable methods of obtaining different parts of gearing by simply purchasing things like the amplifier you want for credits.

BioWare management need to take a long hard look in the mirror at how their actions contribute to problems further down the line, they need to take their responsibilities seriously.

Took a lot of effort to dissuade myself to stop buying Cartel Packs, however the same intrinsic mechanics have crept into the game itself, from my perspective I see it as conditioning players for the money orientated parts like the Cartel Market.

That's interesting. It's like they are grooming people to cave in to their gambling impulses. I guess I missed the boat when gambling addictions got passed around as I don't have that issue. My point is it's interesting to hear from someone that would have a perspective of a gambling addict, how they would view the game's loot/rewards system etc.

The only issue I see here is the "getting kids hooked on gambling" thing.

Addiction can be a problem, but in general, people get "addicted" to many, many things. Should they stop selling Hotwheels because some kids (and adults) get addicted to collecting them. Should we stop selling padded furniture because some woman is addicted to eating sofa cushions? (True story)

Should we stop selling Cartel Packs because some kids might spend too much money on them?

I'm ambivalent about it at this time. I can see the down side, but I like buying Cartel Packs. I used to spend the occasional $20 or so on CC to buy packs, but mostly I just use my monthly CC grant.

Maybe, like so many of todays issues, we should demand that parents and loved ones get more involved with what their children and loved ones do, rather than rely on some Big Brother government to regulate our lives.

The only issue I see here is the "getting kids hooked on gambling" thing.

 

Addiction can be a problem, but in general, people get "addicted" to many, many things. Should they stop selling Hotwheels because some kids (and adults) get addicted to collecting them. Should we stop selling padded furniture because some woman is addicted to eating sofa cushions? (True story)

Should we stop selling Cartel Packs because some kids might spend too much money on them?

Your examples aren't comparative at all.

Padded furniture makers don't look for ways to make sofa cushions more addictive for eating.

On the other hand, makers of loot boxes in video games do exactly that. They specifically look for ways to generate a dopamine rush upon opening.

However, I agree with you that parents have a large responsibility for protecting their children from these practices, and individuals have a responsibility to recognize their weaknesses and take steps to protect themselves.

Also, SWTOR's loot boxes are far more friendly to consumers as I pointed out before, because most of the items are available for direct purchase.

Padded furniture makers don't look for ways to make sofa cushions more addictive for eating.

No, but on the other hand, Big Brother doesn't yet make them add nasty tasting stuff to them to stop people from eating them. 😁

Also, SWTOR's loot boxes are far more friendly to consumers as I pointed out before, because most of the items are available for direct purchase.

Yeah, to me it depends upon what you consider "gambling". To me gambling is basically betting money in an attempt to make a profit. Playing games in a Casino, or playing poker for cash, or buying lottery tickets, or betting on sports events would be examples of real gambling. (Note though that many people, such as myself, do some of these things just for fun.)

Buying loot boxes, Kinder Eggs, "mystery" Hotwheels packs, packs of Magic the Gathering cards, etc, are not what I'd consider gambling. Unfortunately, I can't think of a better term for it. And while such things can be "addictive", as I said, so can buying Beanie Babies or binge watching Netflix.

Yeah, to me it depends upon what you consider "gambling". To me gambling is basically betting money in an attempt to make a profit. Playing games in a Casino, or playing poker for cash, or buying lottery tickets, or betting on sports events would be examples of real gambling. (Note though that many people, such as myself, do some of these things just for fun.)

Buying loot boxes, Kinder Eggs, "mystery" Hotwheels packs, packs of Magic the Gathering cards, etc, are not what I'd consider gambling. Unfortunately, I can't think of a better term for it. And while such things can be "addictive", as I said, so can buying Beanie Babies or binge watching Netflix.

So at which point does the behavioural habits gained from the latter part of your post lead to the former part of your post?

It is literally conditioning. Absolutely parents should play an active role in any activities online, equally education is also a good way of making the younger generations (and some of the older generations) aware of what leads to addiction.

