Hacker News Reader

Comment by YeGoblynQueenne | Hacker News Reader

>> The loot box mechanism is straightforward: you buy a box for a fixed price, and you receive a random reward. Some rewards are commonplace and low value; others are rare and high value. So far, so gambling: these essential features are found in roulette, slot machines, betting on horses, raffles, and lotteries.

Er. And Magic: the Gathering booster packs.

Does that mean I have a gambling problem then? Because I had hoped that despite my M:tG habit [1], I was not really-really a gambler.

____________

[1] And let's not discuss my DnD etc RPG habit. I flip cards and roll dice way too much for someone who sincerely thinks she's not into games of chance.

View on HN

The psych people I've talked to explain it as a rule of thumb "If it's not a problem, it's not a problem".

Say you feel you need to wear a hat made of marshmallow. Is that a problem? Well, is it? For example if you lost your job because of the hat, that's a problem. If you spend so much on marshmallow hats that you can't afford your rent, that's a problem. If you killed somebody's dog because it tried to eat your hat, that's a problem, and so on.

If you spend money on MTG and enjoy it even if it's $5000 per week that could be fine, psychologically at least, if it didn't cause you or others to suffer. But if you find you're ruining your life, or other people's to buy cards, even if it's just $50 of cards per month then that's a gambling problem.

I think that's what people (used to?) call "ego-dystonic" situations (?). I like the zen of the particular wording you give.

I think the idea is that in an ego-dystonic illness _you_ know this is a problem, and in other mental illnesses other people have spotted it's a problem but you can't/ won't.

For example starving yourself to death is definitely a problem, but body-image mental health illness that causes it usually leave the sufferer unable to recognise this consequence of their actions.

Cheers. Should have bothered to look it up :0

> Does that mean I have a gambling problem then? Because I had hoped that despite my M:tG habit [1], I was not really-really a gambler.

Just because someone gambles doesn't automatically mean they have a "gambling problem". But I certainly don't see why M:tG booster packs wouldn't be considered gambling, as well.

> And let's not discuss my DnD etc RPG habit. I flip cards and roll dice way too much for someone who sincerely thinks she's not into games of chance.

But do you have to pay a fixed price each time you roll the dice or flip the card?

For M:tG cards, yes, I think so. I have to pay something to get the cards in the first place, and I guess you could see the cost spread over each use of a card (uses which, btw, are limited in time- there's only a limited number of times I'll get to include a rare card in a deck, draw it and play with it, until I get bored or it rotates out of the most popular formats I'm engaged with).

You're into games of chance. Whether it's a gambling problem I can't say, but yes, you're gambling sometimes. True fact.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com