5 ms·

So the reason Magic is different is because you are actually gambling for things with monetary value? That doesn't sound right. I'd think it'd be less like gam

So the reason Magic is different is because you are actually gambling for things with monetary value? That doesn't sound right. I'd think it'd be less like gambling if the rewards had no monetary value, like random candies or skins in a video game. Then even the hope of getting your money back isn't there. You know all you're getting is just candy or toys.

JauntyHatAngle 7y ago
No, it has a monetary value, But you can't resell it. People spend thousands on skins, with some of the items only accessible by repeatedly rolling the dice on a loot box. (Others have price ceilings for direct purchases). The closed nature of the economy just means you can only purchase from the one person who is setting the price and you have no ability to trade it back in for cash. Magic cards you can resell your cards to another player at a later date. You can't in Apex Legends.
- seventhtiger 7y ago
  It has value sure but it's not monetary if you can't convert it to money. These things have no monetary value. So you should know going in you will never make your money back. You will only get better or worse game items. That's farther than gambling than the trading card model.
  - JauntyHatAngle 7y ago
    > So you should know going in you will never make your money back. You don't require this to be sucked into destructive tendencies in the same way as gambling. This isn't a logical choice, it's kids getting manipulated by the game into purchasing these lootboxes. I erred in my use of monetary value, I mean that kids are very willing to spend lots and lots of money to get these skins - just as much as magic, if not more. As I originally commented, I don't think magic is a good thing either, and Hearthstone is basically the equivalent of it in video game form - but at least you can sell out of Magic at a later date, and there is some form of market for trading old cards with others. Hell, you can even just be given your deck by a friend - this is not possible in hearthstone or fifa or Apex Legends (for cosmetics), you can't with games like Hearthstone and Apex Legends, you never get your money back, and people are just as willing to drop lots of cash on it as Magic.
daemin 7y ago
The reason Magic is different is for 2 major reasons: 1) You can sell your cards and get money from them (could be less, could be more) and they have some tangible value to other people. 2) You don't have to acquire magic cards through booster packs (aka loot boxes) only. If you want a particular card then you can go to the store and buy it. This was the major concern from the parent in the top comment of this post, that you couldn't just buy the skin directly but had to gamble for it. Additionally if you just want to play with your friends and experiment there's no reason you can't just use proxy cards or fakes and have fun playing a deck. Though that's not for tournaments or anything serious.
- SkyBelow 7y ago
  >1) You can sell your cards and get money from them (could be less, could be more) and they have some tangible value to other people. Shouldn't this make it a bigger problem, not a smaller one? >2) You don't have to acquire magic cards through booster packs (aka loot boxes) only. If you want a particular card then you can go to the store and buy it. This was the major concern from the parent in the top comment of this post, that you couldn't just buy the skin directly but had to gamble for it. I wonder if the skins were priced per their rarity values, would people still be okay with it. Some mtg cards costs $1,000s. I wonder what people would say if some game added loot boxes containing rare items that were worth similar that players could then trade for money. My guess is people would respond far more negative to this.
  - daemin 7y ago
    To be able to have point #2 you have to have point #1. Someone has to take the risk to open the booster packs and get those cards out onto the market. Sometimes business oriented people do that, other times a group of friends buy a booster box to play with at the time. At least in these circumstances the people opening the packs know what could happen. I think if you could buy all of the items that were included in these loot boxes then it wouldn't be as bad. You want skin X, just go ahead and buy it. However there would still be a problem as people might pay way too much trying to get that expensive item in a loot box than just paying for it.

JauntyHatAngle 7y ago

No, it has a monetary value, But you can't resell it. People spend thousands on skins, with some of the items only accessible by repeatedly rolling the dice on a loot box. (Others have price ceilings for direct purchases). The closed nature of the economy just means you can only purchase from the one person who is setting the price and you have no ability to trade it back in for cash. Magic cards you can resell your cards to another player at a later date. You can't in Apex Legends.

seventhtiger 7y ago
It has value sure but it's not monetary if you can't convert it to money. These things have no monetary value. So you should know going in you will never make your money back. You will only get better or worse game items. That's farther than gambling than the trading card model.
- JauntyHatAngle 7y ago
  > So you should know going in you will never make your money back. You don't require this to be sucked into destructive tendencies in the same way as gambling. This isn't a logical choice, it's kids getting manipulated by the game into purchasing these lootboxes. I erred in my use of monetary value, I mean that kids are very willing to spend lots and lots of money to get these skins - just as much as magic, if not more. As I originally commented, I don't think magic is a good thing either, and Hearthstone is basically the equivalent of it in video game form - but at least you can sell out of Magic at a later date, and there is some form of market for trading old cards with others. Hell, you can even just be given your deck by a friend - this is not possible in hearthstone or fifa or Apex Legends (for cosmetics), you can't with games like Hearthstone and Apex Legends, you never get your money back, and people are just as willing to drop lots of cash on it as Magic.

daemin 7y ago

The reason Magic is different is for 2 major reasons: 1) You can sell your cards and get money from them (could be less, could be more) and they have some tangible value to other people. 2) You don't have to acquire magic cards through booster packs (aka loot boxes) only. If you want a particular card then you can go to the store and buy it. This was the major concern from the parent in the top comment of this post, that you couldn't just buy the skin directly but had to gamble for it. Additionally if you just want to play with your friends and experiment there's no reason you can't just use proxy cards or fakes and have fun playing a deck. Though that's not for tournaments or anything serious.

SkyBelow 7y ago
>1) You can sell your cards and get money from them (could be less, could be more) and they have some tangible value to other people. Shouldn't this make it a bigger problem, not a smaller one? >2) You don't have to acquire magic cards through booster packs (aka loot boxes) only. If you want a particular card then you can go to the store and buy it. This was the major concern from the parent in the top comment of this post, that you couldn't just buy the skin directly but had to gamble for it. I wonder if the skins were priced per their rarity values, would people still be okay with it. Some mtg cards costs $1,000s. I wonder what people would say if some game added loot boxes containing rare items that were worth similar that players could then trade for money. My guess is people would respond far more negative to this.
- daemin 7y ago
  To be able to have point #2 you have to have point #1. Someone has to take the risk to open the booster packs and get those cards out onto the market. Sometimes business oriented people do that, other times a group of friends buy a booster box to play with at the time. At least in these circumstances the people opening the packs know what could happen. I think if you could buy all of the items that were included in these loot boxes then it wouldn't be as bad. You want skin X, just go ahead and buy it. However there would still be a problem as people might pay way too much trying to get that expensive item in a loot box than just paying for it.