
How slot machines are designed to be addictive - YeGoblynQueenne
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2017/sep/28/hooked-how-pokies-are-designed-to-be-addictive
======
YeGoblynQueenne
To make matters worse, after all this effort to hook players in with a promise
of a win just around the corner, it seems that casinos often don't pay up when
players win big. Instead, they blame jackpots on malfunctions.

Three cases of this from Ars:

[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/10/1-4-million-
jack...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/10/1-4-million-jackpot-is-
voided-because-bingo-machine-malfunctioned/)

[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/06/sorry-maam-
you-d...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/06/sorry-maam-you-didnt-
win-43m-there-was-a-slot-machine-malfunction/)

[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/sorry-grandma-
th...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/sorry-grandma-
that-42-million-slot-machine-jackpot-was-a-computer-glitch/)

The incomprehensible thing is that courts have stood behind the casinos in
such cases.

~~~
Retric
This is reasonable when machines list a maximum reward of say 10,000$ and then
it says has someone win 2000x that. After all, the players did not make the
bet thinking such a payout was possible.

IMO, it is a sign the machines are not setup to follow the states rules. But,
people are suing for the amount listed not trying to shut the casino down.

~~~
wycy
If malfunction voids all pays and plays, and if the casino can legally not pay
what the machine says it should, then it should also be on the casino to track
down every single person who's ever put money into that machine and give them
a full refund. If a machine has the kind of coding glitch that could cause
this sort of payout, who's to say it hasn't been stealing from players all
along?

~~~
gotrecruit
i agree in principle with your argument, but i imagine the only way to
properly track historical players of that machine is if they kept some sort of
ledger or database on every single user of the machine, which probably means
they'd need to store your personal information somewhere indefinitely. not
sure too many gamblers would be cool with that.

~~~
eric_h
It's called a rewards card, and almost every frequent slot machine player uses
them because they get perks.

------
joezydeco
The original patent on virtual reels was granted in 1984 and is known in the
industry as the "Telnaes patent"

[https://patents.google.com/patent/US4448419A](https://patents.google.com/patent/US4448419A)

The original design of virtual reels was more about decreasing the jackpot
odds, since a high-payout combination was no longer bound to the physical
stops on the reels. Machines that offered higher jackpots were more appealing,
and also gave birth to things like progressive jackpots and progressive
networked games.

It also made IGT (the owner of the patent) a giant in the industry. Many
workarounds were tried and typically failed in the lawsuits that followed. The
most successful deviation was the "bonus game" where a particular symbol set
would trigger a small video game or some other activity that had its own
paytable independent of the main slot paytable.

The psychological design of near misses didn't show up until probably a decade
afterward, but since '419 is now expired it's become the new secret sauce of
slotmakers.

~~~
AgentME
Using a random number generator to pick the spot a wheel stops spinning is
enough for a patent?

~~~
sirclueless
That's the title, but the main innovation was using a random number generator
to choose from among more positions than symbols that the physical wheel
possesses, thus allowing different odds for different symbols. The interesting
bit comes from claim 8 and 9:

> a random number generator for selecting one number from a plurality of
> numbers each representing one of said different angular rotational
> positions, said plurality of numbers exceeding the number of rotational
> positions of said reel such that a plurality of numbers represents some of
> the reel positions; and

...

> assigning a different quantity of numbers to each position to obtain the win
> odds desired.

~~~
joezydeco
You have to remember this was invented in 1982. Using RNGs, stepper motors,
and mapped tables was certainly enough for a patent in that era.

~~~
paulsutter
I used to program in 1982 and these things were completely obvious at that
time. However, you can patent almost anything, both then and today. Patents
are more of a process than a science.

~~~
joezydeco
You could have made a fortune selling this to a slot manufacturer in 1982. So
why didn't you?

~~~
paulsutter
Business is about understanding customers, not code. I was a 16 year old kid
in West Virginia.

------
smallstepforman
Disclaimer: I design the machines and games for a living.

