Gambling is illegal

[Hazed]

And this is why these threads go on and on. It's ok. I must admit I enjoy it from time to time.

 

Hambu, It isn't the same for many reasons. But the simplest and most efficient way to explain how they are different is this: You can not exchange your coins for real cash. No cash out when you are done shopping. So, they don't have real monetary value. It is not a direct relationship as you seem to imply. Why? Because you can not turn them into cash. A big difference there.

 

which is why it falls under racketeering

[Hambunctious]

How would anyone be punished by removing alcohol or cigarettes or anything considered negative or addictive? Like I said before, the question is whether the world should be designed to cater to people who may have certain problems at the expense of taking the freedom of choice away from those who dont. If someone doesnt have a gambling addiction and simply wants to buy a hypercrate, why shouldnt they be able to?

 

Why should there be hypercrates in the first place?

 

Unlike the other things you proposed there, no one would be denied anything by the removal of gambling packs, and all items were sold individually.

 

Honestly, I cannot fathom the support of one the most consumer unfriendly tactics I have ever seen. Especially considering there are alternative ways for them to sell their wares that don't involve taking advantage of people's brain chemistry. It's a predatory tactic, and it can be abused. They know it, or they wouldn't do it.

[Hazed]

That was the point I was trying to make. And why I said the next logical progression of questions become, do we remove my ability to buy them because someone else has a gambling problem. Should Bioware be forced to stop selling the packs because some people have a hard time not clicking on the "buy cartel coins" button? The answer as far as I'm concerned to both of those is NO. People need to have personal responsibility.

 

That person is only buying the hypercrate because they want a specific item from it.. they are in a sensed "forced" into it by virtue of being he only means of achieving something in the game (probably because it requires no skill).

The very idea of exploiting the gaming community with these tactics should be appalling to most of you, but I kinda understand the problem now.

It must be that EA has desensitized you into believing they are justified in any action they make because it makes financial sense.

 

It also makes financial sense to wipe out everyone below the current poverty line.. so should that be the next step in this line of reasoning?

 

They need to make it perfectly clear what the odds are to get a "super rare" item so people understand the reality of their chances plain and simple.

 

Even with MTG you know your getting 2 mythics a box..

 

Using the the Star Wars IP as a venue for gambling.. I wonder how Disney would feel about a PR related to that.

[Hazed]

Why should there be hypercrates in the first place?

 

Unlike the other things you proposed there, no one would be denied anything by the removal of gambling packs, and all items were sold individually.

 

Honestly, I cannot fathom the support of one the most consumer unfriendly tactics I have ever seen. Especially considering there are alternative ways for them to sell their wares that don't involve taking advantage of people's brain chemistry. It's a predatory tactic, and it can be abused. They know it, or they wouldn't do it.

 

Not to mention more people would give them a chance and return. I know several players who refuse to return to the game (despite me painting a rosier picture than what is actually going on). They have been p'o'd since patch 1.2 and will probably never return unless changes are made to the fundamental vision of this game.

 

I came in believing the whole story about 4 pillars etc etc.. now it seems its all about lining corporate pockets.

 

and no that is not ok.. not when its at the expense of the consumer and overall quality... good business isn't the bottom line dollar. We owe it to our children to be better than the people who came before us.

[Hambunctious]

which is why it falls under racketeering

 

It can't be racketeering in the way we know the term. However, many illegal gambling places in the past have been charged with it. I suppose it was because they were preying on particular people who had a gambling addiction. IE, fixing the game for those people.

 

As someone said earlier, there's a lot of social darwinism in this thread. One definition of it, anyway. Which would more closely fit the supporters of gambling packs.

[Icestar]

Using the the Star Wars IP as a venue for gambling.. I wonder how Disney would feel about a PR related to that.

 

It is optional gambling and a way to support the game financially.

 

I doubt they mind

[XDoggStrafe]

Why should there be hypercrates in the first place?

 

Unlike the other things you proposed there, no one would be denied anything by the removal of gambling packs, and all items were sold individually.

