It all started a few years ago. It was me and my friends who gambled with csgo skins because it was the only way to play as a minor.
Once I turned 18 (last year), it became possible to open real betting accounts, on sites such as ComeOn.
I created accounts on each website to get the juicy bonus, but there was not much of a bonus when I blew everything.
My SEK 20,000 that I got to use for my driver's license, I played up and said that I burned them on the trip to Rhodes as I did not dare to tell my mother what really happened to the money. (She often talks about how bad it is with gambling, and I am well aware of everything, I wrote my own thesis about it in school.)
I also took out a loan last year, which fortunately was only SEK 10,000, which I am paying off.
In December 2019, I chose to block all my accounts through spelpaus.se, but within the coming months, I started playing on international sites with bitcoin as a deposit method.
I have outed my gambling addiction three times.
Once in my school assignment, where I had hoped that my teacher would understand my addiction and try to help me.
A second time on Reddit, where I asked for tips on how I could recover from my gambling addiction.
And the last time for my group of friends through discord, the day after I had made my post on Reddit. Got support from them, but only that day.
And now we come to the part where I took the leap of faith!
Yesterday, Monday 9 / 11-20, we had a lecture in the military where they addressed addictions to drugs, alcohol, and gambling. After the lecture, I took a leap of faith and went to the lecturer, and just when I was about to tell him about my gambling addiction, it stopped. The person saw that it was something heavy for me, and booked an appointment the next day.
We have now had the meeting in the morning, where we booked me in with a psychologist on Friday and we will arrange a plan for me how we will do in the coming months.
TLTR; For the first time in my life, I took the chance and got a time booked with a therapist to fight my gambling addiction!
I am so extremely proud of myself who actually took this big step !!

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.
Your top 10 posts:

• "Professional Athlete in Australia" by u/aczero3
• "After over two years sober today I (27M) finished paying off my gambling debts." by u/Always_Getting_There
• "Whatever you do, stop gambling." by u/Feydark20
• "I’m a complete fucking idiot and just hit a new all time low" by u/TheTrurthHurts
• "My CSGO gambling addiction story. (Lost +50 000 dollars in a span of 5 years, got kicked out of my home and more)" by u/AddictionRuinedMe
• "You cannot win because you cannot stop" by u/armageddon_20xx
• "Gambling is for lazy and dumb people" by u/jahcrypto
• "$250,000 lost, lost my girlfriend, lost my family and lost my career." by u/HasanKasparian
• "Right now even taking a shower, eating or sleeping is a struggle, thinking about death"
• "Hey guys wanted to give a positive update!" by u/makeitcount09122018

I have been a CS player for quite some years now. I love the game and was extremely excited when my son wanted to play it.
I keep some funds on my account, and I’m fine with him spending it on games or even on skins, as long as he uses it responsibility and I see no harm done. He has a weekly allowance on it.
However, I realized that he is quite addicted to opening cases on CSGO, looking through my purchase history, I realized he spent almost all of his allowance just opening cases.
I feel like it is not only a waste of money, but could lead to him getting addicted to gambling at a young age that could develop further in life.
I have spoken to him about this issue, but I am wary and thus wanted to take some cautionary steps.
Are my worries logical? Does case opening have the same effect on gambling? And most important, is there a way to restrict my account from purchasing CS keys?
This is my first time on Reddit, and my English is not very good either. So please excuse my mistakes
Ok guys I read your comments and your criticism. Thank you for your insight and I apologize for not responding to most comments. I will definitely take this advice. Thank you 8-)

Edit - Continued in comments due to character limit. Can still Ctrl-C Ctrl-V the first part, although not as long.
Alright, maybe I’ll do some standup. But also like sometimes I think about increasing my words per minute. Like how long it would take to increase it over time. For example like since June or January of sometimes a couple years ago, maybe 1 year ago, no 2018 so 2 years. But that’s odd I seem to remember it as Grade 9, which is only 1 grade behind what grade im in now, maybe it’s just because I’m at the end of the year that I remember it differently? No, but I think it was 1 year because it was June of 2018, but I guess that would make it 2 years, and not year. Maybe I seem to remember the grade wrong. Maybe it was grade 8 and not 9? No but there was no tech 10 for grade 8’s because of how my school is set up, or was set up at the time. So it must have been grade 9. If then, the only other option is that I am misremembering which year, but then it also said “2 years ago” for last online for my schoolmates on this typing website we used earlier that year. Back round to typing I guess. Anyways since a year or two years ago my words per minute has increased from an average of like 66-69 words per minute to I think 83 or 89. I can’t quite remember. Sometimes I think my memory is getting worse. I wonder if dementia is hereditary, because I think my dad is getting it. Or is it alzheimers? I don’t quite remember. How ironic. Anyways, the fact that my dad seems to be losing his memory is also a little bit worrying, although I’m sure he can tough it out. He seems pretty tough most of the time anyways. We all have moments of weakness I suppose. Anyways, my memory sucks and I forget lots of things a lot of the time. It’s not pure speculation that my dad is getting alzheimers or dementia, I don’t know which. He forgets things that I told him last week a lot of the time. Sometimes its important things, sometimes not. Sometimes just deals in general. I think it started rather recently, but again, I cannot remember. Bad memory.
Anyways, I came back from camping today, or rather yesterday if you count 3am as a different day. To me, the day is not the next day until I’ve slept. I’m sure it feels the same way with the majority of most people. That kinda sounds like bad grammar but I guess I’m not known for good English. Not anymore at least. I used to be a top student in most of my classes…except math. It kinda fell of in grade 6-8. Probably due to bullying, definitely due to mental illnesses. I’m glad they’ve cleared up now, for the most part. One thing I noticed very strongly about my change in mental illness is the severe anxiety I used to suffer from. In fact, I feel that I’ve kind of done a full u turn in that sense. Sometimes I literally just don’t care at all anymore, and in that way its also damaging. Like, I’ve lost a major sense of caring for no reason. Not caring in the sense of emotional or loving care, or maybe it’s the same. Who am I to know anyways? Anyways, camping. Camping was nice enough. Actually really nice I think. Outside of the onslaught of complains from my little brother about almost every little thing it was a nice trip. Some amazing fews of osoyoos too. I felt like I was on a plane I was so high up on the high way. I also learned of some highway things, like runaway lanes. I’d never heard of them before. Apparently they are for when semi trucks lose control of their brakes and need somewhere to stop, so they go up this slope that prevents them from y’know. Falling off a massive cliff and dying in a firey explosion. To be honest, at first I’d thought that they were kind of useless, but knowing that a lot of corporations chiefs tend to be more greedy, I wouldn’t doubt that they wouldn’t entirely care for the safety of their truckers all the same. Cutting corners and such. I also noticed that the runaways lanes seemed to have been used. Maybe by semi trucks or just curious drivers.
Onto a different topic I suppose. I got back from camping and I was greeted to the death of my sisters cat. Pretty sad, he got eaten by coyotes. The damn things live in white rock?? Rich white rock?? Since when?? I was pretty confused when I heard it, but less empathetic than I probably should have been, considering my sisters cat for 10 years just fucking died. And not a good death either. Apparently people saw it happen. I suppose they didn’t care that much considering the whole animal altercation happened at 4:30am and I wasn’t there to see it happen. All the while I heard what happened, I thought to myself: “I’ve been staying up til 4:30am earliest on most nights lately. If I’d not gone on this stupid camping trip I could have saved Neko.” Neko is the name of the cat by the way. It was a fun name as a kid, named after cat in Japanese. Remembering why now is because our neighbors at our old house had a Japanese transfer daughter that they took care of until they could get out of school. Her name was Ruth, if I remember correctly and she taught us how to play this weird wooden ball game when we were little. I have a lot of fond memories of the old house. Simply playing road hockey with my dad, water fights in the drive way, climbing tall trees out back. The whole place seems to be a condo complex now, and we only just moved out a few years ago. I’ve been having a bad time with, well time lately I guess. It was 3 years ago I think. 2016 or 2017. I can’t say for sure. Whatever it was, it was better times back then. Simpler.
Lately I’ve been subscribing to lots of new youtubers, like I just see something I like and I subscribe. I guess its what every good viewer should do right? I mean I like the content right? I guess theres nothing much to talk about there, but it’s just something new I’ve been doing. I found this cool channel from a video I saw on discord. It showed some psychological effect called anemoi, or anemia or something. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I really can’t recall what it is called now. Whatever it is, I know the vague definition. “An image or place that seems familiar or nostalgic but is not.” Like somewhere you’ve been before. It is really fascinating being entranced by these nostalgic images. It’s the same nostalgic effect as the “Backrooms” photo if you’ve seen it. It uses something general that almost everyone has seen and amplifies the nostalgic effect to the maximum. Gotta say, I’m a big fan of it. Hopefully more stuff like that will be found in the future, just cool psychologic studies and effects that you can play with and mess around with on youtube or whatnot. I found it on DavidCrypt’s channel if I remember the name correctly. Sue me if I’m wrong lol. Some other recent youtubers I’ve found are just from discord. Like sapph invited me to this random persons stream and his top viewed video had like 6.8 million views. Crazy huh? He doesn’t really get higher than 150 views lately though. Just a stroke of recommendation luck from youtube. Algorithms can be useful sometimes after all. Lately youtube’s algorithm for reccomendations have been so odd. I’m not really complaining though, most of the videos are from 3-12 years ago and are really interesting. Shit I would not have seen without the algorithm just recommending it to people. I’m sure there are actual people behind it, no way youtubes “algorithm” selects such interesting videos. Just the other day I got one called “Social Distance Bar Fight” that was made surprisingly 7 years ago. Sometimes the humor of the algorithm is so devious. Still humorous though.