1) regarding near miss, with basic math knowledge you can easily calculate the
odds of near miss. Eg. with 2 special symbols per 30 symbol reel, for a 3x5
reel game, you have a 1:5 chance of seeing the special symbol per reel, or
once per spin for a 5 reel game. The odds of a 4 symbol near miss is (1:5)^4,
which is 1:625, or once every 30 minutes. With a bank of 30 machines, someone
will have near miss fanfare every minute. If a bigger win is (1:5)^5, that is
1:3125 spins, or every 150 minutes per machine. That same 30 EGM bank will be
paying out a large win every 5 minutes, ie. just short enough for every player
on the bank to realise that the machines are “hot”. Its not planned, it just
works out that way.

2) when it comes to addiction, if the stats the media are stating is correct,
every 6th employee in the industry would also be addicted (using the
definition of addiction used from chemical substance abuse). Since there is no
measurable difference in addiction levels for employees (who spend 40hrs per
week interacting with slots) and players who spend less time, the addiction
argument looses its basis.

3) games adjusting payouts based on the outcome of previous games are illegal.
The industry is heavily regulated (independant compliance agencies), and no
operator wants to lose their license doing illegal things.

4) people have a natural tendency to arrange items, from socks and underwear
in drawers, to payout symbols on the screen. There is a natural _high_ people
get when they complete a sorting job. I’ve worked with 3 big slot companies,
and none of them had paid psychologists on call - there is no need.

5) its a voluntery activity. There are lots of people who enjoy the activity,
the excitement, the thrill, etc and they’re responsible enough to only wager
less than the cost of a theatre ticket. Sometimes they finish the night with
more money than they brought in. Its a regulated activity for adults.

~~~
albertgoeswoof
> Its not planned, it just works out that way

Oh come on, this is some doublethink if ever I saw it.

> Every 6th employee in the industry would also be addicted

No- the employees would be out of a job if the addicts werent in there, they
see both sides of the coin, winners and losers, and have a completely
different perspective on gambling. If anything I’d expect employees to be more
immune to addiction than anything else.

Your arguments 4 & 5 can be applied directly to hard drugs without
modification.

I don’t think gambling or what you do is immoral, but if your line of thinking
is how you justify your job you should think again as it sounds like it
doesn’t match up with your own morals.

~~~
jstanley
> Your arguments 4 & 5 can be applied directly to hard drugs without
> modification.

That doesn't make them bad arguments. His arguments 4&5 are perfectly fine
arguments, even when applied to hard drugs.

------
kopos
Sadly, the article does disservice to a lot of actual mechanics of the
industry. And the amount of hard work that goes on to actually makes these
games addictive. It is not for no reason that these are called one-armed
bandits.

* This industry is highly regulated; but it rarely does help those really in need. If the regulations were very strictly implemented (player wager limits, player time controls, self-regulation), none of the gambling / gaming companies would make any money. For eg: the wager limit are compulsory to be implemented on a daily / weekly / monthly basis; however these numbers are so high, that it rarely makes sense but for the most serious addicts

* Most of the victims are from the already high-risk demographics, as is with tobacco, alcohol, payday loans and drug abuse, the low income, unstable jobs, low literacy, blue collar jobs or are already on social support. The offers by data-analysis is always to target them. I think most of the time - these addicts are just there to get that one chance to make a big win (which almost never happens).

* Near miss is a very old tactic. The interplay of sounds, music, imagery has been very well polished to really give a feel of high end experience (vs plain gameplay). Gamble rounds (double or nothing) at the end of a game are targeted at those twitchy fingers.

* Slot machines work at payouts of 94% - 97% (ie when wagering 1000$ the player will only get 94 - 97$) on a long timeline. So yes, the house edge is quite small. What is problematic is not the money lost but the fact that addiction over a long time, is definitely at the cost of a small fortune.

* I am pretty sure no one has any idea why some slots work and some don't. When they do work, they earn the makers millions though.

However, whenever such numbers come up, I am always sure that these tactics
are no different from any industry that is fighting for coveting the attention
of the user. I am pretty sure Facebook (or Zynga) has a bigger data science
time and data analysis team that these casino companies have to identify the
psyches of players and customize the experience to the users / players.