 

Honestly, I cannot fathom the support of one the most consumer unfriendly tactics I have ever seen. Especially considering there are alternative ways for them to sell their wares that don't involve taking advantage of people's brain chemistry. It's a predatory tactic, and it can be abused. They know it, or they wouldn't do it.

 

Except, by the legal definition, it's not gambling. Even by a very loose definition, it's only the same type of 'gambling' that we allow Wizards of the Coast to get away with. Specifically with Magic the Gathering. For these packs to be considered truly predatory and true gambling, you'd need to be able to buy a pack, and get absolutely nothing. As in the pack is completely empty, nothing inside of it.

 

More to this point of the card analogy, it really is the same thing in different mediums. I can choose to pay for a booster pack from say, bobs comics, and -hope- I get that mythic rare Balefire dragon, but pull a shivan dragon instead. Both are at least rare, and I'm promised such when I buy the pack. Or, I could buy a Balefire from Bob, who owns the shop, but not the card game, for a price that he asks, which profits only him. Just like the GTN and these packs, I can choose to be a customer of bioware, buy coins and spend said coins on any number of packs chasing Revan's mask, or I can just buy one from Darth-Frank on the GTN for 25 million credits.

 

As for the science of this behavior, any substance can be considered addictive to a damaged mind, video games (as Nagus pointed out), television, drinking, smoking, eating certain foods, even healthy things like exercising and having a job can be considered addictive behavior if done in excess.

 

So it really does fall on personal responsibility, and in the case of the mentally affected (people with PTSD, Easily Addictive personalities, children (I mean young children, unable to buy a T rated game) etc.) persons, someone in the real world should be stepping in if their own personal case is that bad that they cannot resist clicking to buy coins to try and chase that high of opening packs.

 

Again though, at no point do I think these packs constitute real gambling, as you ALWAYS get something back.

 

Edit:

As per your remark about getting at least 2 mythic rares per box of MTG cards Hazed, the actual odds of pulling a mythic rare (depending on the set) range from 1:120 to 1:50. Meaning that if you were to buy a box of say, Zendikar? (where the odds on each pack are 1 in 120 of being a mythic rare) The chances are you'd not pull a single mythic rare (Which has happened to my roommate before) from that box, let alone 2.

Edited October 4, 2013 by XDoggStrafe
Additional info gathered

[chuixupu]

Japan agrees with my interpretation, and it's only a matter of time before others do as well.

 

Why does it matter what Japan thinks? It's also legal in Japan to sell comics and artwork featuring pedophila, because it's not real life children, but somehow I don't see the US following suit there.

 

 

Honestly, I cannot fathom the support of one the most consumer unfriendly tactics I have ever seen. Especially considering there are alternative ways for them to sell their wares that don't involve taking advantage of people's brain chemistry. It's a predatory tactic, and it can be abused. They know it, or they wouldn't do it.

 

I don't support them, most of this argument is not in support of the crates, but just refuting the OP's insistence that they're illegal. Oddly enough, the OP does admit to buying them with his stipend and selling them on the GTN.

 

If you don't like them, don't buy them, ever. Not even with your stipend.

Edited October 4, 2013 by chuixupu

[Hyfy]

How do you figure anyone is being punished by changing, or removing gambling packs?

 

They can still make money by offering items individually.

 

They can still make money by making the packs drop as random loot, and charging to open them. That will limit the number of packs available at any one time, and give people a cooling off period in between.

 

Bioware has found a system that obviously works very well for them, within the law no less. Now you tell them that they can no longer make the same kind of money because some people won't control their own urges. That is the same kind of logic as (do note in my example here I am not trying to marginalized the seriousness of this kind of offense and am only referring to the idea of it) blaming a woman who dressed provocatively for getting assaulted. You are telling that woman that because there are guys out there that might try to assault her that she can't dress sexy. She can't wear that skirt and v cut blouse because someone my attack her. That's the problem with your proposal. A company working within the confines of the law and not in a manner that is underhanded, they are up front about how it works. You aren't spending coins without getting anything in return. But because some people won't control their own urges they have to stop making money in a manner that is legal and profitable.

