Story：Loot boxes loot your cash
【明報專訊】EDDY, a primary three student and a drama club member, was about to play a warrior in a stage drama in a morning assembly. He didn't like mobile phone games. He thought they were all too repetitive. One afternoon, after finishing a rehearsal, with a flick of a finger, he effortlessly browsed through a catalogue of entertainment apps on his phone.
A game title just popped up. It seemed to be an adventure game. Players need to fight a powerful enemy in each level. Suspecting that it might be another cookie-cutter title, Eddy clicked on the ''download'' button anyway.
The first few levels were easy. Eddy chopped monsters' heads off with a few taps only. Three days after, Eddy became a mobile phone game addict. He passed all the basic levels and was faced with a new challenge. To overcome it the player needed some more powerful armours, swords, potions, helmets, etc. But these items were all locked. To unlock them, the player had to pay. Eddy was frustrated.
''They're far cheaper than I thought!'' Eddy bought some gift cards from a convenience store by draining all his pocket money. Then he was toying with the dangerous idea of using his lunch money. After just a few minutes, he decided to go with his plan! The more powerful his avatar was, the skinnier Eddy became.
In the morning assembly, Eddy's eyelids were as heavy as iron, making it hard for him to stand straight and draw his plastic sword. It was his turn!
Booooooooooooooom!
He fell to the ground. His class teacher Miss Wong called the ambulance. Loot boxes (虛擬抽獎) not only looted Eddy's cash but made him crash!
■Food for thought
Loot boxes are featured in many mobile phone games. They are part of the pay-to-play (課金) service, which rewards, reinforces and privileges players with virtual items packaged as affordable packs, tiny grains of sand that may one day turn into a tower, as the Chinese saying goes.
■Gear up
Refer to the story and circle the correct answer.
(1) ''Loot your cash'' means ( make you rich / steal money from you ).
(2) In paragraph 4, ''draining'' means ( drinking / using up / saving ).
(3) Eddy becomes less healthy after playing the game. ( True / False / Not given )
(Answers on next text)
■Glossary
repetitive (adj) 重複的
cookie-cutter (adj) 千篇一律的
addict (n) 上癮者
toy with (phr v) 隨便想想
[Smarties' Power English 第279期]