* Disclosure: I have worked in the technical design & implementation of these games.

~~~
hollander
With a mechanical slot machine I can understand the reel thing. But with
electronic screens, software making up reels, how do I know that the software
does not fool me even more?

Take the given example with first slot 1/16, second 1/32 and third 1/44 chance
of winning big. Now assume the generated numbers are really random, and that
day or week the machine has given two big prices. Then a third big number
combination is created, and here a new rule takes over, changing one of the
numbers so the price is smaller.

Is this regulated or how does this work?

~~~
socialist_coder
One of the regulations is that each reel is independent. You cannot change any
reel outcome based on what the other reels are doing, and you cannot change
any reel outcome based on past results.

I'm not 100% sure this is the case but I'm pretty confident.

~~~
kopos
Not necessarily. The math for video slots can be changed to handle that
functionality, but it has to be fair and RNG driven. And of course has to be
audited.

------
Hasz
I recently read an excellent book about this subject exactly --

Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, by Natasha Dow Schüll.

It has research from every angle -- former addicts, the casinos, current
addicts, game programmers, game manufacturers, anyone who has a hand in the
industry.

It's incredibly comprehensive, and definitely worth a look, if a bit long.

~~~
imroot
It pains me to say this, but, back when "Gamification" was a major growth
tool, I read this book so that I could identify potential avenues for "gamify-
ing" the product that I was working on, but, the stories of the addicts are
really what drove me away from even considering that for what I was working
on.

I'll +1 on it being a really comprehensive book.

~~~
kaffeemitsahne
The book "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products" is exactly that. Minus
the cautionary tales, I guess (haven't read it).

------
byron_fast
It may be this stuff is true for current slot machines, but it isn't
immediately obvious if you try one. In fact, current slot machines are an
incoherent mess.

When I played recently, I couldn't tell whether I had a near-miss or even a
win until credits counted upward. I couldn't feel any excitement because I
didn't know what was going on. It would have taken me several hundred dollars
worth of play to even understand what was happening. Maybe this is part of the
plan, or maybe their product gets used no matter how bad it is - as long as
those rewards pay out randomly.

~~~
phil248
I'be had the same experience, though you will start to get the hang of more
complicated machines after a couple dozen spins.

I wonder if that complexity adds to the allure. "Now that I understand this
complicated machine, I better not let that that hard earned knowledge go to
waste"

~~~
quickthrower2
There is definitely a machismo about being able to master the UK pub slot
machines with all the features and tests of "skill".

~~~
darrenf
When I used to throw tons of money at the things, what amazed and impressed my
friends wasn't that I would regularly win money - I wouldn't, and I was always
up front about how much I was pissing away - but just that I _understood_ what
the hell was going on. It felt like neither mastery nor machismo.

~~~
thinkingemote
What did it feel like? Honest fatalism, a happy cynicism?

I'm thinking your experience may not be unique, perhaps most gambling addicts
are fully aware what they are doing? Maybe it's a common thing with all
addicts, or perhaps gambling as it's less, well, chemical allows the brain to
see things clearer.

~~~
darrenf
It changed over the years.

From, like, 92-00 I was sinking way more money than I could properly afford
into them, and often hated the experience. Losing felt absolutely horrible,
but winning felt fantastic. Most of my friends would gamble too, but I took it
that much further. I'd put enough money for the drinks I wanted in one pocket,
and the other pocket was my gambling funds. It was very fatalistic, I knew
that I was virtually guaranteed to go home drunk, skint, and angry with
myself. Often I'd swear blind en route that if I emptied my pockets today,
then that was it, this shit had to stop - and of course, those would be the
days when I'd take out a jackpot or two, buy a big round of celebratory
drinks, etc. But I got into pretty significant debt over the whole time,
taking out credit cards and maxing each one out (on cash withdrawals!!) within
a couple of months.

