Bingo requires you to pay to play and whether or not you win the cash prize is entirely based on chance. There’s a reason casinos often have bingo halls built in.
I believe the answer to that is no money, not gambling.
Correct. Thus, neither loot boxes (no inherent cash value) nor trading cards (likewise) are gambling. They might be “predatory” in some ways. But that isn’t the discussion being had.
But, the games I play do so many free chances, and then you have to pay for more chances. So, my grandma could play it and not gamble, but my kids would absolutely be gambling when they played the exact same game.
But, the point I want to make clear is I don't believe they give any fucks about the gambling. I think they're mad about the taxes being different for gambling.
But, the games I play do so many free chances, and then you have to pay for more chances. So, my grandma could play it and not gamble, but my kids would absolutely be gambling when they played the exact same game.
Are we still talking about playing bingo with cash prizes? Where on earth can you play a game with cash prizes and not have to pay to enter?
If you’re talking about things without cash prizes, who cares? There are 10,000,001 ways to waste money, but we don’t regulate them as “gambling”
But, the point I want to make clear is I don't believe they give any fucks about the gambling. I think they're mad about the taxes being different for gambling.
I think you’re 100% spot on with that. It’s for exactly this reason that sports betting just got legalized nationwide, even in the face of the blatant, egregious downsides.
I think loot boxes, gacha games, those “capsule machines” you put money into which then dispense a random toy (which are actually the origin of the term “gacha”, #funfact), etc are all predatory to various extents. Not to mention the variation in their implementation in any given game being more or less predatory. That doesn’t mean they should be regulated as “gambling” however. Maybe we should pass regulations barring corporations from exploiting known and documented mental “loopholes” like FOMO and burying the odds of getting a prize under a mountain of boilerplate text hoping most won’t bother to see how bad a deal they’re actually getting. Or any number of these exploits built into our brains that these parasites have spent billions mapping out and figuring out how best to exploit. I’d be all for an honest attempt at that. But just saying “it’s gambling!” As if that’s an argument is not just weak but demonstrably a legally invalid argument.
Edit: for example, didn’t someone sue companies like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc for selling “points” in values designed to always make you have some leftover (but not enough to actually buy an item, thus ensuring you feel “tied” to the system and keep buying things through it)? I don’t think it was a government regulation, but it clearly led to all of these companies just getting rid of the abusive “points” systems and start just allowing people to directly purchase whatever they wanted in their local currency.
Bingo requires you to pay to play and whether or not you win the cash prize is entirely based on chance. There’s a reason casinos often have bingo halls built in.
Correct. Thus, neither loot boxes (no inherent cash value) nor trading cards (likewise) are gambling. They might be “predatory” in some ways. But that isn’t the discussion being had.
But, the games I play do so many free chances, and then you have to pay for more chances. So, my grandma could play it and not gamble, but my kids would absolutely be gambling when they played the exact same game.
But, the point I want to make clear is I don't believe they give any fucks about the gambling. I think they're mad about the taxes being different for gambling.
Are we still talking about playing bingo with cash prizes? Where on earth can you play a game with cash prizes and not have to pay to enter?
If you’re talking about things without cash prizes, who cares? There are 10,000,001 ways to waste money, but we don’t regulate them as “gambling”
I think you’re 100% spot on with that. It’s for exactly this reason that sports betting just got legalized nationwide, even in the face of the blatant, egregious downsides.
Bingo up by me, you pay to get in. There are prizes, yes. But, you don't have to take the prizes. Some people take it very seriously.
But, for digital games my point was that the same game can be played both ways.
I think loot boxes, gacha games, those “capsule machines” you put money into which then dispense a random toy (which are actually the origin of the term “gacha”, #funfact), etc are all predatory to various extents. Not to mention the variation in their implementation in any given game being more or less predatory. That doesn’t mean they should be regulated as “gambling” however. Maybe we should pass regulations barring corporations from exploiting known and documented mental “loopholes” like FOMO and burying the odds of getting a prize under a mountain of boilerplate text hoping most won’t bother to see how bad a deal they’re actually getting. Or any number of these exploits built into our brains that these parasites have spent billions mapping out and figuring out how best to exploit. I’d be all for an honest attempt at that. But just saying “it’s gambling!” As if that’s an argument is not just weak but demonstrably a legally invalid argument.
Edit: for example, didn’t someone sue companies like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc for selling “points” in values designed to always make you have some leftover (but not enough to actually buy an item, thus ensuring you feel “tied” to the system and keep buying things through it)? I don’t think it was a government regulation, but it clearly led to all of these companies just getting rid of the abusive “points” systems and start just allowing people to directly purchase whatever they wanted in their local currency.