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+--- Thread: How are randomized card packs still legal? (/showthread.php?tid=6902)
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 25th September 2015
Seriously, this has been going on since baseball trading cards.
http://kotaku.com/i-bought-five-packs-of-animal-crossing-amiibo-cards-and-1733079601
Nintendo is once again selling scannable cards with DLC in it, in randomized packs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_e-Reader (Never forget!)
When did we decide, as a culture, that selling people packages of completely random product was acceptable? Seriously, I can think of no good reason for this practice to exist, except to artificially drive up the prices of this stuff. Imagine if Amiibo were sold in big question mark blocks, and you'd see basically where I'm coming from here.
How am I supposed to get that all important Kappa card this way?!
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 25th September 2015
I have a shoebox down cellar full of the baseball cards I bought as a kid (from the late '80s to early '90s); that was my only foray into buying randomized-stuff packs, and I never did like it all that much. Sure, there's that sense of 'what will I get', but more often than not, what you get isn't worth it. And so I have stayed away from all such things since. I hope to keep things that way, it's an annoying way to buy things.
As for how they are legal... I guess that is a fair question, isn't it? I mean, it's basically like legal gambling... it does seem like there could potentially be a legal issue there, but somehow it's entirely fine. Maybe it's that you don't win money straight-out, only rarer stuff?
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 25th September 2015
I'm thinking more along the lines of charging kids for a product without identifying what the product is. Somehow that seems wrong.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 28th September 2015
Hmm... yeah, fair point, that is questionable. But it's been going on for decades, so I guess the law says it's okay...
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 29th September 2015
Ah yes, the legal writ of TRADITION!
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Weltall - 30th September 2015
The new fantasy football sites like FanDuel and Draft Kings have ads which basically say "Just join today, draft your team, and you'll be wiping your ass with stacks of crisp C-notes on Monday". Presumably, this has happened to somebody at some point, so you're allowed to make that implication over and over without even bothering to clarify that you are statistically better off wiping your ass with the cash you already have.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 30th September 2015
Sometimes things are cracked down on, though -- those Publisher's Clearinghouse "You win" or 'you have already won' letters (that were actually invitations to buy stuff, get on their list, enter a sweepstakes you wouldn't end up winning, etc.) were declared too misleading, so they had to change them or stop it. I have heard some of those Draft Kings ads, and yeah, you're right, are they getting a bit too close to that line?
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 1st October 2015
So, fantasy football is a game where you can win actual money? When did they start doing that?
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Weltall - 1st October 2015
Fantasy football for money has been a thing at least as long as I've been aware of fantasy football, but DraftKings, et. al., are doing this new daily draft system and they are advertising the everloving dookie out of it. It's on Hulu and Netflix and Spotify and TV and about 300 times per televised game, and the message of these ads is basically "Sign up to win huge loads of money right now".
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 1st October 2015
So, how does this fantasy football thing work exactly? Is it like a board game, a card game, what?
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Weltall - 1st October 2015
You join a league with other people, and your group does a 'draft', where they select NFL players, which forms your 'roster'. On Sundays, you pick which of your players you want to start, and you get points based on how good the player footballs that day. Some people do it for money, some do it just for fun.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 2nd October 2015
Wait, so you don't actually play the game yourself? It's luck of the draw? Here I was thinking sportists were actually nerding it up with fantastical matchups like... um... (what is a futbol name...) Bo Jackson vs.... Santa Christ.... or something.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 2nd October 2015
The game is trying to choose the players who will perform the best -- rankings in fantasy sports are based on the stats the real players got in real-world games. I played fantasy baseball for a few years in the '00s, though not for money. It's fun, if you like the sport in question.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - Dark Jaguar - 2nd October 2015
So you'd put Bo Jackson and Zinedine Zidane on a team and see how they do in the tournament of strength?
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 3rd October 2015
What? I imagine you're joking, but to explain better, you choose players from a sport in the initial draft -- each sport's fantasy leagues are entirely separate. Each of the people in the league takes turns, basically. Then after each game in the real sport, the fantasy sports league will update with that players' stats from each game added. You win or lose a week, or season, or what have you based on how each of your players did, stats-wise (from their real game stats), compared to the players that the other people in the league have in those same positions. In baseball this means a heavy emphasis on hitting over defense, because more of the stats are about hitting than fielding, so finding people who qualify for, say, catcher or shortstop who are good hitters helps.
How are randomized card packs still legal? - A Black Falcon - 5th October 2015
On the subject of DraftKings and FanDuel... http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/13818825/draftkings-employee-big-win-raises-questions-transparency-integrity-daily-fantasy-industry
Hmm.,.. no proof behind these allegations yet, but if true that's not good. I hope daily fantasy sports gets more scrutiny... fantasy sports are fun, but as the article points out, when it's for money how is it not just gambling?