 

Now don't get me wrong, if what they were doing was against the law and maybe even if it was a big legal gray area I would be inclined to agree. Hell I'm not even against Bioware trying out your suggestion and if they found it worked better for them switching to it. However, in a time and age where we have more and more entities trying to dictate and control what people like myself as a small business owner are doing while still legally engaging in our business, the last thing we need are more rules and regulations put into place making it harder to succeed. Especially when any impropriety and issues are those of other people and not of say myself or Bioware in this case.

[Hyfy]

That person is only buying the hypercrate because they want a specific item from it.. they are in a sensed "forced" into it by virtue of being he only means of achieving something in the game (probably because it requires no skill).

The very idea of exploiting the gaming community with these tactics should be appalling to most of you, but I kinda understand the problem now.

It must be that EA has desensitized you into believing they are justified in any action they make because it makes financial sense.

 

It also makes financial sense to wipe out everyone below the current poverty line.. so should that be the next step in this line of reasoning?

 

They need to make it perfectly clear what the odds are to get a "super rare" item so people understand the reality of their chances plain and simple.

 

Even with MTG you know your getting 2 mythics a box..

 

Using the the Star Wars IP as a venue for gambling.. I wonder how Disney would feel about a PR related to that.

 

No they are not forced to buy it. Because 99/100 times that item they are searching for is already on the GTN, they can work themselves in game to earn the credits to buy it. They can buy a few cartel packs and sell them on the GTN to buy the specific item you are looking for. Sorry but NO, Bioware is not forcing ANYONE to buy a Hypercrate. To suggest otherwise is silly and obtuse.

[Hyfy]

which is why it falls under racketeering

 

Well you've already shown in your OP that you do not understand the concept of gambling in the context of the cartel packs, not to mention your contrived lawsuit so I am really curious to see how you classify it as racketeering. Hell if anything, the threat of your "lawsuit" is nothing more than an attempt at extorting money from Bioware.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Hyfy

[Hyfy]

Except, by the legal definition, it's not gambling. Even by a very loose definition, it's only the same type of 'gambling' that we allow Wizards of the Coast to get away with. Specifically with Magic the Gathering. For these packs to be considered truly predatory and true gambling, you'd need to be able to buy a pack, and get absolutely nothing. As in the pack is completely empty, nothing inside of it.

 

More to this point of the card analogy, it really is the same thing in different mediums. I can choose to pay for a booster pack from say, bobs comics, and -hope- I get that mythic rare Balefire dragon, but pull a shivan dragon instead. Both are at least rare, and I'm promised such when I buy the pack. Or, I could buy a Balefire from Bob, who owns the shop, but not the card game, for a price that he asks, which profits only him. Just like the GTN and these packs, I can choose to be a customer of bioware, buy coins and spend said coins on any number of packs chasing Revan's mask, or I can just buy one from Darth-Frank on the GTN for 25 million credits.

 

As for the science of this behavior, any substance can be considered addictive to a damaged mind, video games (as Nagus pointed out), television, drinking, smoking, eating certain foods, even healthy things like exercising and having a job can be considered addictive behavior if done in excess.

 

So it really does fall on personal responsibility, and in the case of the mentally affected (people with PTSD, Easily Addictive personalities, children (I mean young children, unable to buy a T rated game) etc.) persons, someone in the real world should be stepping in if their own personal case is that bad that they cannot resist clicking to buy coins to try and chase that high of opening packs.

 

Again though, at no point do I think these packs constitute real gambling, as you ALWAYS get something back.

 

Edit:

As per your remark about getting at least 2 mythic rares per box of MTG cards Hazed, the actual odds of pulling a mythic rare (depending on the set) range from 1:120 to 1:50. Meaning that if you were to buy a box of say, Zendikar? (where the odds on each pack are 1 in 120 of being a mythic rare) The chances are you'd not pull a single mythic rare (Which has happened to my roommate before) from that box, let alone 2.

