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It’s not a case of a nanny state. 

Governments responsibilities are around protecting the interests of their citizens- safety is an important function of the state.

Let’s be clear- these are exploitative actions from WarGaming. They dangle the carrot of the prize but knowing for the vast majority that carrot is unattainable. They aim to hook you with the free crates then offer the prize, knowing that reward function of addiction is their income generator.

To further exacerbate this, the rewards received are often less than the sum paid. An example, £9 for a VK crate lands you 500 gold, 15 parts of a 1hour premium certificate, and 5 xp boosters- you’re looking at £3 worth of rewards. That is fraud - to sell something available at a cheaper price in store for an inflated price under the potential minimalist chance of landing something big- it’s wrong but it’s designed knowing that the reward anticipation will get vulnerable people to spend again and again until they end up penniless or depressed.

Let’s be honest here- this is exactly the same tactic employed by gambling companies and drug dealers to get you hooked on their products, neither of whom promote the kind of ethical business model I’d want my business to follow!!!

Great for the profit margins but if WarGaming was any kind of decent business, they would recognise the harm they’re doing to customers and address it. 

Don’t get me wrong, I buy a crate here and there but I do so knowing I will only spend a few quid and if I don’t get the prize I know I’ve done so willingly, I can control that but I’ve overcome addiction and I know how strong the pull of crates are.

This business practice is morally reprehensible and the CCs and WarGaming need to have a serious discussion on the long term psychological impacts on their customers of this practice along with the negative reputational it has on their brand.

i assume this is in belgium?

Yes 

I agree. good post. except for the highlighted bit. the six pounds is the charge for the chance of getting the tank. same principle as buying a lottery ticket. you may get nothing. you pay for the chance of getting something.

But if the rewards were equivalent to the spend, no one is getting stung and WG, whilst still employing a questionable approach, would be keeping the playerbase happy (to an extent).

It wouldn’t be a difficult thing to do but to draw people into spending and then giving undervalued “rewards” is akin to the school bully stealing your lunch money and rewarding you with a kick in the shins and a wedgie!!! 

At least, if the rewards were proportional to the cost, it would lessen a lot of animosity.

That said, best solution is bin them entirely, although I can’t see that happening and knowing the way these all operate they’ll develop some new way to rip us all off!

WG are breaking the law by selling crates in Belgium.

But if the fine the Belgian government levies for breaking the law is less than the amount of money that WG makes from selling crates in the EU (almost certainly the case on an annual basis) then WG will go right on breaking the law, year after year, and just pay the annual fine.

It will take a lot more than just one country in the EU region to start issuing fines to make WG change their EU server policy.