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Addiction Markets

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383 points toomuchtodo | 1 comments | 31 Oct 25 17:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.241s | source
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nekusar ◴[31 Oct 25 19:58 UTC] No.45776057[source]▶
People are also leaving out stuff like Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, and Magic The Gathering.

All of them also introduce rarities (arbitrary exclusiveness), hidden cards in a pack, and extreme gambling gamification.

The only non-gambling MtG packs are the preconstructed commander decks. All 100 cards are published. But the packs and boxes? Pure gambling, especially for the chase rare cards.

And before anyone asks, yes, my username is based after this $2 card. https://edhrec.com/commanders/nekusar-the-mindrazer

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squigz ◴[31 Oct 25 20:06 UTC] No.45776140[source]▶
I think there's a massive difference between card packs - which have been as you describe for decades - and the recent boom in sports betting. Most people don't even know what MTG is, or that there's even a market for those cards. Everyone now knows that you can bet on any sport you want - and if some reports are to be believed, a large percentage of people are participating.

Anyway, this is why I play MTG online - same with 40k, although there's no gambling there. Just too expensive to play either IRL even if I wanted to.

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1. TheCapeGreek ◴[01 Nov 25 08:30 UTC] No.45780087[source]▶
> Anyway, this is why I play MTG online

I think this depends on how you interact with your chosen game. To me, I play Yugioh as a hobby. If I'm "only" into the digital versions of the game, then it's no different to playing just about any other video game.

And even then, these live service TCGs (outside of unofficial simulators) can often have the same lootbox/pack gambling aspects as the real thing.

Personally that's not what I want. A good chunk of why I play paper is because of the physical community, in a space outside my home.