 

That is the exact point I have made to them at least 3 maybe even more times now that they have completely glossed over and ignored. Maybe it will sink in with you saying it, but I wouldn't count on it.

[XDoggStrafe]

Hopefully they actually see what we mean Hyfy, but I'm not gonna hold my breath on this one. I just wanted to demonstrate the difference between gambling, and pseudo-gambling one more time. Edited October 4, 2013 by XDoggStrafe

[Hyfy]

Hopefully they actually see what we mean Hyfy, but I'm not gonna hold my breath on this one. I just wanted to demonstrate the difference between gambling, and pseudo-gambling one more time.

 

As you already know, the only gambling aspect to the cartel packs is in the amount of perceived value above and beyond the baseline value that you may or may not receive but will not be lower than.

[LordArtemis]

Manipulating someone into spending good portions of cash on packs on the chance they MIGHT get something good is pretty low handed, sure.

 

Manipulating a company into removing pack sales by threatening lawsuits, attempting to brand is as gambling or connecting it to addiction illnesses is just as underhanded IMO....considering the likely goal, IMO mind you, is to benefit players by allowing the items to be directly purchased.

 

THAT SAID, I do not care for the pack system they have. I therefore do not partake in the packs (though I think I have bought two in the past) and buy what I want on the GTN instead.

 

Would be nice if more items were direct sales...but in the end, if they are pulling in revenue that has positive flow based on the packs I will let them continue.

[Hambunctious]

Except, by the legal definition, it's not gambling. Even by a very loose definition, it's only the same type of 'gambling' that we allow Wizards of the Coast to get away with. Specifically with Magic the Gathering. For these packs to be considered truly predatory and true gambling, you'd need to be able to buy a pack, and get absolutely nothing. As in the pack is completely empty, nothing inside of it.

 

More to this point of the card analogy, it really is the same thing in different mediums. I can choose to pay for a booster pack from say, bobs comics, and -hope- I get that mythic rare Balefire dragon, but pull a shivan dragon instead. Both are at least rare, and I'm promised such when I buy the pack. Or, I could buy a Balefire from Bob, who owns the shop, but not the card game, for a price that he asks, which profits only him. Just like the GTN and these packs, I can choose to be a customer of bioware, buy coins and spend said coins on any number of packs chasing Revan's mask, or I can just buy one from Darth-Frank on the GTN for 25 million credits.

 

As for the science of this behavior, any substance can be considered addictive to a damaged mind, video games (as Nagus pointed out), television, drinking, smoking, eating certain foods, even healthy things like exercising and having a job can be considered addictive behavior if done in excess.

 

So it really does fall on personal responsibility, and in the case of the mentally affected (people with PTSD, Easily Addictive personalities, children (I mean young children, unable to buy a T rated game) etc.) persons, someone in the real world should be stepping in if their own personal case is that bad that they cannot resist clicking to buy coins to try and chase that high of opening packs.

 

Again though, at no point do I think these packs constitute real gambling, as you ALWAYS get something back.

 

Edit:

As per your remark about getting at least 2 mythic rares per box of MTG cards Hazed, the actual odds of pulling a mythic rare (depending on the set) range from 1:120 to 1:50. Meaning that if you were to buy a box of say, Zendikar? (where the odds on each pack are 1 in 120 of being a mythic rare) The chances are you'd not pull a single mythic rare (Which has happened to my roommate before) from that box, let alone 2.

 

It still takes advantage of a person's gambling response. Whether, or not, it's for real money doesn't make it any less of an issue. It's still a slick way to deprive someone of their money for a chance at something the person values. Value is the key here. Not only do the packs offer something the person values, but in many cases it's not just a single item. It's a set of items that require purchasing multiple packs.

 

It also has the effect of finding, and hooking those whales who can't make themselves stop.