From 00-03 I paid off my debts, was still gambling a lot but could afford it.
I don't recall much negative emotion, it was mostly just "this is what I do
when I'm in the pub". I'd win some, lose some, it didn't really matter. I
liked "knowing" that "hey, it's turned red, that means it's about to pay". If
I wasn't playing, I'd watch those who were and enjoy spotting where they were
turning down obvious money, not collecting the "good" features, etc, and hope
I could jump on after they're done and take their cash. This was the peak of
the period I referred to in the previous post, when colleagues would ask how
on earth I knew what was going on, and could I help them spend their £1-3 as a
bit of fun.

My gf at the time wasn't such a fan and, in fact, bet me that I couldn't go a
year without playing - which was a stroke of genius. Obviously I took the bet,
and won. For the last few weeks leading up to the anniversary I was kinda
salivating at the idea of spending a couple of hours posting money into a
fruity again, and when I did ... meh. Nothing. I lost, I didn't care, and the
hold was basically broken.

Since then, it certainly helps that, at least in London, fruit machines have
all but disappeared from most pubs, and as jackpots have gone up the fun has
gone out of them anyway because they seem to pay out respectable wins much
more seldom. I'll still throw £20 or £40 in one if I'm in a pub on me lonesome
and waiting for a train, say, and I enjoy playing online but it doesn't
consume me and, in fact, I tend to make a profit most months - I find it very
easy to limit both my downside _and_ the upside. Back in the day, quite often
a win would just mean I could play longer, whereas these days I'm like "cool,
I'm £50 up, I'll take that and get on with something else".

~~~
quickthrower2
Fruity - that's the word! I've been out of the UK long enough to forget. The
Australian pubs have entire "VIP Lounge" dedicated to the "Pokies" and brings
in a lot of money for them. But the challenge of those machines isn't there -
there is something very addictive about the UK fruit machines. A mix of the
gambling addiction plus general game-playing addiction trying to upskill and
win better. I new many 16 year olds pumping serious coin into them, getting
better but still losing. I also heard of people who could make money from them
(although $/hour wasn't too hot), although not sure whether to believe that.

~~~
darrenf
Australian pokies hold basically no allure for me. I've been visiting Sydney
on a yearly basis for 10+ years, and only on my first trip did I really spend
any time gambling. It wasn't much fun even though I won: unfamiliarity, plus
the style of games were so different. Though what really put me off the most
was the racism from the RSL employee who came to verify my payout!

------
lsmarigo
Video game industry is pushing these tactics to new heights with loot box
gamification, even better the target consumers are young, mentally
underdeveloped children who are much easier to addict to gambling. China/Japan
have regulated these practices for years already (with minimal effectiveness
because money wins and publishers have found loopholes), but at least they're
trying. Over here we just let companies go to town on our youth, mental health
and stability be damned.

They are printing money at the expense of hooking children into gambling. This
is no different than tobacco companies targeting children with advertisement
which was rightfully outlawed. - Corporations encouraging and nourishing
gambling addiction in underage consumers (with the help of trained
psychologists) for profit is despicable. Don'tunderstand why more people
aren't upset about this.

~~~
crankylinuxuser
My guess is lot of us adults don't really see much of it, cause it's not
targeted at us.

I see the regular "come to hopping awesome great casino" ads on
tv/radio/internet. My thoughts - thats where people go to lose money.

But these loot boxes, I had to research what this was referring to.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loot_box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loot_box)

And after reading how they're used, yeah, thats like years ago when I played
and bought Magic The Gathering. Sure, a pack was $2.95, but it was a complete
gamble on what rare you got. You didn't buy packs for commons and lands - you
bought them for a chance at the chase rare (now ubers).

Maybe its just my age. But I think lowly of "buying" some digital construct in
a game that I don't own is completely ridiculous. I get spending time and
running up levels, but spending actual hard cash (past a per month cost) is
just.. bad.

