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From: Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Just Another Necessary Reminder That Valve Promotes Underage Gambling
Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2025 13:20:31 -0500
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JAB <noway@nochance.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn
spammer to utter  "The Augury is good, the signs say:

>On 30/12/2024 23:15, Zaghadka wrote:
>> Did you see the part where the guy bought a Steam Deck without ever
>> leaving Steam? It may be a loophole that games are not physical purchased
>> goods (technically you are purchasing a license), but that Deck may be a
>> real problem for Valve if they continue to let it be bought in that way.
>> It's real. It can be sold for real money. No need to regulate anyone. A
>> 12 yo can sell a Deck.
>> 
>> That kid just cashed out. Virtual currency for real product, giving the
>> virutal currency value, which means you're spinning an RNG for some kind
>> of random compensation. Since letting people cash out is what apparently
>> defines gambling, I think Gabe may have f-ed up with his shell game.
>
>It seems a bit of a grey area as even now you can cash out (that's been 
>a sticking point for quite a few countries who've looked at this) by 
>just selling your entire account.

What gets me is that the whole lootbox thing is nothing new, but people
are treating it as though it is because it's digital.

Exactly what is the difference between an online lootbox and a pack of
random MtG cards?

Or the Hockey cards I briefly collected in the 70s, or the baseball
cards traded as far back as the 1930s or earlier?

The occasional rare card, but mostly dross you already had, but if you
got that rare you could sell it for a nice chunk of change.

And KIDS have always bought those card packs, ALWAYS!

So lets not pretend this is anything new or that Valve is particularly
heinous for doing something that's been going on for well over a
century.


From Wikipedia on baseball cards
"During the mid-19th century in the United States, baseball and
photography gained popularity. As a result, baseball clubs began to pose
for group and individual pictures, much like members of other clubs and
associations posed. Some of these photographs were printed onto small
cards similar to modern wallet photos. The oldest known surviving card
shows the Brooklyn Atlantics from around 1860"

That card sold for $179,250.

Xocyll