 

Now, another thing they could do would be to put a hold on the gambling packs sold for a few hours, or a day. Which might give a person the chance at buyer's remorse, and time to return them for a refund. At least that could relieve EA of some of the responsibility.

 

Even Vegas has some controls, and regulations. Odds are posted, and slot machines have to payout a certain percentage of what they take. There are no controls, and regulations here.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Hambunctious

[XDoggStrafe]

It still takes advantage of a person's gambling response. Whether, or not, it's for real money doesn't make it any less of an issue. It's still a slick way to deprive someone of their money for a chance at something the person values. Value is the key here. Not only do the packs offer something the person values, but in many cases it's not just a single item. It's a set of items that require purchasing multiple packs.

 

It also has the effect of finding, and hooking those whales who can't make themselves stop.

 

Now, another thing they could do would be to put a hold on the gambling packs sold for a few hours, or a day. Which might give a person the chance at buyer's remorse, and time to return them for a refund. At least that could relieve EA of some of the responsibility.

 

Even Vegas has some controls, and regulations. Odds are posted, and slot machines have to payout a certain percentage of what they take. There are no controls, and regulations here.

 

Value is a subjective matter. See my comparison to the Magic cards for what I mean by this. But to further respond to that remark about sets of items. I'll once more point to MTG. If you've ever played, you know how valuable a full play set of certain cards are, typically the rarest of the rare are best used in a full set of 4. That means you need to keep opening packs doesn't it? Yet this behavior is acceptable, because it's not real gambling. It's pseudo-gambling at best.

 

You're also once more making the comparison to Vegas, when they are completely different things. Apples and Oranges dood. If there were a chance of 0 return, nothing in a pack, then yes, I'd say it's the same as Vegas. That isn't the case, as it stands now, EA is well within the law to do what they're doing, and frankly, if we're going to call EA out on this, we should do the same to other companies that have this same grab-bag model.

 

My point Hambu, is that these exact practices are used in real life by companies and marketed in all sorts of parts of the world, including Japan and the US without any issues. There is no actual gambling, or even preying upon a gambler in this. I've yet to hear stories of someone in Star Wars: The Old Republic specifically here, of someone going off the deep end, and going into debt hell just to buy packs.

 

I will also add that while I don't personally care one way or the other about the fate of the packs, I don't think the current model needs to change, and if they -did- change it to something else, they'd have all new levels of complaints. (Remember the Black/Black Dye fiasco anyone? Now the Covert Pilot suit issue.. I can only imagine people complaining that everyone looks like Revan for 6 months, then complaining that now they CAN'T buy Revans armor any more because it's embargoed.). So make of that comment what you will.

Edited October 4, 2013 by XDoggStrafe

[Hyfy]

It still takes advantage of a person's gambling response. Whether, or not, it's for real money doesn't make it any less of an issue. It's still a slick way to deprive someone of their money for a chance at something the person values. Value is the key here. Not only do the packs offer something the person values, but in many cases it's not just a single item. It's a set of items that require purchasing multiple packs.

 

It also has the effect of finding, and hooking those whales who can't make themselves stop.

 

Now, another thing they could do would be to put a hold on the gambling packs sold for a few hours, or a day. Which might give a person the chance at buyer's remorse, and time to return them for a refund. At least that could relieve EA of some of the responsibility.

 

Even Vegas has some controls, and regulations. Odds are posted, and slot machines have to payout a certain percentage of what they take. There are no controls, and regulations here.

 

You still seem to be under this impression the Bioware is capable of making people buy the packs. They are not taking advantage of a persons gambling response, it's not even gambling as has been pointed out half a dozen times or more. You acquire cartel coins, either by purchasing them or from your monthly stipend. You buy a pack for 320 coins. Now let me ask you a question Ham. After you buy that pack and when you open it up is there any chance at all, excluding a legitimate computer glitch, that there will be nothing in that pack?

 

The answer to that question is no. You receive at least a baseline value of items determined to be equal to the amount of coins used. By the very nature of that point alone it is not gambling because actual gambling involves the risk of receiving nothing in return for your investment.