~~~
lsmarigo
you're absolutely right you can trace the roots of this back to Magic and if
you want to go further back Baseball cards. It was fairly innocent back then,
with the advent of gaming technology and research into dopamine-releasing
mechanics/skinner boxes it's reached insidious levels.

~~~
crankylinuxuser
Tell me about it :/

I remember the older days of MTG, around revised and 4th ed. There were ante
cards - it was set up so games could be gambling between players. They finally
removed all the ante cards (like ante another card, and gain life back to 20
and a full hand of cards). But in the end, there were good and bad cards - but
the game was fun.

MTG started doing the "YuGiOh" scam, of foil cards. Then uber-rares. And then
also using the chase-rares to loot-boxify the game.

But now, I've seen a few games that try to incentivize purchasing coin to play
more. There was some car game I remember that did that - if you were to buy
every upgrade it would be over $12,000 . Hill Climb Racing 2, I think its name
was.

And here I was, thinking that a $50 game was expensive. Yeouch. I feel bad for
people who got suckered into that scam.

------
awjr
I was lucky. I remember being 18 years old and putting the money for my bus
ticket home into a slot machine because "it had to pay out this time". I lost
and had a 5 mile walk home. I have avoided the machines ever since. Meeting a
programmer of these devices some years ago and him explaining a lot of what
they did re-enforced my view to stay away from them.

------
gboudrias
I'm taking a learning psych course this semester, honestly you barely need to
design them at all. Any random positive outcome will cause (on average) a non-
interrupted repetition of the preceding behavior.

Most mobile games nowadays are "designed" (read: made crappier) with such a
feature. Just try and find a "free to play" game where the outcome isn't
random... It's just not as profitable.

~~~
joezydeco
But truly random systems will be volatile. In terms of slot machine design,
that means long dry periods of no wins (big or small) at all.

If you talk to slot designers, the word "volatile" is used about every 30
seconds. The virtual reel and near-miss concepts are designed to give the
appearance of a less volatile machine, which converts into a player staying on
the machine longer.

TLDR: fake near misses hide the actual randomness of the reward system.

------
creaghpatr
Addiction by Design is a book that takes a really comprehensive look at slot
machine design it’s pretty wild how much thought is put into it and this is
before ML became practical, I’m sure casino company’s are leveraging it now.

~~~
mschuster91
I remember reading an article years ago where a video-poker machine
manufacturer "trained" the machine using real playing behavior of famous poker
stars...

For German machines I can say they're not a target market for ML or other
"experimental" stuff given the ultra strict regulations here. More or less
illegal online casinos however are the new Wild West of the gambling industry.

~~~
Buttes
There have to be verifiably fair ethereum gambling contracts right?

~~~
a_t48
Apparently, yes. I wonder how legal it is, it's probably got pretty good
margins.

------
a_c
I wonder what makes HN so addictive. I have no facebook, no twitter no reddit.
And no youtube during work. But damn, I can't miss all those goodies on HN!

~~~
Synaesthesia
The same effect, novelty which presents at random is highly addictive,
creating compulsive behaviour of constant checking. (Guilty over here too)

~~~
deathhand
I think being an information junkie is more of the reason of HN addiction.

~~~
kerbalspacepro
If you're a human being in the normal (+- 3 standard deviations) bands of
brain functionality, you're an information junkie, but people have different
information diets/highs.

------
kschmit90
The content of this article is fantastic and frightening.

However, viewing this page on mobile, you can’t help but appreciate the
interactivity that feels as though it’s been designed with the mobile reader
in mind. It’s marvelous.

~~~
Jasper_
I am sitting here on an upgraded Nexus 9 tablet with the latest Google Chrome.
This thing came out less than 3 years ago and yet I literally cannot read this
article. I wait ten seconds not touching the page for it to finish loading as
fonts, banners, sounds all pop in and try to settle around me. Barely touching
the screen to scroll it down causes a button to start sliding around the page,
overlapping on top of a bunch of text telling me I can stop pushing the button
any time. The roulette wheel animation in the background spins at 2fps while
the motor in my fan spins at 7200rpm. Trying to touch the button causes the
whole page to refresh. The page regresses to "Loading" on white while a banner
ad and a pop-up self-congratulating the site for using cookies comes up.
Another ten seconds to wait for my now baking sheet to cool down and I try
sliding past the button while the music stutters, failing to play. The tab
reloads again.

The only words I was able to read were the banner ad, the bit that tells me I
can stop pushing the button, and "Loading". I think this is an apt metaphor
for the modern web.

