I would say yes, they are unregulated gambling. People also spend ludicrous amounts of money on cards. Though I don’t think that should factor into whether or not something is or isn’t unregulated gambling. It’s the chance product, not the money spent on it.
So those cards have been around forever, and no one complained about them.
People care about these loot boxes because it’s easy for a young kid to get their parents credit card and rack up a ton of charges because they see a cool skin and don’t realize that ultra rare or 1/1000 chance to drop means that they won’t get t without spending a ton of money.
By definition gambling can be defined as playing games of chance for money. Well they aren’t going to win money, their reward is a collectable item.
Or to take risky action in hope of desired result. I don’t really see how this fits that definition either. There’s no risky action.
I would prefer if there were no loot boxes because I’d rather know what I’m getting, but people are focusing on the wrong thing here.
Trading cards and gambling addiction have been studied for years. TCGs may not function the same as a slot machine, but it does trigger the same thing in your brain.
You’re right. TCGs with blind draw boosters are also bad. I didn’t complain about Pokemon cards back in 2000 because I was a child and didn’t comprehend that that was what I was doing. I definitely stopped partaking in Magic: The Gathering as an adult though when I realized it was a neverending gambling treadmill. Today I frequent fighting game locals that are kept afloat by Yu Gi Oh gambling addicts who fill the trash cans with booster wrappers as they go back to the counter over and over again to buy more packs.
So those cards have been around forever, and no one complained about them.
There have definitely been complaints about gambling in relation to collectible cards. I don’t think anything has come of them in legal terms, but many complaints have been voiced.
Here’s one: Trading cards are something you own. Skins are limited to a game you’re licensing.
Here’s another: trading cards are portable; they can be put in a collection for display, put in a safety deposit box, etc. When CS goes, all the skins go with it.
Another minor one: baseball cards are informational, the skins are cosmetic only.
Mind you, I think both are forms of unregulated gambling and trading cards as well as loot boxes should have better societal scrutiny, but they aren’t identical.
No one buys baseball cards for the informational side of it. They buy them as a collectors item. The same as these skins. The only difference is that one is digital and one is physical.
Sports cards have been around for ages and no one gave a shit. People care about the loot boxes in games because it’s easy for a kid to get their parents credit card and rack up a ton of charges.
Many would say so. Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Magic the Gathering, have worked very hard at balancing the two sides of the coin. On one side, they design cards such that power levels determine the demand (and thus price) for rarer cards on the resale market, and on the other they argue that the cards have no intrinsic value so that buying packs can’t count as gambling since there’s technically no expected profit for the buyers.
Should we also have a ban on all sports memorabilia then? It’s a gamble for me to go to my local team and have the players sign things and then at some point in the future it could be worth a ton of money?
Would this conversation be any different if they sold the cards for what they think the expected value is? Then you’d have people complaining about how they’re charging hundreds for a card and that’s not fair because little Timmy can’t afford it.
Edit: those tumblers that people drink out of have “rarer” colors and designs, better ban those two because of gambling.
How are these cases any different from any trading card that you can go to the store and buy packs of? Are those also unregulated gambling?
I would say yes, they are unregulated gambling. People also spend ludicrous amounts of money on cards. Though I don’t think that should factor into whether or not something is or isn’t unregulated gambling. It’s the chance product, not the money spent on it.
So those cards have been around forever, and no one complained about them.
People care about these loot boxes because it’s easy for a young kid to get their parents credit card and rack up a ton of charges because they see a cool skin and don’t realize that ultra rare or 1/1000 chance to drop means that they won’t get t without spending a ton of money.
By definition gambling can be defined as playing games of chance for money. Well they aren’t going to win money, their reward is a collectable item.
Or to take risky action in hope of desired result. I don’t really see how this fits that definition either. There’s no risky action.
I would prefer if there were no loot boxes because I’d rather know what I’m getting, but people are focusing on the wrong thing here.
Valve literally runs a marketplace that allows people to sell their skins for cash.
This is like playing for tokens that the store across the street will conveniently purchase from you.
So the issue isn’t the loot boxes and gambling to get items, it’s the resale? That’s a different issue.
Also it’s not “cash”, you can only spend that money back into steam.
Trading cards and gambling addiction have been studied for years. TCGs may not function the same as a slot machine, but it does trigger the same thing in your brain.
And that is what’s dangerous.
You’re right. TCGs with blind draw boosters are also bad. I didn’t complain about Pokemon cards back in 2000 because I was a child and didn’t comprehend that that was what I was doing. I definitely stopped partaking in Magic: The Gathering as an adult though when I realized it was a neverending gambling treadmill. Today I frequent fighting game locals that are kept afloat by Yu Gi Oh gambling addicts who fill the trash cans with booster wrappers as they go back to the counter over and over again to buy more packs.
There have definitely been complaints about gambling in relation to collectible cards. I don’t think anything has come of them in legal terms, but many complaints have been voiced.
Here’s one: Trading cards are something you own. Skins are limited to a game you’re licensing.
Here’s another: trading cards are portable; they can be put in a collection for display, put in a safety deposit box, etc. When CS goes, all the skins go with it.
Another minor one: baseball cards are informational, the skins are cosmetic only.
Mind you, I think both are forms of unregulated gambling and trading cards as well as loot boxes should have better societal scrutiny, but they aren’t identical.
Edited for typo
Yepp, while there are some fundamental differences, I think all these things are a form of unregulated gambling.
Fuck it, throw blind boxes in too.
No one buys baseball cards for the informational side of it. They buy them as a collectors item. The same as these skins. The only difference is that one is digital and one is physical.
Sports cards have been around for ages and no one gave a shit. People care about the loot boxes in games because it’s easy for a kid to get their parents credit card and rack up a ton of charges.
Many would say so. Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Magic the Gathering, have worked very hard at balancing the two sides of the coin. On one side, they design cards such that power levels determine the demand (and thus price) for rarer cards on the resale market, and on the other they argue that the cards have no intrinsic value so that buying packs can’t count as gambling since there’s technically no expected profit for the buyers.
Should we also have a ban on all sports memorabilia then? It’s a gamble for me to go to my local team and have the players sign things and then at some point in the future it could be worth a ton of money?
Would this conversation be any different if they sold the cards for what they think the expected value is? Then you’d have people complaining about how they’re charging hundreds for a card and that’s not fair because little Timmy can’t afford it.
Edit: those tumblers that people drink out of have “rarer” colors and designs, better ban those two because of gambling.