HousePet

Its a deliberate move by many MMOs to make it really hard to reach the level cap. They seem to be terrified that people will reach max level on one character and then quit the game, despite this particular game containing over 40 different classes to play... And then there is the usual challenge bosses, that are still hard at max level, and equipment progression... Its all very odd.

I have no idea how people have the patience to put up with content hidden behind grind walls. I doubt I'll see anything past Vanishing Journey.

At some later date when more content is added, the exp curve will likely be adjusted again to make it so that you can reasonably get to level 250, but you will then be unable to get into the content past that without 100's of hours of grinding.

Aggraphine wrote: »

Again, the issue is not what you can get from them, but the fact that they're based around the "element of chance". That, as I've said prior, is what the point of contention is.

Not quite.
Lots of game use "elements of chance" as a core mechanic in their gameplay. Nobody has ever called D&D a gambling game though.
Chance only becomes a gambling issue if you are paying for something uncertain (particularly if the options are of different value), and especially if there is a potential to get more out than you put in. (By selling to others for example.)

The Gachapon and Marvel Machine will probably have to go, or at least stop potentially giving out pay to win stuff. The Marvel Machine looks like a slot machine. I seriously have no idea how anyone would think that is a good idea.
Random Style boxes might be okay, since they are purely cosmetic. (But make sure you can reasonably get nice stuff without randomness.)
Circulators/Cubes/Stamps are really just paying for items you can get in game, that do the same thing as normal in game items (in general). Those are probably okay for the moment.
Scrolls are an interesting case, where you pay to not be gambling? TBH, just streamline the system to be less random. Its not needed.
Meso Pouches will probably have to not have randomised amounts.
I've probably missed things, because I have no interest in any of the gambling crap from the cash shop anyway. I'd maybe consider buying a random pet, if there wasn't one available I felt like buying, or didn't really care what I got.

Also: "Fixing an issue where some Wild Hunters were incorrectly flagged for hacking in the Amber Waves event."
Yikes, I was playing with fire and didn't know! :O

TBH I was surprised they still had them when I picked the game back up again last year. Its been pretty obvious that governments are going to soon crackdown on games with gambling boxes, and that games that use them to make money should have been looking at a better way to do things.

I've never had any interest in playing the box gambling game, so I haven't ever looked into what Nexon had available. Not enough money, too much ability to calculate probabilities...

The worst type of these boxes is ones where you can pay real money for tradable items. Since tradable items can be traded for RL money, it is effectively RL money gambling. And I expect no game company pays for a gambling license or follows the gambling laws in any country they operate in...
However all other types of boxes are still microtransactions for a chance of getting something nice. And ignoring 'pay to maybe win' aspects, its still addictive gateway gambling in a game, that siphons RL money from people who might be vulnerable to exploitation, with nothing to protect those people.

The listing of some of the gambling item chances does go some way to fitting better with many countries laws about gambling though, but most of those countries will still not be happy about seeing gambling in a game. Nexon probably needs to think quick about how they can remove some of the more exploitative aspects, without cutting into their income stream too much. Belgium has set a rather strict precedent here.