[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

In order to determine whether the plaintiffs had a viable RICO suit, the court analyzed several factors. One of those factors was whether the card packs constituted gambling, which is the part I quoted. The court held that the packs did not constitute gambling. For that reason (along with others I didn't quote), the lower court's dismissal of the RICO suit was upheld.

 

Maybe you quoted the wrong part then? Only reference to gambling in the parts you quoted was where it was saying what the plaintiffs were claiming, not in the decision part. Nothing in the decision part indicates one way or the other whether or not said cards constitute gambling. Just that the plaintiffs got what they paid for. 6-20 cards and a chance that one is a chase card. Now, admittedly I'm not up to par on legalese, but the rest of that judgement,

 

Injury to mere expectancy interests or to an “intangible property interest” is not sufficient to confer RICO standing. [footnote omitted] Furthermore, as noted by the court, even if a pack does not contain a chase card, “[p]laintiffs do not allege that the value of the cards that they did receive is less than the consideration paid.” [footnote omitted] And even though courts may look to state law to determine, for RICO purposes, whether a property interest exists, [footnote omitted] it does not follow that any injury for which a plaintiff might assert a state law claim is necessarily sufficient to establish a claim under RICO. [footnote omitted]

 

I assume is flat out saying it doesn't matter whether it's gambling or not as to whether this is a RICO violation/case. Particularly the first part

Injury to mere expectancy interests or to an “intangible property interest” is not sufficient to confer RICO standing.

They aren't saying whether or not it's gambling. They're saying that whether or not it's gambling doesn't matter as far as this suit goes.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

With regard to the legality issue in the US, here are a couple of quotes from Price v. Pinnacle Brands, Inc., 138 F.3d 602 (5th Cir. 1998). This was a RICO case, but it directly considered the issue of whether collectible trading cards are considered "gambling." It is fairly typical of the case law on this issue.

 

Just to point out, the "ruling" portion of that quote/suit doesn't say anything about whether or not it's gambling. Just that the plaintiffs have no RICO suit, as they DID, in fact, get what they paid for. Just like if you bet $500 on black, and it comes up red, you get what you paid for.

 

And there's a difference between cereal/cracker jack toys and this. Cereal toys are generally valued at a fairly insignificant fraction of the price of the cereal. From what I've seen in these packs, the only item of any real value IS the rare. In a game where you level rediculously fast and almost always are overleveled, +exp doesn't do jack. Mats are dime/dozen.

[Top down armor, in the store?]

It always bothers me that jedi gear is almost all hood up, and sith gear is largely hood down.

 

Seems sort of backwards to me. Now sure, Luke had a hood. (briefly) but he almost immediately took it down. Whereas the emperor was pretty much permanently hooded.

 

Hiding in the shadows of ones hood just seems more... sinister. Something for dark/evil folk to do.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

Sweepstakes are gambling. (or would be, if purchase was required). The reason they have "No purchase required" methods of playing is to avoid being legally considered gambling.

 

So what, exactly, is the difference between buying a Dr. Pepper, hoping there is a code to get a Dr. Pepper hat under the lid, and buying one of these swag bags of miscellaneous mats (or whatever the standard item is) hoping to get that cool new armor?

 

As long as virtual goods have value, (which I'll admitis debateable, but the only court case I've seen (albeit EU case) the court found that they did), then the answer is NOTHING.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

EDIT: Just for clarification, I agree with CelCawdro that grab bags aren't legally gambling. But I also agree that they are gambling, in a moral sense.

 

I'm not sure I agree. As I understand it, if you *always* got X common items, Y rare, and Z super rare, then it wouldn't legally be gambling. (which, also as I understand it, is how CCG/trading cards get away with it)

 

The fact that you don't, but only have a *chance* at a super rare, probably DOES make this legally gambling.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

Alright, so in this situation your definition of gambling is paying real currency for a 'chance' at an item you want.

 

We pay 15$ a month for a 'chance' at a particular item we want from HMs, raids, and REing items. By your standards the game itself should be a gamble. The RNG involved means we are paying 15$ but are not guaranteed the drops we desire.

 

The loot bags have a loot table. Some items are undoubtedly going to have a lower chance of spawning than others. But the bag is no different than a player buying a Flashpoint Loot pass. In fact it is the exact same due to the above statement that our subscription could 'technically' be considered gambling due tot he RNG nature of loot drops.

 

I guess if we are going to consider the loot bags as gambling, we need to consider every other RNG aspect of the game in the same light so long as we have to pay.