~~~
brokenmachine
Your Nexus 9 tablet has a fan that spins at 7200rpm?

~~~
DonHopkins
It's probably one of those bluetooth fans.

[http://list.qoo10.sg/item/XIAOMI-XIAOMI-XIAOMI-
INTELLIGENT-F...](http://list.qoo10.sg/item/XIAOMI-XIAOMI-XIAOMI-INTELLIGENT-
FAN-HOT-SALE-WIRELESS-FAN-BLUETOOTH/490945866)

------
kazagistar
Game developers are similarly employing psychologists to maximize
addictiveness of gambling in games targeted and children and teens in the form
of "loot boxes", and due to lack of regulation, they are allowed to use even
more scummy techniques that the gambling industry had long been prohibited
from using, in order to more effectively squeeze money out of players.

------
dbatten
These "articles" with embedded scroll-hijacking garbage have got to stop.

I really wanted to read about slot machines but I'm not suffering through
that.

Does this need to be a new hn flag? This is the second of these today.

~~~
nickevershed
This isn't scrolljacking. Scrolljacking generally refers to modifying the
normal or expected scrolling behaviour. This has a single sticky section
floated over the top of a normally scrolling page.

------
stubish
The article only briefly mentions other games. While Hacker News readers may
not be that familiar with slot machines, a higher portion will certainly be
familiar with 'grind' in various computer games, which is essentially the same
thing using many similar tricks, and a mechanism to extend play time; most
noticeable on MMOs when they get hundreds or thousands of play time out of a
customer, when the equivalent budget single player game would get 20.

------
partycoder
Many gambling games exploit a cognitive bias known as the gambler's fallacy
(e.g: the fallacy that playing more will increase your odds of winning).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy)

~~~
jnordwick
With modern slot machines, isn't this actually true though? I thought one of
the benefits of computerized slots was to be able to control the pay outs
better.

~~~
solipsism
No, it's not true. Every draw is independent, so past performance has zero
bearing on future performance.

~~~
brokenmachine
Each roll has fuck-all chance of winning then.

------
tudorw
If you're a parent, you can play this strategy on your children, instead of a
simple star reward chart, where good task = reward, reward spuriously and
without cue, when you reward them, tell them you know they are always trying
hard to do the right thing and are proud of how often they make a good choice,
maybe point out something they could have done better if it's recent enough to
be recalled... With a star chart children are adept at learning the minimum
requirements for reward, and the point of the reward, for good behaviour, is
lost in the game...

------
reubeniv
It misses a few things, noting the time taken to reach zero portion you'll
notice the large spike at the beginning, the machines are intentionally
generous at the start to hook the player.

That said, the odds are actually fixed and the payout % are required to be
displayed on the machines by (UK) law.

Normal pay to play arcade videogames that are't as regulated, and have no age
limits also have the same difficulty spike mechanics I'm almost sure, f2p
games with micro-transactions definitely have this mechanic.

------
zelos
How soul-destroying a job must it be to develop these games? Spending all day
designing software to trick more vulnerable people into giving you their
money?

~~~
point78
You just described probably 80% of video games and software...

~~~
zelos
Certainly addictiveness is an issue for all gaming - I'm pretty sure Blizzard
hired psychologists, and look at the increasing use of loot box mechanics,
even in full-price console games.

That said, there's a kind of distilled evil in the slot machine case. There's
no gameplay to hide behind, it's just insert money, win/don't win.

------
turc1656
It just occurred to me the same randomized reward mechanism mentioned in the
article is the same one that occurs (for me, anyway) on the HN main page.
Clicking refresh and not knowing what new awesome thing will be there.

------
sigi45
A general thought about gambling:

If you lose, you give someone else your money. If you win, you take money from
someone else.

Doesn't feel fair or nice or cool or whatever. It feels strange to give or
take money from someone else.

Alone the fact, that my winning is not just winning but taking money from
others makes it broken. I do not want to have an advantage over others per
pure chance.

------
chiefalchemist
The Atlantic did a great piece on gambling/gaming earlier this year.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the link. Sorry. Perhaps someone else can
do better than me.

------
nottorp
Unreadable. Too bad, the title seemed interesting. Also, sound?

