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hairtuss

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    SL Developer (3D/texture artist)

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  1. Where I live (Scandinavia) there has been a new discussion about casinos and online casinos, and whether they are something we want in our society. Just because something is legal, it doesn't mean it's right. It's up to the people to have the conversation, and to pressure those who write laws to have said laws reflect our reality and everyday life. And the reality of it is that no one except for the individual/company using these abusive, manipulative and exploitative practices, wins anything. As a consumer you don't only have your money to lose, but also your health. The entire business model is anti-consumer, harmful and shouldn't be tolerated by anyone tbh.
  2. As a consumer, wouldn't you rather just buy the item you want, for a price that is fair for you and the developer, without running the risk of developing a dopamine deficiency (and all the horrible side effects) or enabling the developer to prey on those who are sensitive to developing addictions/addictive behaviors? Just curious.
  3. Okay so. let's clear some things up then. What is gambling? "Gambling (also known as betting) is the wagering something of value ("the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the intent of winning something of value. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize." And what is a gacha/lootbox? "A consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomized selection of further virtual items, or loot, ranging from simple customization options for a player's avatar or character, to game-changing equipment such as weapons and armor. A loot box is typically a form of monetization, with players either buying the boxes directly or receiving the boxes during play and later buying "keys" with which to redeem them." In Second Life, we pay Linden Dollars to receive these randomized items. Linden dollars have a real life monetary value, thus every gacha has a value. So, to quote the text above where the definition of gambling in a legal sense is: "Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize." They're all present in gachas. Consideration (the amount we pay to play), risk (the chance of us winning what we want), and the prize (often a trash item with little to no resale value, that still cost real money). Gacha is gambling.
  4. How you two are failing to realize these two things is beyond me. 1) Gambling is harmful. 2) SL developers do not need to sell gachas in order to make a profit. Let's take another example of something that's also exploiting the reward system for profit, in a very malicious way. Drugs. One can argue that it's every person's choice to their own body and what they put in it, and thus everything should be legal. We have a lot of research that shows how harmful it is to use certain substances. There is also research showing that they can be helpful for some individuals. The consensus in most countries is that the highly addictive substances that alter behavior/cognition are too harmful for the users, but also the people that come into contact with them. The people selling drugs count on the users to get addicted and come back for more, and they will go out of their way to try and get these people hooked. It's very manipulative and often misleading without a full disclaimer of what the consequences can actually be. That's why it's illegal. If you ask any drug kingpin they will probably tell you "well, they had a choice", which is true, but some people only need one hit to go down a slippery slope that changes their entire life. Do we really need these substances so badly that we are willing to risk the harm it will do to people.. for no reason? You can replace anywhere I mentioned "drugs" or "substances" with "gambling" and "gacha" if it would make it any clearer for you. It's the same issue. Companies are out to make a profit, yes. I'm a SL developer myself, I have my brand, I make money. You can make a profit without consciously hurting/exploiting people, that's the entire point.
  5. As internet users, we're already heavily exposed to systems and practices that exploit our reward system. That doesn't mean the internet is bad, it means people do bad things with/on it. People playing Second Life are choosing to engage in it and getting dopamine in return, yes. There's plenty of people with an internet/technology/social media/you-name-it addiction who are already facing a dopamine deficiency, or have experienced it. Do we need to make this worse by allowing predatory practices such as gambling? No. And like someone else said, think about all the young people who also use SL. Some start in their teens or early twenties, when the brain is still developing. We're putting these people at risk as well.
  6. I honestly don't think there's anything else that needs to be said after this. Incoming long post, sorry in advance and thank you if you read it. Gacha, games of chance, whatever you might want to call it, is gambling. These activities are designed to take advantage of the brain's reward system, releasing dopamine every time we partake in the triggering activity. If it's a slot machine it's pulling the lever, when it's gacha it's paying to play. Dopamine is the key player in our brain's reward system. The reason we have it is because it is needed to evolve and survive as a species. It's nature's version of "the carrot on a stick" that it is dangling in front of us to condition us to do the things we need to do in order to survive. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the survival of the individual/the self and our offspring, but also to network and connect with other humans, and learn new things to do these three things (survive, multiply and connect) more efficiently. Every time we do something that will help us survive or procreate, like eating food, having sex or meeting people we enjoy, we get rewarded with dopamine. It also happens when we engage in activities where we might meet someone, learn something or simply feel positive things such as pleasure or happiness, as these feelings increase the chance of us staying healthy and surviving. Just like when you're training your puppy; it does something the way you want it to - you give them a treat. We are constantly conditioning ourselves to learn certain behaviors and to seek out new things that will improve our situation/our chance of survival. Dopamine is the reward. So now think about all this, and then turn your attention back to gambling. Gambling usually comes in a happy, cheerful package that tricks us into believing it a fun, playful activity. Casinos tend to be grand, flashy and colorful, they sell you the idea of a fun time when you might just end up winning something big. This all triggers our reward system; the chance of winning assets that will improve our life or increase the probability of our own/our offspring's survival, a feeling of excitement and the happiness when you win something (and the promise that this might be the reward if you play). All you have to do in turn is pay. There's a saying that "the house always wins", and as we can see in @xAmbiguityx's post, this is most definitely the truth. The individual playing the gacha could have bought the fatpack twice with the amount they spent on single plays. "Why would they do this instead of simply buying the fatpack?", you might ask. Because there is a chance they might win. Countless studies show that human beings are most likely to take the route which they perceive to be the easiest, in order to get what they want. Paying L$3000 up front doesn't feel like the easy route when each play is L$50-100 and there's a chance of you getting lucky and getting what you want on the first play, and thus saving money. That's very rarely the case though, we all know that. We all know that, so why are we even having this discussion? We should not allow any game/device that use these predatory practices to be allowed on Second Life, or anywhere else for that matter. These "games" are harmful to our brains. They tap into our reward system, simulate an important activity in order to trick the brain into releasing dopamine when it's not needed, all in order to condition us to adopt a behavior where the casino/gacha seller makes a profit. That is abuse. Furthermore, these "games" can trigger a dopamine deficit state, where your body doesn't have enough dopamine for the things it's intended for. Why should we care about this? Well, for starters, dopamine doesn't only interact with the reward system. It's a neurotransmitter which means it relays information between the body and the brain. Vital brain functions that affect mood, sleep, memory, learning, concentration, and motor control are influenced by the levels of dopamine in our bodies. It controls our movements and emotions, thus it's important to maintain a healthy level of dopamine in your body at all times. A dopamine deficiency is very serious. It can cause muscle cramps, stiffness, spasms, tremors, aches and pains. It can also cause a loss of balance, fatigue, low libido and low energy. Furthermore, it can cause insomnia, and a general inability to focus. If you don't think any of that is bad enough, it can also directly cause demotivation, mood swings and feelings of inexplicable sadness, hopelessness, low self-esteem and guilt. Still not convinced? How about the fact that it can directly cause anxiety, thoughts of self-harm and at its worst, suicide. Rather than trying to find a legal or "safe" way to put ourselves or others at risk for developing a dopamine deficiency, we should collectively push back against it. This is wrong, harmful and shouldn't be accepted in a civilized society. Do the right thing.
  7. I mean.. I'm black, but we probably don't have much in common as I'm not American. I struggle with seeing Afro-Americans as Africans. They're nothing like the Africans I've met and grew up with (somalis, congolese, eritrean, south african, gambian etc etc), so calling Americans Africans is so backwards to me. Y'all are Americans, regardless of color.
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