However that doesn't absolve the companies who create the systems that lead to that behaviour of any responsibilities or to at least have disclosure and to provide links to services that can help people who gain those behaviours through accessing those systems. BioWare do none of those, EA also do none of those (there are literally no warnings about the systems in their products that lead to these behaviours that I've been made aware of.).

I actually do agree with any government that wishes to legislate against these types of systems being placed in games. It's one thing for developers to provide systems that lead to addictive game play, it's a completely different thing introducing systems that can condition players to gamble. That doesn't just include "loot boxes" or "surprise mechanics" (or whatever BS they want to spin it as).

i miss the days when the game itself was good enough to play and developers didn't need psychological addiction mechanisms . I wish they'd just charge more for games, it's holding the industry back. Games have been 50-60 bucks since i was a kid 40 years ago.

I don't think swtor is a dangerous "lootbox" game, but i am sure some people buy those crates up. The real problem is games like FIFA where it's causing real damage.

I feel like the main difference between a Loot Box in a video game, and a blind pack of toys or cards or whatever.. is that the blind pack still offers you something tangible, something you can feel and touch. A loot box is just code, 1's and 0's and nothing else, and when that game closes down, it's gone.

 

Don't get me wrong, Loot Boxes are god awful and should burn. But I do see a difference. I would say something like Magic the Gathering, or pokemon booster packs are the same. You might get a good card, but you will usually get crap. But you still have the cards.

I don't think it makes one whit of difference if it's virtual or tangible. The mechanic is the same. The gambling impulse is the same. Whether you get a virtual souvenir or a physical one doesn't change that. Honestly, as far as junk control goes, I prefer virtual items that don't get tossed in a drawer and later taken to Goodwill. My husband has thousands of worthless MtG commons taking up a whole lot of space. (Plus we can direct purchase thousands of dollars worth of 1's & 0's that will also go poof the second the game ends too. I see that a separate issue.)

When a child is trying to get just the right toy from a blind box, and they get a duplicate, they might as well be getting nothing, because that is the way it feels to them. And those toys that they are gambling away their allowance for are very definitely targeted to young children, unlike the video game blind boxes that are targeted to adults and children are just collateral damage.

Doritos. You forgot to use Doritos as an example of something legal that should totally not be legal.

 

***Obviously Doritos are far more perplexing than anything you wrote down when it comes to the legalities of addictive substances and/or devices/items.

I intentionally omitted Doritos simply because I didn't want anyone feeling slighted had I not mentioned a particular flavor.

Used to when I was younger, try to avoid it as much as possible now I'm older (lesson learned the very hard way). Definitely have to say it's concerning me at how much RNG (aka gambling) has crept into this game over the years. Took a lot of effort to dissuade myself to stop buying Cartel Packs, however the same intrinsic mechanics have crept into the game itself, from my perspective I see it as conditioning players for the money orientated parts like the Cartel Market.

 

At some stage I'll likely pull back from touching this game completely if it continues in the manner it has, or isn't drastically altered to have comparable methods of obtaining different parts of gearing by simply purchasing things like the amplifier you want for credits.

 

BioWare management need to take a long hard look in the mirror at how their actions contribute to problems further down the line, they need to take their responsibilities seriously.

Well put.

however the same intrinsic mechanics have crept into the game itself, from my perspective I see it as conditioning players for the money orientated parts like the Cartel Market.

This conditioning is something I’ve been saying for over 12 months. It’s obvious if you step back and look at the bigger picture and how nefarious industries have gone about “grooming” people / kids with innocuous promotions, ads and toys to “normalise” their products.

One thing I’m concerned about that politicians and regulators won’t go far enough when they finally put restrictions in place and ban all gambling type mechanics, including non monetised ones like RNG loot boxes and things like amplifier mechanics.

Not surprisingly, I’ve brought this up before over the years because I could see this was where it was ultimately headed. Every time I’ve been derided by trolls or people not able to or not willing to look further than there own nose. I’ve been called a conspiracy nut job because of it.

