Over the years the creativity in Skyblock Survival has really dwindled. This is not fully players’ faults, as everybody wants to make money and I have nothing against those who make and advertise casinos, because these days they are by far the best method to making quick money.

I don’t really need to list the problems with casinos but I’ll go over a few:

- violates Mojang’s EULA (although many servers violate EULA and this is not a major issue)
- encourages real-life gambling. I have seen some players argue ‘it is just a game, it wouldn’t encourage people to try gambling in real life, you’re not winning real money and so it’s no big deal.’ But this is a very flawed point of view:

‘Loot boxes and other such forms of gambling for prizes, along with video game features used by nearly 40% of children, have clear links to problem gambling, according to a study that has reignited calls for them to be regulated as betting products.’ This is from The Guardian, a news outlet.

Minecraft is not an 18+ game. Skyblock is not an 18+ game. I have seen kids as young as 9 or 10 on this game and it’s extremely worrying they can be exposed to online forms of casinos, even if it is just Minecraft. Ask yourself, if you had a child, would you want them to be exposed to forms of gambling for big prizes in any shape or form? Probably not!

I am not suggesting casinos should be banned (although that would be nice). But they need tougher regulation because honestly it is extremely concerning all these young kids can be influenced into thinking gambling in real life does not have serious consequences like in Minecraft.

So no, I am not going to suggest a huge reform to Skyblock rules and completely banning casinos, but I think it would be a step in the right direction if these 3 rules were implemented:

1 - Every form of casino should be required to state the odds of all prizes and slots.

This is not a huge issue because I know most casinos these days do show their odds, which is an improvement from a year or two ago, where most casinos did not show odds for the bigger prizes. I am not sure if this is a rule already but if it is it is definitely not enforced, but it should be.

2 - Casinos should be limited to one advert every 10 minutes.

Less frequent advertising of gambling is a step in the right direction. Leaving item shops able to be advertised every 5 minutes would promote more shopkeeping, which benefits the entire community.

3 - Sky-Chat (The Skyblock Bot that sends info in the chat) should send a message in the chat section every once in a while telling players to be careful with gambling.

I am not saying it should be like the things on cigarette packets, no, just a light, friendly warning in chat, maybe something along the lines of:

‘Think twice before gambling your resources! Ask yourself, can you really afford to lose what you’re putting at stake?’

Comments and opinions are welcome!

 

I dont think casinos would be as popular if there was a better way to gain wealth.

The average player is older than you think but there are sure all a lot of younger people on the server.

I agree will all 3 of those rules. But I do think we shouldn't allow casino advertisements in chat. /ads sure but not chat.

 

Likewise, in fact exactly what I was discussing with a few others today on the server. Problem is coming up with ideas for different ways to make money.

Regular item shops are almost completely overshadowed these days by casinos, sadly.

It would be interesting to see a staff member’s point of view on this and whether they agree with tougher gambling regulations or defend them as they are now

 

Good ideas. I would go so far as to say to make ALL auto-chat advertisements have 10 min intervals, not just casinos.

 

Eh, I'd like casinos to be advertised less frequent than player shops which promote active participation in the economy and don't just opt for gambling. If player shop ads were upped to 10 mins then casinos should be bumped to 15

 

Yeah that works for me too, honestly I'd rather do away with auto-adverts completely and encourage the chat to be used by non afk players

 

I’m okay with advertising as long as it isn’t spammy but 5 mins is still quite a clutter so 10 mins seems okay to me.

Chat adverts are a great way to get your business known for free and I’m all for that