 

You're right. If you're playing the game simply in order to loot stuff, then yes, playing the game is gambling. (I'd also argue you're probably an idiot, but then, I tend to think the whole "end game" gameplay is for suckers, as it DOES basically boil down to doing the same thing over and over and over again to... yep... get your opportunity to gamble.)

 

Difference is, most of us are paying our $15 for the stories, quest, PvP etc. Most of us aren't "end game" raiders doing the same dungeon over and over for a chance at the item we want. And even then, I don't understand it myself, but apparently a lot of the "end game" raiders actually enjoy doing those raids over and over.

 

Whereas with these bags, it is pretty much a straight up, (assume $1 = 100 points) something like $3 for a chance at something you want.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

I could also buy a billion bags of chips trying to find one shaped like Abraham Lincoln. It doesn't mean I'm gambling.

 

Actually, it does.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

Off topic.

Gambling is only regulated so the the government gets their cut. No moral in there just to get paid. And since they are going to have it filed as income and taxed it is perfectly fine. All they need to follow is to state there is a 30 % chance or whatever for the drop and have that correctly set up in the code and there is nothing immoral about it.

 

Morality and Legality aren't always in sync. You're right in that regulation of gambling has nothing to do with morality, however gambling is frequently illegal on moral grounds. Not regulated, simply flat-out illegal.

 

Also, the reason why it's regulated is because there is usually some significant negative impact from gambling. So the "regular income tax" doesn't cover it. Especially since this is online, and thus said income tax isn't likely going to be going to the governments of the communities being negatively affected.

[So Bioware is not backing down from the "Grab Bags"]

This isn't a casino. You can't get real money back out of it. (in most cases anyway) Thats what makes casinos work. While gamers will see things as having an apparent worth. It will never have the same hold as a real casino.

 

The "hold" is the gambling rush, which is still there. People don't (or shouldn't) expect to make money gambling. It's all about the rush. The thrill. And that rush/thrill is still there.

 

This sort of gambling is every bit as bad as casino gambling. Only "saving grace" is the stakes are much lower. Just the amount of time opening these things means it'd take a LOT longer to blow a couple grand on these boxes than it would take in Vegas.

[no hk51 for solo players]

Well, the good news:

 

Apparently HK-51 is a legacy companion according to someone on PTS, so we only have to endure the HM FP once and can then buy an unlock for him on an alt (and apparently he can join a pre-50 crew).

 

Well, there goes the argument that he's only worthwhile for endgame lvl 50 players, who are presumably the ones doing HM's anyways. He's now even MORE singleplayer story-centric content.

[Updated! BOOM! Awesome clothing on the Cartel shop.]

Wonder if they're planning on showing the female version of the equipment if you're female, as there frequently IS a difference.

 

'Course, that sill won't help you pick stuff out for your female companions.

[Subscribers get 500 Cartel Coins a month]

Yes because obviously this was actually about the local price of soda.

 

Edit: What crazy backwater still sells a can of soda for .50?

 

They're $0.25 at the vending machines in my office, though I suspect they are either getting a terrific deal for buying in bulk, or they are being subsidized by the company.

[Companions 101: Kira Carsen]

Favorite Kira line?

On Hoth, IIRC (it's been a LONG time, so this isn't word for word):

 

 

Kira Carson (IIRC, unofficially my wife at this point) in regards to a dark side controlled jedi master who had seduced another jedi to get him to help her.

 

Jedi Master to paramour: Fool, I've only shown you the merest taste of what true passion is.

Kira Carson: Then you're obviously doing it wrong.

 

 

(Kinda wonder how many JK's actually see that line. It's an obvious lead in to a boss battle, and 90% of JK's are probably using the healer (Doc) at that point.) I routinely cycled through most of my companions for chats, escaping out when it looked like the actual fight was imminent, so I could see as many of their lines as possible)

 

So far, probably my favorite line in the game.

[no hk51 for solo players]

That strategy didn't work, epically so.

Their two options are to continue with what already failed, and settle with what they have, or to change course and see if another approach might work where the previous one tanked. I'm holding out hope for option B.

 

Which strategy didn't work? When it was more purely storycentric, they had almost 2 million subscribers. Since then they've been releasing more and more end game treadmill/non-story content. And losing more and more subscribers. Seems to me continuing with what failed would be releasing more and more flashpoints/ops, and *not* going back to apparently what worked. Story centric stuff. Game was apparently at it's peak when it was more story centric. ('course, quite possibly just the first rush of excitement and all that, and nothing to do with story-centricness, but it's our only real "story centric" frame of reference.)

