Once in an R&D Infinity it should never come back out.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
so by that logic, TCG booster packs should be declared gambling because you CAN win something valuable from them that you own and absolutely can sell
however, last i checked, you don't need a gambling license to sell booster packs
They aren't marketed as a 'chance to win' or otherwise as a game of chance the way a slot machine or a lockbox or a lottery ticket is.
The point is, cryptic or any other similar video game could just put virtual slots in their game. If they have a robust defense against claims that people are able to win something with monetary value, it's no different from Fallout: New Vegas.
Their robust defense is that STO is a service that people are licensed to consume, and licensees are never entitled to a property interest in anything. Without a property interest, nothing in the game is theirs to sell, nothing has a monetary value.
For a long time gambling addicts have repeated to themselves and one another that "its not really gambling." But it is gambling, its placing a wager in the hopes of obtaining something much more valuable than the wager. Its gambling pixels for pixels, so uncle sam doesn't care, but it scratches that problem gambler's itch.
Consider an alternative case to trading cards. Say you start a 'card pack' company where you sell packs of playing cards, but if someone's pack has the joker in it, they can mail it to you and receive 1000 dollars.
You market this as "5 playing cards just 5 dollars, chance to win 1000 dollars!"
Do you believe that you'd be able to convince a judge or jury that you weren't running a lottery or regulated game of chance?
And we again come back to the core of the arguement:
Is a 1$ slot machine that always pays back 1 cent still a regulated slot machine? Why or why not?
Why is a slot machine or blackjack app for your smartphone where you can't win anything legal? How is it different from a slot machine in a casino?
So if I understand your point, it isn't so much gambling as it is a big waste of money since technically you are buying the R&D pack and not the starship.
This reminds me of the old breakfast cereals that used to offer some kind of toy inside a select number of boxes. Is was not gambling because the toy was basically worthless, BUT, kids would bug their parents to buy said cereal to get the toy.
This is why i don't buy R&D packs unless I actually need R&D materials that come in the pack.
I'm already like this guy with the ships in the C-store....I don't need Cryptic helping me get worse.
In gambling, you wager money to win money, or some stand-in for money, or something worth money. Typically on some random outcome like dice rolling or the order of cards in a deck, or something you can't affect the outcome of like a prize fight or a sporting event.
It's only illegal if its money. If you get an app for your phone where you play blackjack against a computer and cant win anything except pixel chips, it's not illegal. If the app pays out money, its illegal.
In exactly the same way, its not illegal in STO.
You pay for a service called 'zen', once you receive it, the transaction is finished as far as any law is concerned.
What you do with it in the video game afterwards isn't really their business. The money goes in the trap door, it can't come back out.
If STO said, "You own your items, and like any property you can them for real money if you want to," then suddenly things would become very different. Then your pixels would become like casino chips.
Okay, I think I see your point.
Legally, what Cryptic (or any MMO) is doing is NOT gambling.
However, it has the same psychological effect as gambling on those trying to win a prize, even if it has no resale value outside of the game itself.
Is that correct?
I think there is an important psychological effect that is different from gambling for money: You can't give into the illusion that you might get your money back from a win. Everything you can win in STO has no real word value. You can't sell it. You can hope for the big prize, but you won't pay off your debts you incurred gambling for it. The illusion of the one lucky streak that solves all your financial problems does not exist, and cannot drive you to keep gambling.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
I guess more choice is bad, huh. We already had one in December, by the way. The 23rd Century Constitution/D7/T'liss was in that, with the Annorax, Sheshar, and JHSS.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I guess more choice is bad, huh. We already had one in December, by the way. The 23rd Century Constitution/D7/T'liss was in that, with the Annorax, Sheshar, and JHSS.
I believe scarcity is a good thing and having a infinity box takes away from that. The less there are of these ships the better the packs will sell and its better for the ship market. Cryptic would do better rolling a RD pack in between lockboxes to avoid the need to constantly create new ships for the boxes and reduce what some people have called cheesiness creep with all the non cannon and nearly made up ships.
I guess more choice is bad, huh. We already had one in December, by the way. The 23rd Century Constitution/D7/T'liss was in that, with the Annorax, Sheshar, and JHSS.
I believe scarcity is a good thing and having a infinity box takes away from that. The less there are of these ships the better the packs will sell and its better for the ship market. Cryptic would do better rolling a RD pack in between lockboxes to avoid the need to constantly create new ships for the boxes and reduce what some people have called cheesiness creep with all the non cannon and nearly made up ships.
'Live and Let Live' should be the modus operandi of all the players.
I am totally unconcerned with making things scarce. Whoever wants whatever should be able to buy whatever because there is a reasonable supply available.
There is way too much 'Live and Let Die' going around.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
So STO, in spite of zen costing real money, is no different in the eyes of the law from Fallout: New Vegas with its wasteland casinos. You buy the game, the service of playing it, and what happens with the pixels inside doesn't have anything to do with uncle sam, since it never stops just being pixels.
This is pretty much right, and that's exactly the problem. Practices like this aren't technically gambling, so laws designed to keep the reins on gambling establishments don't cover it. Those laws are out of date: they were written to regulate casinos and horse races, not MMOs.
Right now Cryptic is doing the logical thing all right, but it's Ferengi logic, not Vulcan logic. Although the practice benefits the few to the detriment of the many, it's a perfectly legal way to maximize profits and therefore the rational thing to do from a business point of view.
So in order for this to stop either Cryptic needs to grow a conscience (unlikely, if not impossible) or the laws need to catch up with the reality.
Exactly.... It seems some trolls here cant comprehend such a perspective...
If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
Former member of the Cryptic Family & FriendsTesting Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
I paid $10 for the 1000zen to buy this pack and got nothing but useless junk
However, Cryptic thanks you for your contribution. Don't feel too bad since most of us have fallen for this ploy before with hopes & dreams being crushed. At least you didn't invest a lot of $ into it like some have with nothing of value to show for it.
Comments
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I really hope there will never be an infinity RD promotion.
I think there is an important psychological effect that is different from gambling for money: You can't give into the illusion that you might get your money back from a win. Everything you can win in STO has no real word value. You can't sell it. You can hope for the big prize, but you won't pay off your debts you incurred gambling for it. The illusion of the one lucky streak that solves all your financial problems does not exist, and cannot drive you to keep gambling.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I believe scarcity is a good thing and having a infinity box takes away from that. The less there are of these ships the better the packs will sell and its better for the ship market. Cryptic would do better rolling a RD pack in between lockboxes to avoid the need to constantly create new ships for the boxes and reduce what some people have called cheesiness creep with all the non cannon and nearly made up ships.
Not big on scarcity, to me, it' never good.
I am totally unconcerned with making things scarce. Whoever wants whatever should be able to buy whatever because there is a reasonable supply available.
There is way too much 'Live and Let Die' going around.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Exactly.... It seems some trolls here cant comprehend such a perspective...
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
However, Cryptic thanks you for your contribution. Don't feel too bad since most of us have fallen for this ploy before with hopes & dreams being crushed. At least you didn't invest a lot of $ into it like some have with nothing of value to show for it.