I’m really here to do standup aren’t I? Yeah I guess I got a little side tracked there. I’m here to tell you about that one time I went to the store and I wanted to buy a new cereal brand but there were only four cereal brands. I’m not talking about like types of cereal, like I mean the brands behind the various cereals. There are kellogs and like the Kroger brand. There Is also like the no name brand, if that can even be called a brand. I’m sure that the presidents choice brand probably dabbled in cereal at some point to. Anyways you get my point, several cereal brands, and I’m trying to find a new one. So I got to the store, and I, and I want to buy another brand of cereal but there’s only like 3 or 4 brands of cereal. There’s Kellogs, as you know. The big one with like frosted flakes and other things. There’s uh…oh general mills that’s another big one. And uh other two brands of cereal that like and I’m here to tell you about my experiences there’s thje Kroger brand. And I don’t like the Kroger brand. I know it tastes the same but I feel like they do something to it to make it cheaper, I doubt it’s real food. Um, no don’t leave yet please. Please this is my first gig man please it’s the only one I’ve ever gotten so don’t leave please I’m trying so hard man. Alright. Uh, anyways’s I’m funny. They call me funny man because I tell jokes, they call mr funny man, uhh I have a discord account and a reddit account, you should friends and follow those because I’m funny. And I tell jokes on those accoutns um I make, I’m like they call the, they call me the funny guy, uhh you can call the best of 2020 video the best of josh because look at me. They call me man of the hour because I’m man of the hour and however many minutes long this filibuster is. Basically uh, I am not being paid at my job as an intern at the Kroger and Italian restaurant because threy don’t like me. And I need the money to pay for my daughter to go to college. She’s, she hasn’t been born yet as I don’t have a- have a mate. But you know, it’s j-just just called uh just called uh preparing for the future. Which is what I’m doing now on, by talking to you on discord. I’m looking for a mate, preferably of female gender within the age range of 14-17 years old and uhh I’m looking for a soulmate. I’m looking for any woman’s love or affection, nothing nothing nothing brings me joy anymore. And I believe the cure-all to the-the warm embrace of a woman. Please. I’m so desperate. Hm, okay I dunno about that.
Anyways, Christmas. I know it’s quite a bit of ways to go, but like, what else man? Who cares. Christmas. So walking out from our house Christmas eve, you may say there’s no such thing as santaaa, but as for me and grandpa, we believe in santa because of the ghost of santa we saw when we were, when we were on Christmas day together. So basically he and I were sitting by the fire and we were watching a film, called “Grandma got run over by a reindeer.” I think that’s what it was called anyways. Do you know spankenheimer? Jake spankenheimer? Or grandpa spakenheimer? Or doofus or whatever the reindeer is called? Anyway, lets get back to business, I’m looking for a bride to be a statue, a statue like a foundation like a statue. Like statues are usually made of metal and such right? So like concrete and metal and foundation to be my foundation. Not literally of course, because that would be uncomfortable. Pretty hard to hug a metal object and you know, get like, like get and sort of love from it. Unless its like a year or two or like no actually a couple hundred years ahead or not. Just until like human like AI is made, so love can be made from like robots. Like in the creepy fnaf fanfics. Anyways. I just need the love, I just need the love of a woman, and I’m such a sad, unbelievable sad person and I need love in my life uh, particularly that of a female umm who has umm amiable featues, umm well put together structure, umm and a whole of a heart. The whole as in like wholeseome not like an empty heart. And a affinity for video games. I just want a gamer, a gamer bride. P-preferabley one that’s partnered on twitch, and is verified on twitter, so like you know like you get like the full package. I want her to wear nothing but swimsuits. Um men’s like like 1930’s men swimsuits where there’s like black and white stripes all the way up and wdown. And I want her to marry me the day I meet her in Las vegas, California. And we’re going to go to the place and Elvis is going to be the person, the guy who gives me my wedding license. My my my my bride will be beautiful in her 1930’s men’s swimsuit she’s going to be and also there’s going to be one of those 1930’s changing tents that are also on the beach and there’s goiung to be one of those swimsuit cops as well to makes rue her swimsuit is the appropriate length as to not draw eyes of any um unwanted parties. Especially the Elvis Presley that’s going to be getting us hitched. Ummm I’m just looking to find a woman in my age range that is caring and wear’s 1930’s swimsuits and like until the end of summer or I will just I will just not be able to make it through 2021. So that-that yeah that’s my ultimatum. If I don’t get that within the allotted time of 3 months, uhh I’m uhhh going to uhh stop. Everything. Until I get what I so desire. Please please please please any women out there who fit the description I have so graciously provided, message me on my accounts. I’ll be sure to respond if you are nice, if you are not niceummm uh. I’m sorry I don’t know what to tell you. You-you’ll know, you’ll know if you’re not. Anyways that’s me,. I’m looking fro a woman of a- with a strong foundation of concrete and rebar and like like a like alike a stone, I need a rock. I need a breadwinner. Buti it needs- I need a lady, who will- who will carry me up the stairs and tuck me into bed and is between the ages of 14-18 I mean 14-7, no 14-17 years old, and is to my personal nice of like what I like. I just want- I just want a high five and from my beautiful bride-to-be and then I will- she can have all the money and all the cars and all the house- I’m just looking for the love of my life. I will put out several ads, I will put out an ad on craigslist to find the love of my life. The ad’s going to read: “looking for a structurally super nice epic and great babe who will be the foundation of my future” and and THE STOCK MARKET HAS CRASHED THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END which is really bad so I think when that happens I’m just going to watch some old films I like, like I like star wars so um in case you didn’t know the star wars films are actually basred off of the time period of the 194’s uhhh late 1930’s mid to mid 1940’s and the star wars films have’s like cause the stormtroopers are like the economy going boom in 1930’s or the great depression they are, actually come to think of it I don’t think my source was really credible on that account. Yeah, I don’t actually thing it was based off of that at all. It doesn’t really make any- anyways so uh another thing she needs to love is the national treasure saga. Like the one with Nicolas cage as the main character who’s name I can’t remember is it- I think it was Benjamin and he goes into some ice at one point in the first or second film, or like. I remember he almost burns the declaration of independence. Anyways, it’s not like something she needs to know because of a relation that we can talk about, but like something I can be taught about, because I know nothing about those films. Because in my own life, I’m self destroying I need t a woman to hold me I’m so desperate, I’m so desperate so I watch these films like national treasure, uhh it was very comprehensively directed by, well I don’t know but I’ve not seen the second national treasure, or maybe I have and I’ve mixed it with the first or another, I think there is only 2, but maybe 3, most films or big film makers like to make them in trios. Anyways, talking about big films, I’ve noticed the dark nature of the harry potter films after the first two, but the point is I- she can’t be into harry potter films, she has to like the national treasure film saga, because I just really like the national treasure saga and I hate harry potter with every inch of my body. Like I just want to kick his head into a wall until he just stops feeling good. She can like- of course she can have whatever other movies she like sother than harry potter and thius one other one I can’t remember, or no, I worded that wrong, I don’t really care that much , but it’s, I’ve not seen the film in quite some time, so uhh I’m not a fan of the vacuum cleaner character. There’s this cartoon kitchen film thing from like the 80’s? I want to say the 80’s but it feels more like 60’s esque. Anyways, uh the brave little toasdter is not, that great of uhhhh plot device? Uhh but what can you say? The-but the vaccum cleaner is scary, like a cat running away but like its just creepy. By the way why the hell are cats scared of cucumbers??? What did the vegetable do? Certainly it resembles something. Or some other animal or something maybe? I don’t know cat behavior, well actually I know it quite well afte having owned a cat for quite some time. Like since I turned 10 so about 5 years. Or like 35 cat years. I think that’s the math right? X7 for animals. Something or other, Lovely cat. I love her. Anyways, there’s the lamp character, there’s a blanket character, I think the blanket character was supposed to be like an electric blanket umm cause it have like a like a dial on it. I like the blanket character the blanket character is really wholeseome because it warms everyone up, like a nice twitch streamer or a nice cup of coco. And then again the- there’s the toaster character, which again I thought was a very cool plot device when I was little but now that I am at trhe white bald ageo f 15 I gotta say, it’s not a very good plot device. And I don’t know if I can really critique the film, I mean its an old film I gotta say, it’s yeah I think late 80’s kitchen appliance film but really what I want in a woman is someone who can critique the brave little toaster, a 1987 film about kitchen appliances with me, that’s all I want in a woman. Ack! Uh
some other things that would be great or rather I guess some geographical preferences, like too into the imma- the like- too into the dutch is bad, I don’t like the Belgians, they did ah man the bel- or the whole beneolux region in general is kinda weak. Umm none of them have a-0 like their own culture or anything like it’s kind a like discount Germany. A ride across the channel from the uk, I guess that’s pretty cool. But the, but the- but so Belgium is like half French and half dutch, I don’t even understand what like, why? They don’t even like have any good place to eat, like burger king, and I mean I guess it’s kind of the same everywhere. Really thinking about it. I mean they barely have any in british Columbia, if were gonna be honest. The burger king franchise, it’s not like- you think there’d be more of them. I-I’ve seen like maybe one and it was attached to a Walmart? I dunno where you even find them. I dunno it’s like a mid-west or east-coast franchise or something, I guess no one here would really know, unless of course you are from those regions, which is probably more or less likely. But anyways, it’s very important that she is like from 14-17 years old. That is probably the nu- one of the number one features that is required but she also ahs to be very well-off financially, so that way if twitch collapses in on itself I don’t have to go back to work, at least not for a little while. But you know I wouldn’t need- I mean I wouldn’t want to depend on her 100% so I might end up getting a job anyways, justy out of pity. Or something. It’s hard to find someone that wouldn’t critique you for that, I guess, but I’d work like- maybe I’ll just summon like- to do, I’m not quite sure. But, you know, there’s gotta be some way to to summon such a like an eatheral being that is uhh simple for the every man to do. Cause obviously many people have done it, I’ve seen a lot of people with girlfriends, well yeah I mean just walking outside. And I I just don’t know. I don’t know how they do it. I don’t understand. But anyway my ad is out there, you can hit me up- well it will be out I still need to like- but like hit me up on the uhhh ad.
Uh yeah anyways, I’m not a big fan of the rocky series, I’m sure I would be if I watched the films, but I myself just haven’t got around to watchsisng any of them. They are probably, or most of them are critically acclaimed, like popular, so I’ll watch them soon I guess. But like, I also know that some people don’t like everything you know? Like- mick was no longer in the rocky franchise. Um, I think it was after rocky 2, but um, I cant be too certain, like he could’ve been in rocky- I haven’t seen rocky 3. He could be- I know mr t’s in rocky 3 but that’s really it. I know that rocky is like “ooh I’m hot shit” and he uhh gets his act- his ass kicked by mr T, whos in the the the- not in gi joe he;s in the A team, which is another media franchise I’ve never seen, and I’m I’m not sure if it’s good? I’ve never- I don’t really know anything about it. I don’t know- I don’t know a lot of about 80’s media, I know that ghostbusters was- like it was a big film around that time era.
So uh, yeah. Oh! Have you heard of like- malls, no like same time I unsubscribed from all the political channels, cause like I um, I used to watch the uhh the uh, what’s his what’s his name? the doug walker, uhh what’s his name? The nostalgia critic. When I was when I was in probably the the first year of highschool, like last year. So in one episode of the nostalgia critic, he- wh-which one was I talking about? The uh sorry, dash roamed?, Dash unmuted and made me lose my train of thought for a minute. I can’t remember which episode of the nostalgia critic I was talking about. But um, kay, so there’s a lot of episodes. There’s one- oh it’s called the channel of awesome by the way. Probably left that out or something, doesn’t matter. Anyways, so in one episode of the nostalgia critic they talk about critters or something or other. Aot of their content is just about its just about like batman or superheroes, but in this particular episode he spoke about “Critters”. Now in all honesty, I couldn’t be bothered to even watch the video, the thumbnail alone gave me shivers and nightmares. It depicted like a black monster with a large toothy grin from ear to ear, whatever. Just remembering it now gives me the creeps. You know, I’m not so sure I wanna talk about this channel anymore. How about uhhh Minecraft!
I remember I played it first on PC, the uh version is kind’ve fuzzy. I seem to remember it as 1.6 or something, but- uh like somewhere in 1.6 I mean, like 1.6.4 or such, but I did some math or just research not math I guess to find out for sure, and apparently I started in 1.7.2…or maybe 1.7.4. Which is odd because I was almost certain I started in 1.6.4, and y’know thinking about it now I’m pretty sure that is because I played it first at a friends house and not actually on my own account. His name was brock I think, yeah brock. I went to his house twice in elementary school and he had Minecraft on his laptop, or PC, it’s a fuzzy memory that I can only really capture one frame of now. Just-er rather I clip in my mind. Just like him mining down and talking about mining down in this tunnel. He was in creative I think and was talking about how gold was the best ore, which is obviously false if you’ve ever played through Minecraft. Anyways, uhm so uh…. When I got home, or I guess a few months later until the 1.7. something or other update came around, I asked my parents to play the game, which actually I think sprung my video game addiction. I remember they started me on this actual Christian Minecraft server called “Skrafty.net” and if you said any cusses or swears they would mute you in that place. So I remember playing on that for hours on end, in kit pvp. It was the only server that actually had people in it, of course I mean uh actually minigame not server. There was only one skrafty server. Anyways, I played kitpvp and I remember sucking so badly at pvp, like I was so bad. I just it was a lot of though. Those were probably the golden ages of my life if I’m being honest. Not a care in the world, no worries just Minecraft. It was nice. Anyways, I also remember on skrafty, and because it was an educational server I remember actually doing these Minecraft classes. But not like in a class or video chat like with the whole corona thing, like it was a- so they told you what to do in like, so I remember this one time, I had to build a monkey, and I was so proud of this stupid ape. I wish I had the old laptop I played on so that I could share these creations, but it was so long ago, like 2014 or something. But yes I built monkeys and played kitpvp on a Christian Minecraft server which eventually sprouted my Minecraft – or rather just my video game addiction. Which I actually- y’know I don’t actually like video games that much anymore. Like I used to play them so much, but its a lot easier with friends, and I don’t get many of those, no one does I guess. But like so yeah. I prefer just talking on discord and watching youtube. Maybe I play GTA occasionally now yeah. But not so much . I playted through the story mode twice and- in like a week too. So I yeah. But uhmm, when I did play video games, I did get my first phone eventually and its funny, because like the different pocket editions of Minecraft were like they were very different. I do remember a tutorial to get to the nether before it was actually made, and also thinking that herobrine was real. Like I would buuld shrines and shit for this fake herobrine character, but it would never really work. I had reasonable reason for that though. For some reason my world corrupted, or I guess someone, yeah someone definitely went onto my first Minecraft world and just trolled on it. Probably my sister, or maybe my friend Tucker. But anyways whoever did it did a good job. There was a sign that said “this house belongs to null” in front of my house, and that scared me enough, but also all my iron gear was stolen, and my redstone path that I’d built to- that led from my mine to my cave was destroyed and looted. Real riot moment right? Anyways, outside of that, I was- oh and also the torches around my house had been turned into redstone torches. Anyways, one thing that I was really confused about, that herobrine or rather “null” I guess would steal my cauldron. I was pretty sad that day, and also confused, because why would herobrine want to steal my cauldron? What possible use could he use with it. Thinking about it now, I know it was most definitely my old friend tucker, who yeah he definitely did that, no one else in my family or like my siblings are cruel enough, or just knew enough about Minecraft lore and conspiracy theories to do that. Anyways, so uh yeah. I remember playing Minecraft on my little LG dishwasher phone was probably, that was a pretty bad phone. It wasn’t even like it wasn’t fresh bought. There was, it was the phone was very old and it was a hand me down from my sister. Anyways, I was still ecstatic when I got the phone, I mean it was my first phone regardless if it was a hunk of junk. So I was excited and for some reason, either I thought I wasn’t allowed to download my own games, or just my mom or dad told me not to. I was pretty young, but I can’t recall what age. Probably around 8 or 9. But I remember the one app- or rather game I did have on it was talking tom. And I guess that’s all I really needed because I played talking tom so much, I pretty much mastered the game. I had all the accessories for this fucker. I had all the money, he was in full gold, he was talking tom pimp. He had talking tom hoes. Some real cat sluts. I tell ya, talking tom was living it up because of me. And also because of the games, the minigames that came with the whole the whole talking tom package. So in the minigames I would play so much, there was one that was very similar to flappy bird called “Flappy Tom” if I remember correctly. But anyways, this by far was my favorite game and I remember my high score very vividly because I was so incredibly proud of it. I- my highest score on flappy bird- or rather flappy tom was 47. So that’s you know 47 pipes I managed to get through before smacking into one and just, dying a horrible terrible death. I mean, you know this tom cat, he’s travelling at incredible speeds in this glider. He is just, like nasa spacex rocket speed. So power driving his fucking head into a titanium pipe would just, oh I can imagine what a scene that would be. It wouldn’t be pretty to say the least. Although to be honest I kind of want to watch talking toms stupid head get cracked in. He is kinda annoying. Or at least I remember that he was when I was playing the game. Anyways, so even though those times were annoying with talking tom its better than stress now. Where did I- what was I talking about? Oh, Minecraft. So yeah I remember when we were going to get Minecraft, my mom didn’t want to buy it, and I was just a little kid, so I was poor. No money, I mean, what kid has 20 bucks yeah? My lazy ass isn’t going to work for like an hour to get peanuts. Anyhow, the demo I played, I was so excited to play it, I remember just finding a ravine and getting some iron gear before it turned off, because in the demo it only allows gameplay for 90 minutes, or an hour and a half. I mean, if you want to play for longer, It’s it’s just a demo ok. I remember being bewildered by everything and pretending I knew everything about the game around my siblings because I watched my old friend play it for 5 minutes 6 months previous. I saw a skeleton, and I said – “See those things are called skellies” which sounded retarded as hell, but I was a stupid like 8 or 9 year old so whatever. But later! I found out in a dantdm video that I watched about Minecraft that he called them skellies like I had, and I felt very cool that I predicted the name. Later I found out, NO I am just retarded because almost no one calls them fucking skellies. But yeah, know it all me thought that was just amazing.
uhhh, and then there was this one time I got in trouble cause my parents walked in and then they had me sit down and watch an episode of the like the annoying or the yes the annoying orange, and I don’t really know why, they didn’t like the show I guess. I remember watching it while hidden because my parents didn’t want me watching it because it showed bleeding fruit, and my mom thought it was too violent for me. So I’d hide in the garage underneath a chair or some weird living room wooden fold up table and watched the annoying orange videos. My mom was always kind of protective of what I watched when I was a kid. Didn’t help much now cause I watch hentai – NO CAP. Anyways, onto like okay. So the annoying orange, they wanted to show me it because they wanted to exemplify what it was or something? I don’t even know. So anyways it was probably one of the worst experiences of my entire life. And uh, I remember some shitty times, like one time I was roller blading in alberta and I swung around a stop sign, or some other bus stop sign, a street sign of some kind and I face planted, or like knee planted into the concrete. I had a big ol’ scar up and down my leg after that. It sucked, it pounded sand, it kicked rocks. It was worse then when I shot myself in the foot with a gun. It fucking sucked. Because it was, and I uh uh I regret it every day. And I remember it so vividly uh it’s like a mental scar. And I was I was only around 9 years old at the time. I was um, I was in the third grade, and I like-that’s like a repressed memory, that was like a really bad time. But yea I really like the annoying orange, or I did, and I thought I’d revisit him, so I was like I watched some annoying orange videos recently, and I was just, like “why the fuck did I enjoy this actual heap of fucking garbage. This is worse than burning feces. This is a disgrace to the internet, no humanity.”
So yeah, fuck the annoying orange, stupid cunt. Anyways, lately I’ve been thinking about like, stuff I learned in socials class, I was like doing good in that class, or so I thought. I got like 98/100 on the final essay, so that’s kind of nice, but my ending mark was still somehow like 87 or something, which is still good, but I think I worked hardest in that class so it sucks for me. But uh anyways, so economy, uh so what happened, that happened with the social darwinisim in the 1800’s was you had the big uh corporations like the standard oil company, which would uh see themselves as like the pinnacle of uh that specific which they which they occupied. U so they would see themselves as the superior, the superior forcei nthe market and they would they’d see that as their reason for swallowing up smaller businesses. So like, for example, what john d Rockefeller would od, john d Rockefeller would offer to buy a an like an independent oil refinery for a a , you know, not a great amount of money. Or or a good amount of money, depending on who it was, but that person might not wanna cave, so people are like: “oh well” and he;s like “well okay” and he just lowers the price of oil to where everyone’s taking it at a loss, but the thing about the standard oil company, was because it ownerd about 90$ of the oil refining industry, umm he was able to take that loss, for the amount of time that he was doing it, just long enough for the uh the business he was trying to take for lets say a couple million to like, fail completely and flop. Um and so then he’d buy that business for maybe a few thousand dollars, which I mean I can’t remember if that is inflated to modern money or not. Uhh so that’s how john d Rockefeller di that. But uh, so I was talking about social Darwinism I was talking about the uh the the rant era of no the annoying orange. But like I was talking about people and youtubers who come out on top. Leafy was like one of those like, one of those businesses, you know, that got bought out by the standard oil company, you know, that would be h3h3 in this specific situation. Which is very strange considering uh h3’s political philosophy , and is supporting someone like Andrew yang. Now let’s talk about Andrew Yang.
So Andrew yang he was, or like he is an American democrat who, well he’s a politician, and you know what, I don’t really want to get political. So uh how about like other games. Like uh so you know steam, well I prefer to buy steams or I mean steam games during the summer because they are much cheaper, you know because of summer sales, and I guess summer is coming up so I can start on that. Like yea so theres a few games I want to buy on steam, mostly star wars related, or just popular games. Like pubg maybe. I mean I could do a devious thing to get money, specifically steam money. You see recently my little brother rolled a knife in csgo. And I don’t remember the exact chances for that, but I kind of remember. I think it is like I think its 0.0025 % chance so like 25 thousandths of one or something, but I just know its very unlikely. So I looked up, or he looked up how much the knife is worth, and it’s worth like 340 dollars in steam. I mean like what the fuck? I have opened like 20 cases and got nothing over a dollar, and then this little mofo opens 2 cases and gets a 300 dollar knife? I swear man, he got gambling skills or just yeah. So anyways, he gave me the knife so that I could sell it for paypal money, which I do know how to do. It doesn’t exchange for 100% of the money though, it’s like 40-60% of what its worth. So I told him I’d do it for him, and then he could have his money you know? But like there were come trading cooldowns, so we had to wait like 2 weeks to sell it, and now this little cunt is not sure if he wants to sell it. Like wtf! 2 dead ass weeks and now he’s not sure. Okay anyways, the devious thing I said I could do is like just keep the money, or some of it. I mean, he’d probably get mad and I’d get in trouble if I took it all, so maybe a few dollars for my poor ass. I mean I don’t have a job rn because of covid shit and whatnot. Anyways, I’m not going to do it, because I mean its his thing and I don’t want to be a dick. But yeah it’s still like it’sd a possibility but its not. You know? Like I COULD do it, but I won’t. But like there’s a lot you could buy with 300 or something dollars. I mean, like a shitty car or something? Or a bike. I mean probably a bike, but like the car is- car’s are much nicer. This one car in particular, I can’t remember the model, but it was like a, it was a nice black old car. For some reason I just like older car models you know? Like shittier cars. I mean obviously I wouldn’t turn down a Lamborghini, but like I would take it and sell it and buy a bunch of shittier cars, probably. But like, I can’t even afford shitty cars, like I want this car so bad but the bike is so much cheaper, which one are you gonna take? Are you gonna take the bike are the car? You’re gonna take the uh, you’re gonna take the bike. So that’s what I’m saying, like youp during thje steam sales you always buy worst products, not because um. Simply because they’re cheaper, they’re the cheaper option. You you’d you could buy the lambo but the Lamborghini is not on sale because guess who put that on the store. It was like, the the guys who don’t like 2020, or the nhl 2020, not the 2k, who doesn’t do anything during the steam sales. You got- soo you buy like like a game like bye bye wacky planet, which is a game in my steam wishlist, which basically is a game where you are an alien in a side scroller 2d cartoon game where you are an alien completing a side scroller, much like Mario, the old Mario games or like uh uh yeah. Oh cuphead that’s the other one I was trying to remember. Why the fuck is cuphead so fucking difficult by the way? Like damn, I quit after like the first kind of area because I just couldn’t deal with the slime boxer thing that has a bazillion lives. It’s so annoying I tell ya, like you need so many hours in that game to get good. I prefer like chiller games anyways, like you know that uhm, Minecraft and games like that, or animal crossing. I really want to get a switch and get animal, the new animal crossing horizons game. It’s like I don’t- I just don’t have any money for that sort of thing. So I guess I’ll have to stick to shitty games, like you know I hate sims so much. Sim- I have sim city 4 deluxe in my steam library, I’ve opened it one time ever in my entire life, back in uh back in the days of uhh, I think 20…13? And it crashed for half an hour. And this- that is my- that is how much playtime I have in that game. Um, I refuse to install it or play it ever again, cause like city sim games are just complete trash. Almost as bad as the annoying orange. They’re terrible, no one wants to play them, and if you do, there’s like, something is wrong with you. You gotta have like a like a like a some like kinda masochist kinda thing going. Cause like that’s seriously like the same thing as inflicting bodily harm upon yourself. As like a joke. You play that game to prank yourself. Anyway, date me.

Last week, Belgium's Gaming Commission announced that it had launched an investigation into whether the loot boxes available for purchase in games like Overwatch and Star Wars Battlefront 2 constitute a form of gambling. Today, VTM News reported that the ruling is in, and the answer is yes. (fake news)
The Google translation is a little sloppy, as usual, but the message is clear enough. "The mixing of money and addiction is gambling," the Gaming Commission declared. Belgium's Minister of Justice Koen Geens also weighed in, saying, "Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child."
Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright (correction: if you don't know exactly what you're purchasing), and not just in Belgium: He said the process will take time, "because we have to go to Europe. We will certainly try to ban it."
And now, things will start to get interesting. I've reached out to the Gaming Commission for more information, and will update if I receive a reply.

http://www.pcgamer.com/belgium-says-loot-boxes-are-gambling-wants-them-banned-in-europe/
Interesting that csgo was not named.
~~~~~
Edit: They have not banned lootboxes, nor have they classified lootboxes as gambling. A final decision has not been reached yet.
Further clarification

Lately there have been a few discussions about microtransactions and gamers asking for more control/regulations.
As someone who:

• grew up in the 80s and 90s (I’m almost 38 now)
• grew up in Southeast Asia
• I’m also a parent

I do think I might not be part of that crowd that’s too rabid to see government regulations.
—————
Personal opinion:
I remember back then when only a handful of people lobbied for government restrictions in games — Jack Thompson (remember that guy?) and a handful of parents who felt their kids were getting addicted to gambling and starting to worship the devil (because of trading card games like Magic the Gathering and Pokémon).

• Fun fact: Parents tried to sue trading card companies several times for “getting their kids addicted to gambling” but the courts dismissed all those cases. In fact, legal experts even mentioned that it was simply a case of bad parenting
  
• I hope I’m not the only one who’s too old to remember the 90s. There might be some folks here who were already teens or adult around that time.
  

Nowadays, gamers themselves are the ones pushing for more government control and legislatation. It’s a little odd how the wheel has turned.
Another part of me is my cultural upbringing. I grew up in the Philippines where we were exposed to microtransactions in freemium online games since the early 2000s. It meant that our parents/elders were highly aware of what video games could do to us while growing up.
As a child, parents would give me a handful of quarters for the arcade or for the local fair (“color game” and “ring toss” are like kiddie forms of gambling then). The key factor here is that when I ran out of money because I was too stupid when spending, my elders would reel me back in and set me straight. It’s why I never developed a gambling vice... I learned the value of money at a young age.
Also, some parts of Asia (if some Western gamers don’t know yet) it’s actually common for the younger generation to stay with their folks until their married, and even then, they might just live in the building next door or close by. We don’t just pack up our things and disappear once we turn 18, when the only time we see our folks again is during the holidays.
And so parents not only play a crucial role in our development as children but even until our young adult years. Good parenting plays a key role in turning us into responsible people.
Likewise, given that other parts of the world have people who aren’t as privileged or as wealthy, kids end up preferring free/cheaper games, while at the same time parents don’t just have a dozen credit cards lying around the house (the same credit cards that kids grab to buy gems/premium currency which the internet fully lays the blame on microtransactions).
—————
So yes, it got me thinking:
There seems to be a push among gamers to focus on government regulations because of microtransactions.
However, very few people ever mention that parents should take a more active role, or be more responsible in raising and monitoring their kids.

• Is this simply because people feel that parents can no longer do these things and so the government/lawmakers should step in?
• Is this because of cultural differences?
• As for gamers who are also parents, are you able to raise children/young gamers responsibly? Or do you feel that the government should step in?

————
Again, this is just a personal opinion:
Personally, I simply believe that before the government or the rest of the industry steps in, the first responsibility in raising a child is always on me since I am a parent.
If my child ends up spending too much or falls in love with microtransactions and lootboxes, that’s not the failure of the government nor the company — that is my failure as a parent because I should have taught my child how to value his time, his money, and his future.
Technology may change. Games may change. Laws may change. But parenting responsibilities are a constant since time immemorial.
Just my two cents. Thanks everyone.
————-
Important Edit:**
In case anyone mentions the definition of gambling in the United States, or legal matters...
Since our specific conversation might turn to legalities, I also added several examples of lawsuits that were dismissed by US courts because the judicial system itself did not consider these TCGs/microtransactions as in violation of gambling regulations.
These are from the 90s:

• Magic the Gathering and Baseball cards
• Pokemon trading cards and the moral panic that happened — ie. “Pokemon leads to devil worship”

Also some recent ones from a Google search:

• Game of War gambling = dismissed (2016)
• Valve CS:GO gambling = dismissed (2017)
• Castle Clash gambling = dismissed (2018)

Just a note reminding folks who just joined the discussion in case legal proceedings/definitions are brought up.
———-
Thanks to those who replied, and please continue the discussion.
I tried to reply to almost everyone and even added some helpful links and studies. Since I’m from the Philippines, I’ll reply to other users tomorrow since it’s almost midnight here.
Closing 1: Parenting
A big thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion. This last edit will address a lot of the points that were made and tie it in to the theme of the main post.
The topic is initially about the practical application of good parenting even before government regulations come into play. There's a pretty good reason why I pointed out my experiences as a kid, my upbringing, as well as parenting values. All of those points were to elicit a reaction from gamer parents out there. As you can see, in these three topics -- there were but a handful of comments from actual parents themselves. Unfortunately, a vast majority did not mention being a parent or how this affects them as a parent.
At the same time, you might notice that only a few respondents mentioned their own spending habits. Barely anyone mentioned their own practical examples of what their spending has been like. Many immediately went for the "microtransactions are bad" argument.
My belief is that a majority of respondents are not parents themselves (or have barely been exposed to MTX), and thus it lacks that practical experience or knowledge. Ergo, the responses come from outside sources such as YouTube or internet forums (there's a reason why some of the replies you see might remind you of something you've already heard in a video).
Closing 2: Microtransactions, Lootboxes, And Children
There's a reason why I added bits and pieces as cues: "90s parents = video games are bad" moral conundrum, Jack Thompson and various lobbyists, previous lawsuits in the US because TCGs were thought of as "illegal gambling," growing up as a child in Southeast Asia, Asia's experience with MTX since the early-2000s, as well as how gamers have been averse to governments stepping in just to affect video games in the past.
These are supposed to convey how gamers of yesteryears have viewed these issues in the past, and now how the tables have turned where gamers themselves are the ones clamoring for government regulations. It isn't necessarily an argument for or against microtransactions, and we simply look at the reasoning behind making the argument in the first place.
Now, relating it to the present day, you might also know that a number of studies, including a WHO classification of "gaming disorder," and even general practical applications have been met with apprehension and doubt from gamers.

• For instance, you will not get as much traction from discussions about "World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs being addictive" nowadays.
• Even "Minecraft addiction" among kids with ADHD barely gets a mention.
• Barely any vehement comments will come with talks about grinding systems, RNG mechanics, or games where people have put in 3,000+ hours.
• You probably won't even hear too much backlash about how Twitch streaming and YouTube ensure that gamers remain hooked on video games even after turning off their TVs and putting down their controllers.
• You probably also enjoy the idea that people play video games for 12-16+ hours while streaming for that entertainment value, despite the inherent physical and psychological risks that this activity poses. Ever wonder why there have been streamers opening up about psychological problems that have surfaced due to streaming and providing video game entertainment?
• EDIT: Don't forget, Psychology also teaches us that there's a connection between video games and narcissism01445-9/fulltext). Additional factors have also shown the rise in narcissism and a decline in empathy with the younger generation. It is, however, worth noting that some studies have attempted to debunk some of these claims.

People do not bat an eye in spite of studies about the myriad ways that video games and entertainment media keep us addicted and hooked while completely influencing our behaviors.
But, when you add "lootboxes = gambling" and "lootboxes = harmful to children" in the mix, it becomes a hot topic. And these ideas have become a prevalent thought among gamers today.
I believe there's a good reason for this. There's another prevailing counterpoint to the above and that's:

• Many gamers don't necessarily care about "the children" (as loathsome as that sounds). Relating it to Closing 1: Parenting -- many simply see the statement of "lootboxes = gambling = harmful to children" as the most convenient way to curb the proliferation of microtransactions.
• In a way, "children" have become the last line of defense for a number of gamers. The only way that lawmakers might step in to finally put a stop to microtransactions ruining games is if children are finally involved in the equation.

Video games, by their very nature, have engaged and hooked us as kids -- whether it's the 80s, 90s, or 2000s.

• You could be someone who spent countless quarters in an arcade (the earliest form of "microtransactions").
• You could have forgotten your obligations to your friends or family just because you want to play more video games.
• You could have gotten addicted to WOW or other MMOs; or "one more turn" in Civ when you realized it's already morning.
• You could know of a child whose only hobby and interactions come from Fortnite, as well as streaming being the only medium for them (or any other game that's hoooked them).
• It could've led to the worsening of your eyesight, to the lack of social cues, to the rise in narcissism, to depression and anxiety, or the lack of real-life goals and ambitions.

All of these affect you because of psychological implications. However, for the longest time, gamers have espoused the need for self-moderation, or for parents taking on a more active role.
And yet, strangely enough, when you put "lootboxes = gambling = bad for children" in the mix, suddenly it's about government regulations? Suddenly it's no longer about "parents being more responsible for their kids?"
It's odd because on one hand, you've had all the effects that video games have had on us for decades. A majority of gamers have treated them differently. Yet "lootboxes = gambling = bad for children" exists within its own bubble, where a completely different reaction applies?
Just a personal opinion, but again, I do believe this is mostly because gamers see this argument as the last line of defense just so developers will start making games the way they used to.

Lately there have been a few discussions about microtransactions and gamers asking for more control/regulations.
As someone who:

• grew up in the 80s and 90s (I’m almost 38 now)
• grew up in Southeast Asia
• I’m also a parent

I do think I might not be part of that crowd that’s too rabid to see government regulations.
—————
Personal opinion:
I remember back then when only a handful of people lobbied for government restrictions in games — Jack Thompson (remember that guy?) and a handful of parents who felt their kids were getting addicted to gambling and starting to worship the devil (because of trading card games like Magic the Gathering and Pokémon).

• Fun fact: Parents tried to sue trading card companies several times for “getting their kids addicted to gambling” but the courts dismissed all those cases. In fact, legal experts even mentioned that it was simply a case of bad parenting
  
• I hope I’m not the only one who’s too old to remember the 90s. There might be some folks here who were already teens or adult around that time.
  

Nowadays, gamers themselves are the ones pushing for more government control and legislatation. It’s a little odd how the wheel has turned.
Another part of me is my cultural upbringing. I grew up in the Philippines where we were exposed to microtransactions in freemium online games since the early 2000s. It meant that our parents/elders were highly aware of what video games could do to us while growing up.
As a child, parents would give me a handful of quarters for the arcade or for the local fair (“color game” and “ring toss” are like kiddie forms of gambling then). The key factor here is that when I ran out of money because I was too stupid when spending, my elders would reel me back in and set me straight. It’s why I never developed a gambling vice... I learned the value of money at a young age.
Also, some parts of Asia (if some Western gamers don’t know yet) it’s actually common for the younger generation to stay with their folks until their married, and even then, they might just live in the building next door or close by. We don’t just pack up our things and disappear once we turn 18, when the only time we see our folks again is during the holidays.
And so parents not only play a crucial role in our development as children but even until our young adult years. Good parenting plays a key role in turning us into responsible people.
Likewise, given that other parts of the world have people who aren’t as privileged or as wealthy, kids end up preferring free/cheaper games, while at the same time parents don’t just have a dozen credit cards lying around the house (the same credit cards that kids grab to buy gems/premium currency which the internet fully lays the blame on microtransactions).
—————
So yes, it got me thinking:
There seems to be a push among gamers to focus on government regulations because of microtransactions.
However, very few people ever mention that parents should take a more active role, or be more responsible in raising and monitoring their kids.

• Is this simply because people feel that parents can no longer do these things and so the government/lawmakers should step in?
• Is this because of cultural differences?
• As for gamers who are also parents, are you able to raise children/young gamers responsibly? Or do you feel that the government should step in?

————
Again, this is just a personal opinion:
Personally, I simply believe that before the government or the rest of the industry steps in, the first responsibility in raising a child is always on me since I am a parent.
If my child ends up spending too much or falls in love with microtransactions and lootboxes, that’s not the failure of the government nor the company — that is my failure as a parent because I should have taught my child how to value his time, his money, and his future.
Technology may change. Games may change. Laws may change. But parenting responsibilities are a constant since time immemorial.
Just my two cents. Thanks everyone.
—————
For anyone who might be interested in legal proceedings in the past. Just in case any user brings up “gambling laws in the US”

• Magic the Gathering and Baseball cards
• Pokemon trading cards and the moral panic that happened — ie. “Pokemon leads to devil worship”

Also some recent ones from a Google search:

• Game of War gambling = dismissed (2016)
• Valve CS:GO gambling = dismissed (2017)
• Castle Clash gambling = dismissed (2018)

———-
Thanking everyone who’s replied so far. Please keep the discussion going.
I tried to reply to almost every user and even add some helpful links to articles/studies. I mentioned I’m from the Philippines and it’s almost midnight here so I’ll have to rest. I’ll reply to others tomorrow.
Closing 1: Parenting
A big thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion. This last edit will address a lot of the points that were made and tie it in to the theme of the main post.
The topic is initially about the practical application of good parenting even before government regulations come into play. There's a pretty good reason why I pointed out my experiences as a kid, my upbringing, as well as parenting values. All of those points were to elicit a reaction from gamer parents out there. As you can see, in these three topics -- there were but a handful of comments from actual parents themselves. Unfortunately, a vast majority did not mention being a parent or how this affects them as a parent.
At the same time, you might notice that only a few respondents mentioned their own spending habits. Barely anyone mentioned their own practical examples of what their spending has been like. Many immediately went for the "microtransactions are bad" argument.
My belief is that a majority of respondents are not parents themselves (or have barely been exposed to MTX), and thus it lacks that practical experience or knowledge. Ergo, the responses come from outside sources such as YouTube or internet forums (there's a reason why some of the replies you see might remind you of something you've already heard in a video).
Closing 2: Microtransactions, Lootboxes, And Children
There's a reason why I added bits and pieces as cues: "90s parents = video games are bad" moral conundrum, Jack Thompson and various lobbyists, previous lawsuits in the US because TCGs were thought of as "illegal gambling," growing up as a child in Southeast Asia, Asia's experience with MTX since the early-2000s, as well as how gamers have been averse to governments stepping in just to affect video games in the past.
These are supposed to convey how gamers of yesteryears have viewed these issues in the past, and now how the tables have turned where gamers themselves are the ones clamoring for government regulations. It isn't necessarily an argument for or against microtransactions, and we simply look at the reasoning behind making the argument in the first place.
Now, relating it to the present day, you might also know that a number of studies, including a WHO classification of "gaming disorder," and even general practical applications have been met with apprehension and doubt from gamers.

• For instance, you will not get as much traction from discussions about "World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs being addictive" nowadays.
• Even "Minecraft addiction" among kids with ADHD barely gets a mention.
• Barely any vehement comments will come with talks about grinding systems, RNG mechanics, or games where people have put in 3,000+ hours.
• You probably won't even hear too much backlash about how Twitch streaming and YouTube ensure that gamers remain hooked on video games even after turning off their TVs and putting down their controllers.
• You probably also enjoy the idea that people play video games for 12-16+ hours while streaming for that entertainment value, despite the inherent physical and psychological risks that this activity poses. Ever wonder why there have been streamers opening up about psychological problems that have surfaced due to streaming and providing video game entertainment?
• EDIT: Don't forget, Psychology also teaches us that there's a connection between video games and narcissism01445-9/fulltext). Additional factors have also shown the rise in narcissism and a decline in empathy with the younger generation. It is, however, worth noting that some studies have attempted to debunk some of these claims.

People do not bat an eye in spite of studies about the myriad ways that video games and entertainment media keep us addicted and hooked while completely influencing our behaviors.
But, when you add "lootboxes = gambling" and "lootboxes = harmful to children" in the mix, it becomes a hot topic. And these ideas have become a prevalent thought among gamers today.
I believe there's a good reason for this. There's another prevailing counterpoint to the above and that's:

• Many gamers don't necessarily care about "the children" (as loathsome as that sounds). Relating it to Closing 1: Parenting -- many simply see the statement of "lootboxes = gambling = harmful to children" as the most convenient way to curb the proliferation of microtransactions.
• In a way, "children" have become the last line of defense for a number of gamers. The only way that lawmakers might step in to finally put a stop to microtransactions ruining games is if children are finally involved in the equation.

Video games, by their very nature, have engaged and hooked us as kids -- whether it's the 80s, 90s, or 2000s.

• You could be someone who spent countless quarters in an arcade (the earliest form of "microtransactions").
• You could have forgotten your obligations to your friends or family just because you want to play more video games.
• You could have gotten addicted to WOW or other MMOs; or "one more turn" in Civ when you realized it's already morning.
• You could know of a child whose only hobby and interactions come from Fortnite, as well as streaming being the only medium for them (or any other game that's hoooked them).
• It could've led to the worsening of your eyesight, to the lack of social cues, to the rise in narcissism, to depression and anxiety, or the lack of real-life goals and ambitions.

All of these affect you because of psychological implications. However, for the longest time, gamers have espoused the need for self-moderation, or for parents taking on a more active role.
And yet, strangely enough, when you put "lootboxes = gambling = bad for children" in the mix, suddenly it's about government regulations? Suddenly it's no longer about "parents being more responsible for their kids?"
It's odd because on one hand, you've had all the effects that video games have had on us for decades. A majority of gamers have treated them differently. Yet "lootboxes = gambling = bad for children" exists within its own bubble, where a completely different reaction applies?
Just a personal opinion, but again, I do believe this is mostly because gamers see this argument as the last line of defense just so developers will start making games the way they used to.

This post is for me, to remind me when to not go back to being the person that I use to be. This is going to be long. I made a new reddit account to post this because my other account is known to people in my life and I'm embarrassed about this whole situation. I don't even know how to start this, but for anybody whose bothering to read this who may also be going through the same thing, please don't make the same mistakes I made. I have led to a very dark path in my life that I now have to climb from.
First year of university. I made it. My brain turned off. I thought I had been through the hard part. I can finally sit back and relax. Go out, party with my friends and just chill. Yeah, nope. I started to play CSGO again, alot more this time. I started to get in to the gambling scene as well, I had a lot of money to spare so I could say I easily threw $2000 in to CSGOLounge just betting and learning the ins and outs of the competitive scene. I'd be the guy to watch every single CSGO tournament going on. I learned each team pretty well and was a fnatic fanboy, specifically Flusha. Unlike other people, I quickly learned that CSGO gambling was not worth it and shut myself down from it. This didn't stop me watching qualifiers and majors of the top teams. I admired the skills of each player and I suddenly wanted to become really good in CSGO. I started to watch streams and demos of famous players. I even went as far as going on ESEA and downloading pug star demos of players like Brehze, Android, Subroza, etc. I watched GeT_RiGhT, Krimz, Olofmeister and ESPECIALLY Flusha who I find to be an extremely intelligent player out of all the demos I did watch. I bought myself a subscription to DaZeD's NetcodeGuides and watched dozens of videos on tips and tricks of CSGO. I went on Youtube and watched Steel's guides as well. I remember watching Friberg's spray control video. I just couldn't stand myself being bad at the game, there was a competitive drive in me to be the best I could for whatever reason.
I had spent EASILY hundreds of hours on deathmatch servers and aim maps all within one year of university. I bought ESEA and went from a 8 RWS player to a 9 rws to a 10, to an 11, to a 13, maintaining 100 ADR. I went from 500 hours on CSGO to literally 2000 hours in my first year of university, hitting 200 hours every 2 weeks. I had a single room in my residence and even with all this going on, I made a lot of friends in my dorm, a lot that were really cool and people who I could really talk to. I'd have so many weekend nights of people drilling by my room trying to get me to party with them and have fun. Or people who would be concerned about my lack of studying and missing of all my lectures. I think I went to 2-3 lectures total the whole year out of my 10 classes. IT WAS NUTS. I remember wanting to come in to university learning a lot of cool things I've always wanted to learn and instead spent all my time on CSGO. I was 18, recently turned 19. I remember going to all my final exams, studying day before and somehow passing a lot of them, failing some of them. I was easily hitting the 50%-60% average, to my surprise to be honest. These classes were difficult. Nothing felt as shit as when I tried to code for assignments and exams - I felt I couldn't do anything, the logical end of my brain for code was just OFF. I felt pathetic, I lost my touch, my intellect.
The worst part was, I discovered that I was wasting so much time on CSGO, and for what? Aspirations of becoming a pro? No. I knew I was set on wanting to become a computer programmer, it was always what interested me. Always what I wanted to do. But it must have struck my mind, becoming a pro. How cool would that be, right? But I'm an idiot, I'm first year university, my parents, already in the WORST financial situation, busting their ass to put me in university and I'm what, SPENDING ALL THE FUCKING HOURS playing a video game and FOR WHAT...? It got even worse when I was accepted to the university CSGO team and we participated in two leagues. One of which I was in game leader and we made it to playoffs before going out. And another league which I was support and we made to playoffs before going out. This was when I really started to set off the amount of hours played. Before I knew it, I ended my first year of university, failing 4 courses. 2 of which were really important for me to continue. I was on risk of probation and I did everything in my power to keep this hidden from my parents. My parents were really loving, and whenever I called them, I had to lie to them each time telling them how university was going fine for me, that I was studying, that I was doing something with my life. They always told me how they were proud of me for making it this far and doing the best I could. They would always say that if it got too hard, not to feel any pressure, that I could always try again, and they would always keep me compensated in debt, even when they were at such a low point in money. I felt terrible about this, and always had short pathetic bursts of trying to quit CSGO, but I'd always get back to it. Always. Every single fucking time.
I am now in the process of taking summer school and my parents had to give up a huge business deal they had that could change their whole financial situation to pay for my summer school fees. I have literally nobody in my life right now because I distanced all of them. Every person that tried to comfort me or help me, or tried to get to know me, I've distanced all of them. I've disappointed all my professors who thought I was going to be a great student. My parents think I did bad first year because of the pressure that got to me, completely unaware of my addiction to CSGO, tell me that it's okay. That they'll help me get through it and pay for my summer school fees. I can't face them and tell them the truth; to disappoint my parents. I've disappointed myself especially. I am in the risk of getting kicked out of university and absolutely failing everything I've always wanted to do for myself. I cannot tell you how many people had tried to help me, all the great friends I made, all I basically told to fuck off. I honestly don't know what it was, I was always such an analytical and logical person, a healthy person. I am now diagnosed with a heart condition related to me gaining alot of weight through the year and other conditions, and all the stress followed by it afterwards - my parents don't know. I feel like a slob, I was always a fit guy, went to the gym, took care of my body. I'm disgusting. There are many people there doing well for themselves and have the self control that I didn't, to stop playing when you need to stop playing. I didn't have that self control and that cost me. That's why the only way to end this for myself is to quit CSGO or I won't have another opportunity to climb from this dark path I've created for myself.
tl;dr: Became addicted to CSGO, failed 4 of my 10 university courses, diagnosed with heart condition for unhealthy life style, distanced from any relationships I had and overall in the lowest point of my life right now.