 

And no, I don't think they can do a chapter every month, (especially with full speech) I do, however, think they could do a new chapter every half year or so. Which I suspect, for the casual (and thus majority) of gamers who are, in fact, actually playing all the storylines, likely be enough to keep subscriptions from lapsing. (sure, their may be "some" downtime, but probably not all THAT significant... for the casual, anyways). And for the hardcore gamers who blow through the content quickly, far more likely to bring them back into subscribing when they finish the content than a shiny new flashpoint/op.

 

edit:

You're telling me, to avoid doing the same content over and over that I have to level 8 different toons, which share THE EXACT SAME CONTENT MINUS CLASS QUESTS, just so I can fool myself that I'm doing something different when I'm doing Chapter 4 on 8 different toons.

 

Seriously? That's really your answer? Please do better than that because that's just a terrible alternative.

 

Different strokes then, I guess. I see that as being far better than end game treadmills. At least there's SOME different content, and you're repeating the non-different content at a far lower frequency.

[no hk51 for solo players]

As I remember, one of the initial hooks to the game, pretty much the only reason I even considered playing it, was because it WAS advertised as a story-centric, single player focused game, with a side helping of MMO content to keep subs rolling from those who level "too fast".

 

And yes, I tried the group content. I hated it, so I stopped. At this rate, I probably won't put myself through it to pick up HK, since (as you point out) I don't really have much use for him (at the moment). The only use for him I currently have is his (apparent) +1 crit to all crafting skills, which (will be) the best bonus possible for artifice. (currently NO companion has/can get + crit to artifice)

 

But, they've had almost a year of time, *hopefully* putting effort into continuing the storylines. I would assume that it's less than half a year until they add at least chapter 4, and extend what the game (story-centric, and all that, based on initial advertising/press) is supposed to be all about. And I'll admit, for that content I would in fact like to have HK available.

[no hk51 for solo players]

Why have they been hemorhaging subs?

Because treadmill content doesn't really work. Every statistic I've read indicates that the raiders/groupers are a small subset of the MMO population, especially the end game ones.

 

So yes, if people are dedicating their lives to TOR, they'll blow through a storyline in a month, easy. *if*. More likely it'll take them 2. I've been playing since release and I've done 2 & 2/3. And then there are 8 total. A lot of the content is shared across storylines, but it doesn't seem all that treadmill, because quite a bit of time passes between visits to the same part of the storyline. So adding a chapter for all 8 storylines adds a lot of "content", and probably takes less time than adding 2 chapters for 1 class.

 

So, do I think they could have added a chapter or 2 to each and every classes storyline over the last almost year? Yep.

[Guardians needing Medium armor when I run flashpoints using my Sentinel.]

First, let me just say that I don't group. Dislike group content in general. Only reason I can think of to group is if somehow the solo content gets so difficult that you need to group to get gear for the solo content.

 

1. Shells are irrelevant. Odds are even if it's an armor class you can use, you're STILL going to rip the mods out anyways and stick it in something orange you like the look of or is already augmented.

2. There is the possibility that it *is* actually the look of the shell in question you desire. If so, that is a COSMETIC improvement, not a functional improvement. The person that is wanting the mod should get preference over the person who is wanting the shell.

3. Enhancements are largely globally useful to all.

 

 

So, I say. Doesn't matter what armor classification the shell is. All that matters is the stats of the armoring/mods. if medium armor drops with high end low str. That should be needed by tank guardians. Sentinals would be wrong to need it over a tank guardian. (unless they are so badly equipped that said item still gives more str than what they currently have). Whereas if a medium armor drops with high str/low end, it's EXPECTED that DPS guardians will need it. It's every bit as good for them as it is for the sentinal, because... it's ONLY the mods that matter. Shells, in this game, are irrelevant.

 

But again, enhancements... well, you'll just get those (largely) through getting the mods/armorings that work for you.

 

edit: Personally, I'm sort of of the opinion the itemization system (and crafting, fwiw) in this game is completely fubared by the whole mod system. They should either go whole hog with it, or ditch it. At this point, the "ditch it" is probably off the table, which means go whole hog. FInished items simply shouldn't ever drop in group/raid content. Empty shells, mods, armorings, enhancements, etc. Either that or ability to roll piecemeal on object "parts", with the object automatically "pulled apart" if different people win different parts.

[no hk51 for solo players]

Sorry, but you're wrong again. The solo players who refuse to group up are the extremely small subset of players.

