81–90 of 221 posts
Sounds like video games. (Disclosure: I'm developing a multiplayer game, precisely because I feel the underlying similarities to resort casinos in multiplayer games insult my intelligence.)
There's a really good book about the design of the slot machines, called Addiction by Design. It talks about the different UI and design elements that go into keeping the gambler engaged and why they keep spending more money. It's a really amazing and enlightening book to read if you're interested in learning more about the mechanics of the slot machines and the designs of the casino. https://www.amazon.com/Addiction…
I absolutely don't understand the draw of slot machines. I watched a woman playing a smartphone version on the subway; for three stops, she just kept hitting the "spin" button and watching the results. I admit to not knowing how they work, but do they typically have any more interaction than "pull lever, sporadically receive reward"?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would tax authorities be happy to capture the tax on a few percent of illicit earnings rather than be able to take down a big RICO evader?
As it was explained to me it was a relatively simple way to recapture some additional tax funds. Also this wasn't the US, Denmark do prosecute criminals, but we don't have anything like RICO.
They have been abused. They need to be amended.
We picture they are being used to go after Mob types.
They use them whenever they can.
How do I know? I almost got into trouble giving my parents a bit over $10,000 cash years ago.
A bank teller turned me into the IRS. Bank employees can be awarded money for turning in any amount of money "they feel" might be suspect. It doesn't even have to be over $10,000. Yes--a bank teller. Anyone in that bank.
Got a call from the IRS. They mentioned I could get my parents in trouble. They stated this is a "curtesy call", but it scared the chit out of me.
They mentioned the RICO statues--in a joking way. I went to the library to look up RICO statutes. Yea, this is hilarious?
I sold a car--I restored, and gave my mom money she could use.
Never in a million years, did I think she could get in legal trouble. I still remember paying a useless lawyer $500 at 5 a.m. to basically say, "give me a ten thousand dollar retainer." I said, "but what have I don't illegailly?" He paused. "Well nothing?" I walked out of his office, thinking this is a weird system. I still get his lousy Christmas cards.
Yes--this stuff happens all the time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good thing toothpaste isn't addictive... hope the Crest folk aren't reading this. Very good point, though. I was lucky, I had several positive experiences in a short time period and could rationalize my decision to desist. I have failed repeatedly to mirror that experience with my other addictions, cigs and sex. * * More so than just getting a lot, I was missing work, foregoing important events and losing sleep to en…
This does make me wonder why there's not an AM and PM toothpaste sub category. AM toothpaste with caffeine and PM with some type of mild sedative. They could double sales
Players become so absorbed in the machines that they leave young children unattended, wet themselves without noticing, and neglect to eat for hours. Sounds like video games. (Disclosure: I'm developing a multiplayer game, precisely because I feel the underlying similarities to resort casinos in multiplayer games insult my intelligence.)
Some of my happiest games spending has been for 'unjustifiably' short games, where no one ever makes me grind to the point of frustration, and I can just see some great content. The winners in my Steam library range from KSP to And then there's WoW. Which apparently passed 6 million man-hours played sometime back in 2011...
Still, the government funding its expenditures via regressive and actively harmful methods always rubbed me the wrong way.
I've worked at 3 gaming manufacturers including implementing the payout table. Near misses were never coded into the design. If they did occur, they were consequences of the way the reels were physically laid out. That choice was made from an excel sheet that outlines how many types of each award were expected. The primary statistics the mathematicians cared about were volatility (std deviation) and hold percentage.…
This is a nice idea, but it's not a workable system for money. For one, because money is fungible, you can't actually track who has it. If someone steals $1 million from an employer, and also drains all his personal assets (total $1 million), gambling a total of $2m at five different casinos over the course of several months, who do you claw the money back from? Who got the stolen money? How could any casino reasonable have figured anything out here, since he could easily have proved he had $1m in assets prior to the gambling?
A really great short documentary on this subject is Louis Theroux's "Gambling in Las Vegas". His frank manner really cuts to the core of not only the length to which addicts will justify gambling but also to the lengths to which the casino employees justify their enabling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRYUZbxwyA
Reminds of the strategies freemium devs employ where they do their best to snare "whales" who are players who will causally drop thousands of dollars on various in-game powerups and skins. There was a report a few months ago claiming these players are responsible for 70% of an app's revenue! I imagine its similar for casinos, so they have no real incentive to actually stop addiction as addicts are their revenue gener…
But this absolutely explains a lot of these things. For a while, I wondered why freemium games don't offer an "unlock all" option for $2, or $10, or $100? Turns out, it's because even $100 would be a massive loss compared to what the 'top' players sink into Candy Crush.
For that matter, the heaviest-drinking 10% of adults consume more alcohol than the other 90% combined.
This whole question has affected my feelings on addiction and vice industries. Its one thing to have an industry that has harmful side effects, or drives some people to failures of willpower. It's another to have an industry that depends on addiction or compulsive use, and it turns out that's almost always the case.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
funny thing about addiction. I agree that in the beginning it's a choice. But i think every event biases the choice a little bit. So, if it's go to the movies or go gambling, the first time around it's a 50/50 split. then next time around it's a 40/60 split, the next time around 20/80 split. Clearly the rate of bias modification curves vary from person to person. That, in and of itself isn't bad, nothing wrong with a…
Good thing toothpaste isn't addictive... hope the Crest folk aren't reading this. Very good point, though. I was lucky, I had several positive experiences in a short time period and could rationalize my decision to desist. I have failed repeatedly to mirror that experience with my other addictions, cigs and sex. * * More so than just getting a lot, I was missing work, foregoing important events and losing sleep to en…
http://doctor.ndtv.com/faq/ndtv/fid/51302/How_can_my_addicti...
A really great short documentary on this subject is Louis Theroux's "Gambling in Las Vegas". His frank manner really cuts to the core of not only the length to which addicts will justify gambling but also to the lengths to which the casino employees justify their enabling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRYUZbxwyA