Skyblock Casinos need tougher regulation

I did post this exact post previously a few days ago but I put it on the ‘Suggestions’ thread - it should have probably been here since it’s quite a discussable topic. So my apologies for those who have read it already!

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 provlem 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!

 

OH MY GOD FINALLY.
Someone pointed it out.

FULL SUPPORT 100%

 

Yeah honestly it’s pretty awful I’ve been thinking about it recently and just realised this server and it’s gambling mechanics that are pretty much encouraged through warps and support from mods just looks like an easy pathway for kids and teens to get lost in their own world thinking they can gamble like they do in Skyblock or any other games and think they’ll get off with nothing but their heads down in sorrow.

People lose their whole livelihoods to gambling and kids need to know the dangers of it. No sort of gambling should be promoted on a kids game.

Honestly don’t think I’ll ever be making a casino again, if I do it would be a no gimmick simple machine with fairer odds than the rest.

Skyblock has really gotten to a point where if you wanna get rich quick you gotta pray some rich Skytitan drops an sc on your casino. Starting to turn stale

 

AGREED! I do not play at a casino if the odds are not specified. I want to actually know if there is or isn't a 1/1 for example before I gamble. I think this should be a rule when making casinos that you display accurate odds.

absolutely. i think shops are a better use of player's grass/money and if shops are promoted more it could help out here.

If the staff are going to support casinos, this should definitely be a thing

 

Good luck with this.
I pointed out a lot of what you have said when /warp casino was introduced and was it was shot down.
Not with any logical or reasonable argument mind you.

It seems that any decision makers simply do not care and this can only be put down to the desire to profit regardless of the clear and proven potential dangers for the kids that play this game.

I'm not just talking about Skyblock, but Mojang and Tebex as well. The other companies that profit from this server.

Take the Lottery for instance, yes, it's a lottery, not a raffle. A raffle has a fixed number of tickets and fixed prizes. Changing the name but not the mechanic does nothing to reduce the potential for habit development.
Mojang clearly identified an issue with the lottery, else they wouldn't have enacted any change. The fact that they are happy with nothing more than a name change shows that they don't really care about the underlying issue.

Regarding vote keys, Tebex, the company that host the webstore, actually prohibits the sale of keys but they too do nothing about it.

There Acceptable Use Policy states,



Clearly the 'Lucky Crate Keys' fall into this category.
It's in their AUP so they know its an issue, but they don't enforce it, why because they make money from it!

And then there is Skyblock of course who claim that they don't condone gambling because they know that they shouldn't

But condone means to accept or allow, which they do so they clearly do condone gambling.

And before anyone says "it's not gambling because it's not real money" understand, while you might be able to fool yourself into believing that, you aren't fooling anyone else.

So while Skyblock, Mojang and Tebex, all know what the right thing to do is, they won't do it because they are making money from it.

What is needed is for the regulators and law makers to go after companies like Mojang and Tebex.

Roblox have found them selves in some trouble as they have pushed this a bit too far, so hopefully that will start the ball rolling.
Roblox facilitates “illegal gambling” for minors, according to new lawsuit | Ars Technica

To be fair to Skyblock though, all Minecraft servers do it and for Skyblock to not do it might put them at a disadvantage.
But the unique platform that Noobcrew created 12 years ago has done pretty well for itself and for the majority of this time, it did it without casinos. Sadly now, I feel that Skyblock is a lot less unique by allowing casinos and gambling in the manner that it has. Skyblock used to be unique and that was advantage enough to keep it going for 12 years!

 

FULL SUPPORT for eco as well. The number of times I've seen younger players melt down in chat because they've wasted all their money gambling. I'm tired of it.

Sent from my moto g82 5G using Tapatalk

 

1. Yes but hard to enforce as some staff have no clue on casinos and odds so some people can lie, also change the signs after inspection or what not so yes it would be nice but you’d need a whole team of active and knowledgeable people checking constantly to keep things on point.

2. Sure why not, won’t change anything realistically but will cut down on chat spam which is always a bonus. /ads is mostly shops with casinos anyway.

3. Sure I think a tip would be nice but should also probably includes tips about being careful when trading and fact checking prices as those are probably more common. At least with gambling you know in the long run you lose.

Personally I’m not on board with the whole “casinos bad” thing as literally every game these days has a form of gambling that you’ll be exposed to, also external factors like Pokémon cards and fifa cards packs all forms of gambling targeted to kids. The constant argument about this is against this rule or that etc is just old. No one cares, including the people who make the game, get used to it.

 

While that may be true none of those are explicitly named ‘Casino’, as in, relating to those big slot machines you see in Vegas. I don’t see the point of relating Pokémon cards to machines on a virtual block game that are literally called ‘Casinos’. Paints a much worse picture in a child’s head than a pokémon ever did

 

So what you are saying is it’s better to hide the gambling under a pretty name like lucky loot crates instead a heavy name like casino which makes you immediately aware it’s gambling.

 

The “everyone else does it” reasoning really doesn’t fly. If I get pulled over for speeding but argue “everyone else does it” do you thing I’m getting a ticket. Of course I am.
The fact that it comes up again and again shows that people clearly do care. And as for the people who make the game, they care as well, but only so much as the keep them under the radar while still profiting from it. Why else would they mention gambling in the EULA?

 

It “keeps coming up again and again” because you keep talking about it, Mrepro wants there to be stricter rules on casinos which is great, I agree, people should be honest and show their odds. But you took this as another opportunity for Drogo to post about EULA and Tebex rules again because it keeps falling on deaf ears. I’m just saying at what point do you realise nothing is going to change so like it or lump it?

 

For kids at such a young age, yes, is it not?

These lucky crates and Pokémon cards are a different issue in themselves and I understand your argument but for kids at such a young age they shouldn’t be even exposed to the word ‘casino’

And I think it’s quite unbalanced comparing Pokémon’s and Fifa cards to these casinos. Lucky crates sure, they are a big issue, but playing cards are not as big an issue as these sorts of gambling are.

I feel like if anyone here had a child (don’t know if you do or not just giving a broad example), they would be okay with their kids having Pokémon cards. But not playing blatant online casinos, whether you're winning real money or not

 

MrEpro mentioned the EULA and the issues gambling’s raise in the original post. So you are quite incorrect.
While you’ve shown an ability to come and sling mud, are you able to argue against anything I’ve said?

 

I cannot speak for everyone, but personally I’d rather a person learns about something in a safe environment where the consequences are mostly limited to in game items, yes I’d prefer that. Learn that gambling is not in your favour in a game where it costs you a grass block. “But it’s not just a grass block you can buy things for real money” - yes but that’s not the majority of the case when people gamble, they do it more often with earned money from trades, sales, event stuff etc. but hey there are no statistics so let’s not even make that point.

Drogo I like you, I really do. And please don’t take this as an attack on your ideals, I’m not here to sling mud I’m here to reason that Mojang themselves have been on the server and found one tiny issue, a name of the lottery and that is all. You keep talking about rules, when the ruling boards themselves have deemed it ok. Stamp of approval, whether you agree with it or not. It’s done. All I’m suggesting now is, if you don’t like it, leave.

 

And what if the kid spends 10 of these grass blocks and walks out with 10,000? Surely they must have a wonderful perception of gambling. Is that okay with you?

Obviously a very small chance of happening but we must take in consideration that the dangers are all over the place

 

I don’t like talking about what “if’s” because they are baseless hypotheticals, but to answer that, like your suggestion mentions if they knew that it was a 1/50000 odds of happening they may have a different view, are they then going to gamble more and ultimately lose and learn a lesson who knows, like I say I don’t play the “what if” game.

 

You have to play the what-if game when regarding a child's safety! Exactly, who knows what would happen. Either they'd go gamble even more thinking they're the hot stuff and eventually lose it all and realise gambling isn't all that great, OR they'll stop and go play more serious forms of gambling.

The 'what-if' scenario is not a game when regarding child safety. That is like letting a child cross the road themselves, because you don't play the 'what if they get hit by a car walking themselves' game.

 

What you say here is correct, but so is everything I’ve said. Essentially they all put words in their guidelines to portray the idea that they are doing the right thing, but their actions don’t.

I've not said so much about what I think should happen or what I want to happen, I've pretty much just stated a few facts. But you've knocked me for my "opinions" which I've hardly voiced here, and barely said a word in response to what I actually did say.

Mojang found more than ‘one tiny issue’ as you claim. They had the server run casinos removed as well. So it’s clear they don’t view them as acceptable. Why did they stop there? I don’t know. Perhaps because Mojang can only enforce their rules on the server owner and not the people that play on the server. So they’ve done what they HAVE to to protect themselves but not what they CAN do to protect the young kids who play here.

 

We didn’t stop driving because “what if a child gets run over” parents taught their children the dangers! Why is the responsibility of this thrown at a minecraft server deemed fine by Mojang? Parents should be teaching them the dangers, not a minecraft server. I’m physically agreeing with your suggestion about odds and chat restrictions, because I dont personally agree with your point about EULA ruling and removing the word “casino”, this all continues.

perhaps that is because what you said had no relevance to the three suggestions being made and adding nothing but your own opinion about rules, skyblock sign in casino warp, keys crate rules for some reason? And your correct opinion about how the people in charge of these companies do not care.

 

What I said was entirely relevant to MrEPro's comments preceding and giving arguments for the suggestions.
Just so it's clear. This is not a suggestion thread, so comments are not limited to only the suggestions. I'm on topic here.
Sorry, Leo, a number of things that you have said are just clearly wrong.