EDIT: Hey guys, thanks so much for all the great feedback and response. It has honestly given me hope in being able to revitalize myself and to become a much better version of myself. I've decided to quit CSGO. It was a great run, great game. But unlike a lot of you guys, I'm the type of person that can only focus on things one at a time. I won't be able to play another game of CS without feeling that competitive drive to get better again, the same addiction. Instead, I'm hoping to divert my addiction for the strife of working harder in school and doing better for myself in health. Again, thanks for the kind comments - it really has helped.

Well, I have no clue where to start with this. I didn’t even know there were communities for this sort of thing, let alone a subreddit (I use reddit daily). I don’t know how to talk about this because I’m so afraid of being honest about it. I am going to try my best and be out on the table and straightforward about this. Here is my story.
Little Pre-Story
Through high school, me and a few friends played CSGO. We found online casinos for the virtual skins that have a real world currency value and messed around. A good friend of mine made 6,000$ one night and I was amazed. I began having few week/month bouts of spending every dollar I had trying to recreate this through high school.
October 17, 2017
I moved into college. I was high on life and everything was new and fresh. I quickly became the life of my school and made a ton of awesome friends. My best friend introduced me to my now girlfriend of almost 2 years and we had an amazing time. That was when problem number 1 started. Me and her took adderall together one night and drove until morning. This quickly turned into a weekly habit and the roadtrips got further and longer. In January of 2019 we drove from Pittsburgh to San Diego in one go which due to some complications was 50 hours on adderall with no sleep. After this trip we stopped taking adderall.
March, 2019
I started a job with the government doing data processing and filing. I also started a weekend job as a product rep for Microsoft. Between these jobs and school they took up about 80-100 hours a week. This quickly led to using adderall.
April 2019 Adderall had become a weekly binge at this point. Take it and stay up for several days going to work and then playing video games. One night on a road trip with my girlfriend, I stopped at a gas station and bought a few scratch off tickets. There was a rush of gambling on adderall like nothing else. This turned into a 4 day 6,000$ gambling binge followed by the most immense regret of my life. This led to feeling awful that I lost my savings and the weekly emptying of my paycheck into worthless pieces of paper.
April 2019 At this point I discovered online gambling via BTC. I quickly became obsessed and ran out of money to fuel my adderall and gambling addiction. I opened up a line of credit with paypal and ran through 2,000$ in one night. I had to open a credit card through paypal which I then maxed out the following night. After feeling regret and moving on, I decided it was time to stop, and I did. I did great until later this month when my sister died. I didn’t know how to handle her death and reached out to a buddy and purchased a prescription of adderall. I took the entire prescription in 4 days gambling non-stop all the while. I drained my savings and opened up an american express card with a 15,000$ line of credit. I went through 5,000$ of this in no time. I ended up being late to her funeral which I still hate myself for and showed up looking like I came out if a meth house.
Over the next few months I maxed the amex card and every paycheck I got went to more gambling. I won 25,000$ at one point and put it all back in. At this point my girlfriend received a backpay for her GI bull from her father for 8,000$. I spent every dollar if it without thinking or blinking an eye. I’ve never felt so horrible in my life and had a serious decline and little bit of a mental breakdown. I was failing school and decided I needed to move back home. I started renting out my basement from my parents with my girlfriend and began facing some serious health complications which have still not been resolved as a result of adderall use. I quit adderall and gambling and was doing good for myself. That was until January when I bought a 10$ scratch off and hit for 1,000$. This led me back the same horrible path I was once on.
That brings me to today. Every week I take my paycheck, blow it on gambling and then hate myself and tell myself all week that I won’t ever gamble again. Then I get money, the thoughts of hitting bug arise, and it’s all gone again. My credits in the hole as I haven’t been paying on the cards. I can barely afford to live and I am hating my job which makes everything worse. A few weeks ago a friend if mine won a quarter million on a scratch off and I’ve been even worse since then. I can’t go on like this. I am thinking of my situation, my addictions, my health, and my debt. I feel like there is no way out. I am not me when I am gambling, I am a crazy lunatic fixed in a button. Someone please help me.
TLDR I have dug myself into debt and a horrible addiction at 20 years old. What do I do.

Tried to sum up some points that were revealed by m0E and some hard hitting questions that Richard Lewis asked. Let me know if I missed anything.

• m0E: "I don't think I have a lot of kids that watch me." link thanks to couldbeacrow
• He wanted to bring an end to diamonds which is why he ratted them out.
• Basically the way it works with other gambling websites is that when m0E loses all the money on one website then the website admins top his account off by depositing some money/points so he can gamble again on the next day on stream. But with diamonds this was different, diamonds wanted to pay m0E back by giving him the future rolls and letting him win the money manually as opposed to the house topping his account off. This served the purpose of entertainment as well! They did not do the topping off thing because diamonds thought it felt shady.
• m0E admits he is addicted to skin gambling but not so much IRL.
• As long as there are no laws that avoid him from gambling he will continue to do so. As long as Valve doesn't intervene and make laws for it, or if the countries (like UK bans gambling sites) don't stop this issue it will go on.
• Moe thinks that by revealing this if he has prompted the authorities to make laws against this then he can take all the hate because he thinks he did the right thing. He thinks he did more good with ratting this out than he did more harm in colluding with diamonds.
• m0E claims the people behind diamonds are from the UK and have done shady stuff in runescape in the past.
• m0E said he has survived worse, so he will get through this.
• Richard Lewis said m0E has to be careful and learn a lesson, thinks eleague should cut ties with him. Says "If I were Rick Fox, I'd cut ties with you"
• The spat with Thorin and m0E is nothing new according to m0E, m0E did say that Thorin was saying bad things about him but if you watch his previous streams he has had the same views on Thorin. He doesn't like Thorin as much as he didn't like him before all the diamonds drama.
• m0E replied to csgo diamonds response saying that he never withdrew from diamonds except for giveaways he was instructed to by them. thanks Steeze_NZ
  
• Response from diamonds - https://twitter.com/CSGO_Diamonds/status/744658965548662784
  

  @RLewisReports Moe used fake rolls when winning 10K diamonds on 1% and he wasn’t low on balance. Stop twisting the truth @m0E_tv
  

• Good point by Thorin: https://twitter.com/Thooorin/status/744670730525126656
  

  Remember, kids: if you get caught being unethical, try to take every other person you can down, then paint yourself as a hero
  

• Moe apologizing: https://twitter.com/m0E_tv/status/744672563222052864
  

  I said everything i needed to say in that interview. If i lost your support im sorry. If i still have your support im sorry.
  

Edit: Spelling mistakes because I wrote this too fast! :P
Double EDIT: The VOD is up: https://www.twitch.tv/richardlewisreports/v/73398507 The VOD is not working, taken down?

Hello Reddit, first of all, its never easy to talk about addictions, but what i can take from my past is that its extremely hard for me to say no to gambling, and that im always someone who will buy exclusives, pretty sad i know. I´ve spent so much time, and money... , in CSGO, a game i played for over 1,3k hours. Not only i have wasted lots of money in their crates, but i also wasted even more on gambling sides, hoping to double my money, then getting in a rush and losing it all...
/From Edit: I stopped playing CSGO completely when Siege started OP Health, that helped me alot to stop thinking about lootboxes, gambling, e.t.c.
That being said i now want to talk directly to Ubi, exclusive lootboxes, with exclusive items is the best thing you guys can do to completely bait someone like me. Its sad, really sad, my first thought reading the Outbreak article was "wow thats just bullsh*t", my second thought once i read about the exclusive elite was "i, might consider it though".
Im sorry that this post is all over the place, but talking about this is really hard.
Anyway, i just want to make this post to make Ubi aware of what they are doing. And i dont just want to complain, i even got some things to maybe losen up the whole lootbox thing.
First of all, maybe you should not give the 10 boxes to only new buyers, you could give em to Season pass owners too. This is no importance for me, but i feel the reddit being annoyed by this fact.
Second of all, from what ive read there is no way to get the boxes except for paying for them? Make them at least earnable when finishing the Outbreak mission, we dont know how its made up yet, but it would have been a thousand times more awesome if the exclusive elite wouldve been exclusive for anyone who beats outbreak on Extreme (or smth like that)
So to round this whole thing up, please ubi, i know you want our money, but think about the people youre getting this money from, i dont even have that much money atm but still consider spending everything at this chimera event, and thats just sad.
Thank you for reading this, Bonedog.
TL;DR Im addicted to gambling, and having lootboxes buyable like this in one of my fav games makes me just sad, aswell as it makes me sad that i even consider buying the 60 lootboxes.
//Edit forgot to say that i got better about gambling because i switched from CSGO to Siege, and stopped visiting gambling websides.

Hello,
Using a throwaway just to let you guys know. Also English is not primary language, so sorry for grammar and vocab in advance.
Anyways,
Here is my story:
I was first introduced to gambling at the age of 16, I was still high school at the time, the type of gambling I was doing at the time was through a video game called Counter Strike Global Offensive, where I would put my skins, choose a team, if they win, I get my skins back and another poor soul's skins, this is really what got me into it, and at that age it is very lethal. I was only betting around $5 to $10 per game and wasn't anything big. Through out that time they introduced a CSGO Poker, where same idea you use your in game skins, but this time, we played poker with the goal of cashing out big.
Shortly after, all of the gambling sites close down, but my addiction was still there, however, their was no physical way for me to gamble and I did not have any other interest in other sites or sports. 2 years later, a friend of mine messages me and tells me that their is a new method of gambling on CSGO, but instead of skins we use Bitcoin, this was the first instance where real money started coming into the equation. I go ahead and cash out my remaining skins and convert them to bitcoin and start betting on CSGO again, shortly after, it wasn't only CSGO I was betting on, I touched every sport in the book, NBA, MLB, NFL, hockey, soccer. Every single sport, when I first started I had the best run and beginners luck a 18 year old boy could have at the time. I believe I won around $5000 worth of money, and I bought a gaming monitor and other useless stuff, and when my parents told me what I did, this was my first lie regarding the matter and I told them I was doing stocks and making profit.