~~~
folli
I think this article is worth to activate JavaScript.

~~~
nottorp
I never turn off javascript. It's still unreadable. Are you using a phone?
Some posters were saying it made sense there.

------
35bge57dtjku
The one guy's glasses look animated.

~~~
caitriona
Yes! What is going on with those glasses. They look like they're drawn on.

------
2474
Are we sure it's the design that hooks people in? I tend to believe that's the
nature of gambling. The exploitation of human's desire to want more than they
have.

------
frik
Video games in the Free2Play niche inherited a lot of slot machine and casino
gamification mechanics. Now even proper video games of the triple-A full prize
segment $70 come with "loot boxes", helix points, DLCs, trading cards, always-
online that unnerves the greater audience but a few (rich) noobs (so called
"whales") get sucked/addicted in and pay tausends of dollars for virtual goods
additionally to the full prize game. Former sound gameplay mechanic got
changed and dumped down to incorporate the gamification mechanics into proper
full prize games, where formerly skill played a major role, it's now "invested
time" to play ("grind") or to pay real money for shortcuts, to reduce the time
to collect the virtual currency. Games like Forza 7, Assassin's Creed Origin,
Diablo 3, NBA 2k17, and many more from big publishers feature such addictive
gambling slot machine mechanics.

Loot boxes have reached a new low with Forza 7’s “pay to earn” option:
[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/loot-boxes-have-
reach...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/loot-boxes-have-reached-a-
new-low-with-forza-7s-pay-to-earn-option/)

Loot boxes in video games will soon get a review flag from OpenCritic:
[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/10/loot-boxes-in-
video-g...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/10/loot-boxes-in-video-games-
will-soon-get-a-review-flag-from-opencritic/)

China will force games with loot boxes to publicly expose their drop rates and
probabilities: [https://www.vg247.com/2016/12/08/china-will-force-games-
with...](https://www.vg247.com/2016/12/08/china-will-force-games-with-loot-
boxes-to-publicly-expose-their-drop-rates-and-probabilities/)

UK Government Responds to Loot Boxes as Gambling Petition:
[http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2017/10/19/uk-government-responds-
to...](http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2017/10/19/uk-government-responds-to-loot-
boxes-as-gambling-petition)

~~~
lsmarigo
Video game industry is pushing these tactics to new heights with loot box
gamification, even better the target consumers are young, mentally
underdeveloped children who are much easier to addict to gambling. It's beyond
evil and should be regulated immediately, China/Japan have had regulations
about this for years already. America leading the way in letting businesses
exploit underage consumers, encouraging addictions to gambling for profit.

------
Buttes
In 10 years: How Facebook is designed to be addictive

~~~
scrame
What do you think "stickiness" or "user engagement" are measuring. Same
metrics that ran Farmville, and the same metrics putting lootboxes in games
now.

~~~
Buttes
Preaching to the choir

~~~
taneq
(In the hope that a correction is actually helpful) it's 'preaching to the
choir'.

~~~
tir
No, it's definitely 1/20th of a ream of paper.

------
aaron695
Personally I think this is less intelligent design and more evolutionary.

It's an important distinction because scenario one is a stack of evil old men
cackling away, scenario two is just people doing their jobs.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

has a corollary I think "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately
explained by evolution"

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pottan
They are abusing kids to get their money printed

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keerthivar
wonderful idea and very natural

------
elvirs
ive been to casinos many times, played slot machines many times. dont find
them fun or addictive at all. those machines dont make even a smallest
suggestion that i would ever win any serious amount playing them. people
addicted to slot machines are basically stupid

~~~
gh02t
Not stupid, _irrational_. Even people who know better get addicted to gambling
because it seems to hook in to some sort of primal instinct for some.

