I think LL has lost it. They introduce: .......... How to gamble.

[Sid]

Helios Casino & Lounge | Second Life Destinations

Love slots and Blackjack? Helios Casino & Lounge is Second Life's premier social casino where you get free chips to play daily! Whether you want to play a hand of Blackjack, spin the reels of a slot machine, or just hang out and chat with your friends, this social virtual casino has it all...

secondlife.com

..

You can't win a thing, so technically maybe not gambling, but it sure caters that industry by luring people in.
And the amounts you have to pay if you want more coins.............

 

[Sid]

I checked the date twice, but it really can't be an April's fool joke.

My newest thoughts on it:
Are they trying to showcase something for the gambling industry?
Are they trying to get the gambling industry to bring their gambling licences into SL?
Are they trying to showcase Tilia to the gambling industry?

 

[Khamon]

So you buy tokens with lindens, possibly win more tokens, but can't sell those tokens back to the system for lindens.

Am I stating that correctly?

 

[Sid]

Yup that is what's happening.
Just strange. Very strange this. There must be a catch or a follow up soon.

 

[Free]

Isn't just playing Second Life a bit of a gamble?

 

[Noodles]

Can you trade the tokens for like, a plastic spider ring? Or a temporary tattoo that says "Surfs up!" with a picture of a cartoon turtle on it?

 

[Khamon]

The catch will be winners selling tokens for fewer lindens than LL is charging. Then someone will figure out a way to forge tokens. Then LL will break a critical scripting feature to keep those tokens from operating. This is the history of The Grid All Hail the Central Grid. Bow to the Rosedalez

 

[WolfEyes]

Isn't just playing Second Life a bit of a gamble?

Dammit Free. Now I can't say I don't gamble!

I did a little one-armed banditry something like 40 years ago at a couple of the rez casinos and quickly realized it wasn't for me because I was already poor.

 

[WolfEyes]

The catch will be winners selling tokens for fewer lindens than LL is charging. Then someone will figure out a way to forge tokens. Then LL will break a critical scripting feature to keep those tokens from operating. This is the history of The Grid All Hail the Central Grid. Bow to the Rosedalez

All hail P!

 

[Sid]

The catch will be winners selling tokens for fewer lindens than LL is charging. Then someone will figure out a way to forge tokens. Then LL will break a critical scripting feature to keep those tokens from operating. This is the history of The Grid All Hail the Central Grid. Bow to the Rosedalez

One can't sell or trade the tokens.
There is totally no way to win with this casino.
And still, there are people playing.
I guess the most with the daily free tokens, but that ATM must be there for a reason.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

* waving * Well, hello dere! This same topic is quite fun on another place. Glad to find it here, too!!

Looking forward to following this one, and see if any of the theories I came up with were here also.

 

[Khamon]

One can't sell or trade the tokens.
There is totally no way to win with this casino.
And still, there are people playing.
I guess the most with the daily free tokens, but that ATM must be there for a reason.

OIC it’s a simple old-fashioned sink to remove lindens from the economy. The entertainment hook is there to entice people to sacrifice their lindens for the greater good rather than sell them for cash and leave them in play. Sinks have always been necessary.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

OIC it’s a simple old-fashioned sink to remove lindens from the economy. The entertainment hook is there to entice people to sacrifice their lindens for the greater good rather than sell them for cash and leave them in play. Sinks have always been necessary.

Yeah if the tokens can't be traded or sold or even exchanged back for Lindens then these games are basically just arcade machines, as far as the money side of it goes.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Well, when I visited that place I thought first that LL might be copying the Japanese legal system and its loopholes on gambling. When playing stuff like Pachinko in Japan you just get tokens, which is worthless. There is no money paid, and you can only exchange it for stuff stuff up to 10000 Yen, which is around 100 US$.

But: you are allowed to exchange it for gold worth 10000 Yen. And as many times as you want to. Furthermore normally in the vincinity of such gambling parlors are exchange booths, which will buy your winning tokens for money.

I thought LL might come up with something like this, but it doesn't seem so. So this is really just a very dumb money sink, if people are really willing to pay for tokens here.

 

[Sid]

If there are people really willing to pay just to play, without chances to win something other than new tokens, the marketplace will be flooded with systems that are far superior and more creative than the ones the Lindens use at the moment. These kinds of casinos will be flooding the market and the money will not flow in LL pockets.
And if they forbid others to build such casinos, the will be gigantic.

I'm almost certain LL has a few other cards up its sleeve, they must have other ideas with it, than just a money sink that will not stand long in the SL market that is known for undercutting each other.

 

[Khamon]

I'm almost certain LL has a few other cards up its sleeve, they must have other ideas with it, than just a money sink that will not stand long in the SL market that is known for undercutting each other.

Do you mean to say that they have a plan? You’ll have to give me a minute. It takes me longer to get up from rolling on the floor now that I’m old.

 

[Sid]

Well, developing that casino sim has cost a pretty chunk of money. I doubt they shelled out the shekels just to have something on their hands in the slow hours at the office. LL has been clueless a few times in the past, but they are not brainless IMHO.

If they just need another money sink, they could sell a weekly new and signed Linden bear on the marketplace for 1000 L$ each or something similar. That is way cheaper for them.

 

[Khamon]

You make a good point Sid. We’ll see how it progresses. We need virtual pinball games in SL. I would put some linden quarters in those. This makes me wonder if gachas are largely secretly elaborate Linden-owned sinks. What *are* you talking about Khamon!? Hear me out or nm it’s only a thought although hmm

 

[Essence Lumin]

You make a good point Sid. We’ll see how it progresses. We need virtual pinball games in SL.

There used to be some place with pinball machines where your av was the ball bouncing around.

 

[Sid]

You make a good point Sid. We’ll see how it progresses. We need virtual pinball games in SL. I would put some linden quarters in those. This makes me wonder if gachas are largely secretly elaborate Linden-owned sinks. What *are* you talking about Khamon!? Hear me out or nm it’s only a thought although hmm

Linden Lab can game the system big time, that is for sure. It is pretty simple to come up with theories.
But to get further than the insinuation stage..... so far impossible.
So there is no reason whatsoever to seriously believe that they actually do so.

They managed to keep SL afloat for 20 years now. They must be doing some things right.