 

That also means you are not depriving anyone of their money, because they are guaranteed to receive items in return for their money. You don't get the pop up box and see a message pop up as you hit collect all that says "No no we were just kidding you don't actually get any of this stuff". You receive those items in return for your coins.

 

As for your "buyers remorse", there is a window of time between purchasing the packs and clicking on them to place them in your inventory of 2 hours where you can return the item/s and or cartel Packs. However, you are placing responsibility on EA/Bioware because someone bought a pack. When will you stop blaming everyone else but the person who actually clicked buy? Why is the buyer a "victim"? Again they were not forced to buy anything. Bioware does not require you to purchase cartel packs in order to play the game. They do not remotely control your mouse and force you to buy packs. That is a choice made by the buyer and by the buyer alone. I'm sorry but you are again blaming the woman who dressed attractively for being raped.

 

As to your last point, I technically already covered it but I'll reiterate it. You are guaranteed a selection of items equal to at least a baseline value with EVERY cartel pack. You do not open up a pack to find nothing in the pack at all, you will ALWAYS receive a series of items, of which it is even stated by Bioware that at least 1 of those items will be of at least rare/artifact quality, so again by virtue of that fact it not only is not actual gambling BUT they already have in place measures similar to your "in Las Vegas" example. You along with the OP not only do not understand what gambling actually is, but don't even recognize when certain measures are in place already.

 

All else aside though, and if you'd start thinking using logic instead of your feelings you'd recognize that this all comes down to personal responsibility and that it is ultimately the responsibility of the purchaser and not the vendor if the vendor is operating within the confines of the law.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Hyfy

[Corsiero]

Sounds like OP is gambling on the chance he doesn't get banned for threatening the company with a lawsuit over something trivial and optional.

[Drake_Hound]

Sounds like OP is gambling on the chance he doesn't get banned for threatening the company with a lawsuit over something trivial and optional.

 

 

It just a lol thread , with lol arguments , claiming everybody needs to be protected from harm .

Honestly people decide themself if they want to buy it or not, people decide there own chances .

 

I only bought couple packs from GTN to test lets say ods are less then satisfactory to get something usefull .

So if people want to blow a lot of cartel coins on them , so be it .

They can either afford it or lucky , those who are unlucky and keep trying .

Well can't solve that , those who can't afford it or spent other people money , can't fix that nature either .

Those who suffer real life issue cause of a game .. Shouldn't even be in the games .

Honestly people should just look at themself , nothing more nothing less .

 

Simple you want beter ods , then stop buying ,then the ods will increase in a update .

till those packs are really usefull for the value , but since the small ods are what people love .

What can I say

[CosmicKat]

Manipulating someone into spending good portions of cash on packs on the chance they MIGHT get something good is pretty low handed, sure.

 

Manipulating a company into removing pack sales by threatening lawsuits, attempting to brand is as gambling or connecting it to addiction illnesses is just as underhanded IMO....considering the likely goal, IMO mind you, is to benefit players by allowing the items to be directly purchased.

 

THAT SAID, I do not care for the pack system they have. I therefore do not partake in the packs (though I think I have bought two in the past) and buy what I want on the GTN instead.

 

Would be nice if more items were direct sales...but in the end, if they are pulling in revenue that has positive flow based on the packs I will let them continue.

 

There's many underhanded things about the gambling bags.

 

- The odds are not disclosed.

- The odds are not regulated in any way.

- The odds are set by the house.

- The odds could be true RNG derived, or they could be influenced by any external means. Example: If the "super rare" items have been spawned X times before, does that effect their chances of spawning again?

- The definition of what is rare, common, super rare etc. are set by the house. The rarity may or may not be tied to its actual odds of spawning. Example: A "super rare" item that is heavily in demand my not have the same odds of spawning as a "super rare" item that nobody wants.

 

The only way this can be called anything but gambling is strictly lawyering semantics. Gambling in and of itself isn't inherently wrong or underhanded, but no government in the world would allow any actual gambling completely free of any oversight like employed in the MMO industry.

