I'm all for people doing whatever they want to do with their money, and I realize different folks have different interests, but I guess I just don't get how this specific model is supposed to work. You pay money for the loot box itself, and then you go back and buy "keys" to open the loot box, and you just keep doing this until you actually get the skin you want?*
I realize you can buy skins directly on the steam market, and avoid the whole random factor, but then you're just paying whatever the market rate is for "coolness" plus the costs of all the other people who did the key/box buying. Plus there is the whole "condition" mechanic, so the skin you get might not even look the way you actually want.
Like I said, people can do whatever they want, but to me its just silly. When you add to that the fact that Valve actively* stops people from playing on custom (i.e. private) servers with modded skins available and it just seems like shitty anti-consumer behavior.
Boxes are obtained for free by simply playing the game. You don't really need to buy boxes unless you want some specific one from a past event that is not available through the game anymore, but someone got it back then or if you want boxes at a faster rate than the regular gameplay provides. But you need to buy a key to open it, however.
Also, a given kind of a box contains one of the finite number of items. I think the idea is that if you get a duplicate that you don't want, you can either trade it with a player who doesn't have it for a skin that you want or sell it on the steam marketplace (so you can use that money on a skin that you actually want).
You need let go of the idea of "coolness", or outwardly directed motivation as the primary/only motivation, and it will make more sense to you. Sure some people want to look cool, but I (and I'd wager many skin buyers), just want a nice looking gun.
I realize you can buy skins directly on the steam market, and avoid the whole random factor, but then you're just paying whatever the market rate is for "coolness" plus the costs of all the other people who did the key/box buying. Plus there is the whole "condition" mechanic, so the skin you get might not even look the way you actually want.
Like I said, people can do whatever they want, but to me its just silly. When you add to that the fact that Valve actively* stops people from playing on custom (i.e. private) servers with modded skins available and it just seems like shitty anti-consumer behavior.