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The casino in your pocket

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Re: The casino in your pocket

#241

Post by Eji1700 »

canjobear wrote: post #31
Eji1700 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegas really is very well regulated. There are some extremely ugly sides to gambling, but if you're going to have it, vegas is a pretty good starting point for how to try and keep things under control. There's no casino in town that will "look the other way" for a few 20 year olds who want to gamble, because doing it once could lose that operation it's gaming license. There's no casino that's going to on purpose risk…

I gambled in Vegas at age 20.

Large difference between "i wasn't caught" and "they knew and still let me"

Re: The casino in your pocket

#242

Post by a13o »

artursapek wrote: post #154
a13o wrote: post #152

Having worked in the f2p games industry for a decade, nothing is as you perceive. Your entire reward stream is scheduled down to the coin, in spreadsheets written by people like me. I know how much you have today and how much you will have tomorrow. Any reward presentation, assume there is a loot table behind it. You see 4 cards on the screen, but there may as well be 1 big slot lever; cuz no matter where you tap you…

Do you ever regret working on this kind of software?

No, I think F2P is just another way to fund game development. There's no indication that it will cannibalize premium games. So everyone can play games the way they want to play them.

Mobile gaming created an entirely new sector and doubled the total revenue of the games industry. It did it by finding people who weren't playing games, and giving them games to play. I think a lot of the panic around microtransactions is a response to the demographics shifting away from a small group of self-identifying gamers, and investors paying proportionate attention to the demographic trends.

The two markets of course influence each other, but I view that as a net good which drives innovation in both spaces. Nobody is forced to spend money on video games, so if you don't like a game's business model you don't have to spend any money on it. If others agree, it will flop; and the next generation of games will take history into account.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#243

Post by russh »

m463 wrote: post #231
a13o wrote: post #152

Having worked in the f2p games industry for a decade, nothing is as you perceive. Your entire reward stream is scheduled down to the coin, in spreadsheets written by people like me. I know how much you have today and how much you will have tomorrow. Any reward presentation, assume there is a loot table behind it. You see 4 cards on the screen, but there may as well be 1 big slot lever; cuz no matter where you tap you…

This is the kind of thing people should understand about "modern entertainment". My moment of realization was when I found out the truth of those "claw machines" that pick up a fuzzy stuffed animal. Turns out the claw itself is rigged so that it rarely grasps tightly.

Reading the owner/technical manual for a claw machine can be a real eye-opening experience.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#244

Post by fomine3 »

kyteland wrote: post #122
vintermann wrote: post #85

> In a casino, any rational adult expects this. Whoa, no way we don't. I do expect that while the game has a house edge in a casino, if something seems random (roll of dice, draw of cards) then it's random in the way it seems, e.g. that there's a 1 in 6 chance of rolling a 6. I'm pretty sure that's regulated in most places. That online casinos and casino-like games rampantly cheat is another matter, I do expect that…

It is regulated. If it looks like a die in a game of chance then it is a fair die. If it looks like a deck of cards, it is a fair deck of cards. This is written into the gambling laws of each regulated gaming jurisdiction. And like most regulations, these rules exist precisely because someone tried exactly this scheme at some point. And the regulators saw it and said "Oh hell no" and made a rule. As the saying goes,…

For online casino, I'm not sure a random Caribbean island has good gambling laws or not.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#245

Post by a13o »

algo_trader wrote: post #240
a13o wrote: post #152

Having worked in the f2p games industry for a decade, nothing is as you perceive. Your entire reward stream is scheduled down to the coin, in spreadsheets written by people like me. I know how much you have today and how much you will have tomorrow. Any reward presentation, assume there is a loot table behind it. You see 4 cards on the screen, but there may as well be 1 big slot lever; cuz no matter where you tap you…

Thank u for your blog. Very thoughtful with helpful references. Any books u recommend on gamifications?

I don't know of any books on gamification specifically, but would be interested if others do. The Deconstructor of Fun blog is a consistent resource on microtransactions. [0]

For an introduction to game design in the general sense, there is Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design. [1] I think it's better to approach gamification as something that emerges from a holistic appreciation of game design; rather than gamification as a goal in-and-of-itself. But that's the long way. I don't know any shorter.

[0] https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/blog

[1] https://schellgames.com/art-of-game-design/

Re: The casino in your pocket

#246

Post by taberiand »

sneak wrote: post #237
a13o wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I encourage regulation. I don't think it will have an existential impact on the industry, however.

https://youtu.be/F9cO3-MLHOM Regulation is always crafted to benefit incumbents and widen their existing moat.

The problem here is it's a lose-lose situation for the consumer. Either the incumbents push regulation that benefits them at the expense of new business and consumers, or regulations are removed and businesses (new and incumbent alike) get free reign to apply any consumer hostile money making scheme their hearts desire.

Maybe there's a third option?

Re: The casino in your pocket

#247

Post by sneak »

taberiand wrote: post #246
sneak wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://youtu.be/F9cO3-MLHOM Regulation is always crafted to benefit incumbents and widen their existing moat.

The problem here is it's a lose-lose situation for the consumer. Either the incumbents push regulation that benefits them at the expense of new business and consumers, or regulations are removed and businesses (new and incumbent alike) get free reign to apply any consumer hostile money making scheme their hearts desire. Maybe there's a third option?

The latter isn't the dystopia you seem to think it is.

We have plenty of existing rules that are fine for enforcing access to markets.

There are tons of people who want to make great products and tons of people who want to buy them and tons of people who want to make them discoverable.

The issue is that large lawbreaking organizations are actively inhibiting that.

Consumers are good at avoiding consumer hostile vendors when they are actually given choices and opportunities to do so.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#248

Post by eru »

andy800 wrote: post #214
eru wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds about as exciting as being an actuary. Or probably less so. I'd rather be a mathematician making boardgames or cardgames, because they are allowed to have strategy. Casino games are by and large really dumb.

What value are you adding here by shitting on another poster's job? Just because it isn't something that interests you personally, is it necessary to announce that?

See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37664414 for a more considerate and nicer expression of a similar sentiment.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#249

Post by musicale »

a13o wrote: post #242
artursapek wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you ever regret working on this kind of software?

No, I think F2P is just another way to fund game development. There's no indication that it will cannibalize premium games. So everyone can play games the way they want to play them. Mobile gaming created an entirely new sector and doubled the total revenue of the games industry. It did it by finding people who weren't playing games, and giving them games to play. I think a lot of the panic around microtransactions i…

> doubled the total revenue of the games industry. It did it by finding people who weren't playing games, and giving them games to play

Found a way to skirt regulation and get more people hooked on slot machine type games who previously couldn't be reached due to access or legal issues.

paypal (originally): we're not a bank (we only offer payment services)

uber: we're not a taxi service (we only offer ride booking; and our employees are independent contractors)

airbnb: we're not a hotel service (we only offer short-term rentals)

f2p: we're not gambling (we only hook whales on slot machine-like games)

Re: The casino in your pocket

#250

Post by musicale »

redka wrote: post #141

Couple years back I joined a paid accelerator program to write a mobile game under the wings of some company. My eyes were opened after having a fun time creating my game when the time came to publishing and tweaking. My mentors from the company explained to me the _requirements_ for it to succeed. Basically every change from that point was about manipulation. In order for the game to be high on the charts it needs t…

> Creating another exploitation machine takes all the fun out of gamedev

This is simultaneously completely unsurprising and also discouraging. ;-(

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