[Rafaman]

which is why it falls under racketeering

 

LMAO! Now you are trolling me. Next you will tell me that they are money laundering....

Edited October 4, 2013 by Rafaman

[AlexDougherty]

There's many underhanded things about the gambling bags.

 

- The odds are not disclosed.

- The odds are not regulated in any way.

- The odds are set by the house.

- The odds could be true RNG derived, or they could be influenced by any external means. Example: If the "super rare" items have been spawned X times before, does that effect their chances of spawning again?

- The definition of what is rare, common, super rare etc. are set by the house. The rarity may or may not be tied to its actual odds of spawning. Example: A "super rare" item that is heavily in demand my not have the same odds of spawning as a "super rare" item that nobody wants.

 

The only way this can be called anything but gambling is strictly lawyering semantics. Gambling in and of itself isn't inherently wrong or underhanded, but no government in the world would allow any actual gambling completely free of any oversight like employed in the MMO industry.

 

This is all true, but since the OP was threatening to SUE people are obliged to point out why it's NOT LEGALLY GAMBLING. Nobody denies that buying a pack is a gamble, it's supposed to be, in fact EA state that it's a gamble when they say the contents are randomly generated.

 

But it's not counted as gambling since all you are buying is the pack, with the knowledge that the contents are random, everything in the pack is useable in game, sadly this includes Jawagrams, but the degree of usefulness and desirability varies. I have bought dozens of packs with the stipend for subscribing, most contain rubbish, but I have received Calo Nord's Jacket, Recovered Hero's Armour, Primordial blaster, and Balmorran Hand Cannon Aurek, which are all nice. I bought the pack knowing that they might contain nothing I want.

 

As for the Odds, I believe they are genuinely random, obviously rare and super rare items are less likely to be generated, but I believe the odds are at a fixed rate (previous outcomes do not affect it). Obviously EA change the odds periodically, but not as often as some people fear (three or four times a year maybe).

[TheNahash]

LMAO! Now you are trolling me. Next you will tell me that they are money laundering....

 

Bioware is working with the Illuminati!

[AlexDougherty]

That person is only buying the hypercrate because they want a specific item from it.. they are in a sensed "forced" into it by virtue of being he only means of achieving something in the game (probably because it requires no skill).

The very idea of exploiting the gaming community with these tactics should be appalling to most of you, but I kinda understand the problem now.

It must be that EA has desensitized you into believing they are justified in any action they make because it makes financial sense.

 

Um, no, some people buy the hypercrate to see what they can get, not because they are after a specific item, after all if you have eight characters (one for each of the classes) you probably can use just about everything, and if you get something that looks nice, or has nice stats, you will use it. If it's something amazingly rare, then bonus, but not necessarily a factor.

 

It also makes financial sense to wipe out everyone below the current poverty line.. so should that be the next step in this line of reasoning?

 

They need to make it perfectly clear what the odds are to get a "super rare" item so people understand the reality of their chances plain and simple.

 

Not sure that stating what the actual odds are is any clearer than saying Rare or SuperRare, if you can't figure out that Rare items are not going to drop very often, and SuperRare item are even rarer, than you are not going to understand what the odds mean.

 

Also how does it make sense to wipe out everybody below the poverty line, if you think this makes sense you don't understand economics, the poverty line is an imaginary line based on what the average cost of things are, which in turn is based on the average amount of money people have to spend. If you remove the poorest section, the average changes, the prices go up, and a new poverty line is drawn, ie there can never be nobody below it.

 

Even with MTG you know your getting 2 mythics a box..

 

Using the the Star Wars IP as a venue for gambling.. I wonder how Disney would feel about a PR related to that.

Disney already knows, and couldn't care less, as it's already been stated legally this isn't gambling, and Disney has strong business sense, which means unless it's extremely bad PR, much worse than you imagine btw, they won't say anything, after all they are not doing it, are they?