 

The only *official* information we know about this statistic indicates the opposite. IIRC back at the guild summit Bioware indicated that only 38% of level 50's have EVER done an operation. Admittedly, there's no statistic on flashpoints.

 

I know I've done Esselles and Hammerhead with a group. I've done the rest of the republic ones up to ~lvl 40 solo. Haven't yet done any Imperial ones. (though I do have a lvl 41 imperial and 3 other lvl 17 imps)

 

Most group content just isn't my thing. By nature, when it comes to MMO's I'm pure crafter. For adventuring content, well. this is my KOTOR 3.

[no hk51 for solo players]

I would love to hear your ideas on what can be done after level 50 that isn't:

Doing Raids over and over

Doing Dungeons over and over

Doing PvP over and over

Doing Dailies over and over

 

If they would spend as much time on the ingame stuff like worlds and quests and not flash point this and op this.

 

I'm assuming by "worlds and quests" he means chapter 3.5 (or 4) of class stories. I happen to agree with him. It's been almost a year, and there hasn't been very little "real" new content added. Just worthless ops, flashpoints, and PvP treadmill junk.

[Honest Question, what legacy perks have you bought?]

Rocketboots (all 3 levels) before the speeder perks became available.

Speeder perks (each level, each char)

all 3 crafting perks (for the characters that actually craft, (as opposed to those who just have biochem to use reuseables my actual "crafting" biochem makes for them)

Ship droid w/ the crewskill bonus modules. (repair droid?)

 

And I believe that's it. Don't (yet) have the legacy lvls for the GTN, though I have more than enough cash to buy it. (being a crafter gets you cash, not so much legacy exp)

 

Not sure if I'd buy it anyways, no real issues parking my characters in fleet most of the time.

[What's the general rule for rolling need for your companions?]

Deleted: wrong thread

[Graphics Stuttering Issues]

What I'm experiencing can seem like "stuttering", but it isn't. I'd more accurately describe it as a "hitch" everytime some text gets drawn/redrawn. As if it's simply taking an obscenely long time (like, a second) to render.

 

So if the text is getting drawn/redrawn often enough, (such as if you have nameplate scaling turned on and are moving around) it feels like stuttering, since it's basically hitching every few frames.

 

(and yes, it isn't *just* nameplates that cause the hitch. I don't really get much chat, so not sure if chat causes it, but quest updates defitely cause a hitch, and opening up most UI windows definitely does. (though there's always been a bit of a hitch there, though I think it's gotten far worse) Nameplates are just the most common cause of text being drawn/redrawn. (particularly if scaling is turned on)

[An open letter to BW(regarding new companion)]

Companions are basically single player content.

As such, they should require only single player content to unlock.

 

Simple as that. While I feel the OP's letter is extremely poorly worded, (probably because he appears to be asking for preferential treatment for himself in particular), I happen to agree that requiring multiplayer content to access single player content is a very bad design decision. 'Course, I also happen to think that requiring mutliplayer content to high end crafting content is a very bad design decision, and Bioware continues to happily run skip and jump down that road.

 

So, basically, Bioware is (iMO) clueless about why separation of content is a good idea, and seems to want to force EVERYBODY to do group content, even when it seems that in most RPG's, the majority typically doesn't LIKE group content. Though the posters on the boards always seem to... maybe something about being social on boards equates to being social in games? Nah, that'd make too much sense.

[Free to Play Preview]

I am sure someone will tell me I am dumb but I still don't care about most of the information they are providing about the Cartel Shop until approximate prices are released for items and things in the cartel shop.

 

You aren't dumb. It really doesn't matter how many cartel coins we get/don't get, until we have some frame of reference as to what the purchasing power of those coins will be.

 

If I tell you I'm going to give you a million unit's of currency, it doesn't say anything. If it's in USD, it's (obviously)worth a million dollars. It it's in Somaliland Schillings, it's worth about $600 (USD)

[no hk51 for solo players]

I'm saying that endgame is a journey as well. You may prefer to reroll over and over and never get to max level, or spend more time leveling alts, but that's your own journey. I was just contradicting CosmicKat in implying that endgame content is not a journey as well... cuz it is. There is no final level of this game where you see end credits and turn it off, knowing that you "beat the game". So using the statement "the journey is more important than the destination" is falsely done when comparing leveling to endgame content.

 

Endgame is a journey in the same way that excercising on a treadmill is going on a hike.

 

Which is to say, it isn't.