While I’m glad people are finally catching on, I do feel mildly vindicated that I was right.

At some stage I'll likely pull back from touching this game completely if it continues in the manner it has, or isn't drastically altered to have comparable methods of obtaining different parts of gearing by simply purchasing things like the amplifier you want for credits.

 

BioWare management need to take a long hard look in the mirror at how their actions contribute to problems further down the line, they need to take their responsibilities seriously.

I warned them and so did others on the pts. I took it one step further and pointed out the dangers for people who could be susceptible to gambling addiction.

I also rightly predicted what the credit sinks and reduction of credit earning would do. I said the system was designed to benefit credit sellers to come back hard (you only need to go to starter planets to see). I also expressed concerns that this seemed to be designed as a “stealth move” towards P2W through resale of cartel market items or credit sellers.

BioWare obviously knew all of this going in or they are just as dumb as those trolls who attacked me for saying all of that.

I tend to think BioWare aren’t that dumb. All of this was a calculated move on their part and its why I believe the people in charge of making these decisions are morally bankrupt human beings. And why its my wish the moral people at BioWare would come out publicly and protest these industry moves if they aren’t being listened to within normal BioWare channels.

There are now precedence of tech company employees and game companies speaking up as a voice for change in their organisations. I really do hope that they can see the big picture and staff from across the industry push back publicly as these tactics get pushed into more and games.

This conditioning is something I’ve been saying for over 12 months. It’s obvious if you step back and look at the bigger picture and how nefarious industries have gone about “grooming” people / kids with innocuous promotions, ads and toys to “normalise” their products.

 

One thing I’m concerned about that politicians and regulators won’t go far enough when they finally put restrictions in place and ban all gambling type mechanics, including non monetised ones like RNG loot boxes and things like amplifier mechanics.

 

Not surprisingly, I’ve brought this up before over the years because I could see this was where it was ultimately headed. Every time I’ve been derided by trolls or people not able to or not willing to look further than there own nose. I’ve been called a conspiracy nut job because of it.

While I’m glad people are finally catching on, I do feel mildly vindicated that I was right.

I think you're justified in this instance for your original stance.

I warned them and so did others on the pts. I took it one step further and pointed out the dangers for people who could be susceptible to gambling addiction.

I also rightly predicted what the credit sinks and reduction of credit earning would do. I said the system was designed to benefit credit sellers to come back hard (you only need to go to starter planets to see). I also expressed concerns that this seemed to be designed as a “stealth move” towards P2W through resale of cartel market items or credit sellers.

 

BioWare obviously knew all of this going in or they are just as dumb as those trolls who attacked me for saying all of that.

I tend to think BioWare aren’t that dumb. All of this was a calculated move on their part and its why I believe the people in charge of making these decisions are morally bankrupt human beings. And why its my wish the moral people at BioWare would come out publicly and protest these industry moves if they aren’t being listened to within normal BioWare channels.

 

There are now precedence of tech company employees and game companies speaking up as a voice for change in their organisations. I really do hope that they can see the big picture and staff from across the industry push back publicly as these tactics get pushed into more and games.

Morals unfortunately don't come into this for BioWare. This was likely a deliberate and calculated move to introduce more RNG mechanics and likely even more in the future. This is purely about using "popular"* game mechanics and how they can translate into monetising those mechanics for their benefit and to boost the bottom line.

*Popular with game development studios and publishers, but seemingly not with a lot of players or parents.

I highly doubt BioWare or EA will pull back from these methods until either player feedback is strong enough or legislation deters them financially. Luckily some other developers and publishers are more responsible and tactful in their approach and also have alternative methods of obtaining items in-game to side step the gambling aspect.

That's all that is really required, the "out" that isn't detrimental to the game, the players or the developers. It's possible, however the silence from BioWare on these issues that have been raised is really quite telling on their intentions. The end users well being is not on their list of priorities.