Do note, we come from a culture where gambling is not allowed, so I could not tell them I was making profit from gambling, because they would shut me down and since I just came fresh of $5000 to my name and me being 18, I thought I could make a million, so I never told them. Literally 1 week after, I catch a bad streak and some rage and I end up losing the whole $5000 that I made. Really at the point it was over for me, I was way too hooked to gambling that I thought I must buy in again and try to get it all back.
That attempt failed and so was the next after and the next after. I literally lost around $10,000 worth of money, before you guys get ideas of where I got so much money, do note that my Dad trusts me as his older son to have my own bank account, and I already had a couple of thousands from my college financial aid and money saved from previous jobs so I was quickly down 10 grand.
Once I was down such amount of money, I did not really have any more money to spend, so what I end up doing, biggest mistake of my life, I move on to credit, I open a credit line in my bank for about $1000 and of course I exhausted it and lost it all, so I open up Paypal and start credit through there. Paypal gives me a line of about $1000 to $3000, don't really remember the exact amount, but I exhausted that also, however, Paypal just kept increasing my credit line because they kept seeing that I was using it all the way, that they give me a $9000+ credit line, and I ended up exhausting that as well.
Here I am in my 19 year old with around $20,000 down the drain, about $10,000 is credit that I have to payback. What do you think I do at this stage? I dive even more... I was so disgusted with myself, I convince my parents to hand me over money they have saved for me and I lie and tell them I will invest , and they trusted me so much at the time they gave me around $8000 of my money, and $10,000 of their own money. I go ahead and invest their 10 grand into an S&P 500 bond, and take the $8000 they gave me and I go gamble with it... Boom $8000 down the drain. Now I am $28,000 down and Paypal and my bank are coming to collect their monthly payments. So I end up using my parent's 10 grand to pay off for my credits. As soon as I touched their money without letting them know thats when I reached the point of no return. I end up using whatever of that 10 grand left after the credits and start gambling with it, and boom that is gone too.
Here I am writing to Reddit not knowing what the fuck to do with -$38,000 worth of money spent on gambling and $10,000 of credit that I still have to pay. I told my parents a lie that the 10 grand I put for them was on hold for 1 year and they went with it, and in 2 months from today that 1 year is up and I have to pay them their money. I know their is no way I could get that money, not even if I work, so I don't know what I should do at this point.
I tried many times to talk with them, but I always get scared and my mouth becomes dry, because I don't know whether they will help me, never look at me the same or kick me out. I thought about different ways to end my life that were painless, but never thought I was going to actually do that, even now I will never suicide, but the thought has crossed my mind a couple of times when I lost big.
I know my parents have about another $15,000 saved for me, I was hoping to talk with them and convince them to help me use that to pay off Paypal and my bank credits and get a job so I can start earning the money back, but I am just so scared they won't reason and just kick me out, I love my family and my siblings and I don't want that to happen, however, in 2 months time I will be forced to make a big decision.
During this time I cut out all of my social life, I don't workout anymore, I don't study, I don't even go out of my room, I just sit there and play video games to forget the pain. My parents keep telling me to get a job and to get out of my room, but I just can't tell them what I am going through. All my grades started to fall and I am barley passing my college classes with Cs.
Any advice, help is appreciated and if you read the whole thing, then I thank you very much.

It's nothing new to them and certainly they are not the only ones who want children to gamble and yet there never seems to be much controversy surrounding it.
Sure, loot boxes get made fun of and a few reviews can be negative (got'em!) but overall this cannot be good for kids, teenagers and gamers in general.
The worst part is that it's not real gambling because at least with actual gambling you have a chance to get your money back. With digital cardpacks, your money is just gone and you might see a return if you get a good card or two.
Not quite gaming, not quite gambling, I call it: Scambling. Magic The Gathering is a prime example of Scambling of which countless "free to play" apps and games have followed suit in order to extract as much money out of the consumer who we all know are mostly children.
How is Nintendo any different with its Amiibos or Disney with its songs that are created specifically to get children hooked? Their content isn't a scamble, you get what you pay for which is a lifelong addiction to nostalgia for Mario and Mickey.
When I get on reddit and see the 50th front page topic of how Bethesda is absolute garbage for being cheap with their products, I can't help but wonder where our values lie when we have a company that killed some of our favorite franchises all for a few extra dollars from our uninhibited youth.

First of. I just graduated, I am just 21 years old. As soon as I graduated I moved to a different country to work. Now, I am not proud but I love to buy skins from games. Like csgo and dota. I spent like $1500 on fucking pixels. I didn't bought them all some I won from online betting but mostly yes, I bought cash. Just now, I won another $200 in online betting. And being the greedy little shit that I am I ended up losing $300. Tbh, I could afford the loss but it really fucking sucks. Now I am beginning to realize that this is not healthy anymore. Getting stressed of losing, spending hundreds of dollars for pixels. Starting now, I will try my best to stop online betting. Before it ruin my life. I just want to share this to you. I remember what I read somewhere here in Reddit. "Once you get addicted, money will become just numbers. You will forget the value of it" And that shit happened to me. So again, please don't be like me. Don't bet. Don't gamble. Save money.
​
EDIT: I didn't noticed my grammar on the title. Sorry. I was just really fucking pissed off.

Hello,
Recently there's been a lot of things going on on the subreddit so I thought I'd update you guys on what's going on and what's still to come and whatever. I'm also going to address some less pleasant subjects, but please know that this isn't intended to call anyone out or anything. Therefore we also won't tolerate any negativity or trolling in the comments. Please keep it civil.

Gambling

Recently there's been some issues with some of our users gambling. You've all probably seen danknissan's post but we've had others come forth privately as well. Gambling addiction is not something 'dumb', or whatever. It's an addiction as any other addiction and it can be horrible for the people who are suffering from it and for the people in their environment.
For this reason we've decided to ban any and all mention of any gambling sites on the subreddit a long time ago, but obviously we can't prevent people from doing whatever they want with their life. If you feel like you have a problem there's definitely some things you can do to help yourself. There's subreddits dedicated to helping people with a problem and there's a whole myriad of organisations and websites out there too.
So please, if you feel like you have a problem then reach out and find help. If someone you know has a problem with gambling then try to help but please don't ridicule them or treat them like shit. I could write entire paragraphs on this, but this isn't the place or time for that.

High Tier Giveaways

Starting from now we're gonna be way stricter on high tier giveaways (i.e. giveaways worth more than 40 dollars). In the past we would sometimes let people with enough flair points handle these giveaways themselves but from now on we will be much stricter on these things. If you want to give something away that's high tier then please contact the mods prior to posting it, regardless of how much flair you already have. Multiple failures to do so will lead to sanctions. This might sound harsh but it's essential to keep our community positive.

Mod Applications

Are closed as of now. All of the active mods are currently in the process of selecting a shortlist of candidates they really like, after which we will make a decision. We will make that decision when everyone has had their say so it's no use to keep asking when we will be finished. Thank you all for your enthusiasm regarding this and please do not be disappointed if you do not get picked. That doesn't mean you're an inferior candidate or whatever. Welcome charredgrass!

General Conduct And Negativity

I'll keep this short. If someone has broken the rules or is otherwise misbehaving then please just report or send us a modmail and we will then handle it. Don't start tagging a moderator in the thread to get our attention. This is inefficient (modmail or reports go to all of the mods instead of just one) and this might cause the person who we have to ban or whatever to start a vendetta against you or whatever. Additionally if you have a (personal or otherwise) problem with a user please keep it behind the scenes. This ain't the Jerry Springer show.

The Community Giveaway

Will probably be coming soon. I've been pretty busy and on top of that there was a bunch of excrement to deal with on the sub. That said though I'd like to thank all of you for donating to the last giveaway. The response was honestly better than I had expected and it was super lovely to see the responses to it. Also; the next community giveaway will probably be a raffle type giveaway, just so you know.

Our Discord Channel

Join the RandomactsofCSGO Discord Channel here! There's random giveaways there, nice conversations, you can chat with the moderators if you have any questions about anything, and you can use it for voice communication if you're MM'ing with your friends (there's rooms for that!) so don't hesitate to join. The more the merrier!

Steam Account Registration

People have been asking for this for a while and whilst Aesoa got started on a system such as this one he never got around to finishing it. I'll be asking around to see if someone from the mod team has the knowledge to implement a system where you need to register on the sub with your Steam account. If no one has that then I'll find it somewhere else. This system will help us permaban all beggars (since they'd have their Reddit accounts linked to their Steam accounts) and will also prevent alt accounts and so on.
Is now live. Check out the other sticky post for more info.
 
That's about it. Remember; this is merely informative. All of the 'issues' listed above have been dealt with or are in the process of being dealt with so there will be a zero tolerance policy for anyone who feels the need to call specific individuals out in a bad way. Thank you for reading and enjoy your day!
 
PS: Sorry for the 'harsher' tone of this post but we've been getting a lot of questions lately and have been dealing with a lot of things at the same time so I thought I'd put out a general statement to put the most common concerns to bed.
TL;DR: Just read the things you're interested in dude.
Edited in the Discord part. Edited in Steam Account Registration part.

Yes, this is real. Quick summary for the lazy: a gamer bought a skin for a knife for nearly $24K in Counter Strike. A 'skin' means it changes what the knife looks like (in this case a red M9 bayonet), so it isn't a super-charged knife or whatever, it's purely a cosmetic difference. The thread is new so scores are hidden.

Just for comparison 25k is about 0.0125% of Kim Dotcoms net worth. I would feel more remorse eating out twice in one week, then he would spending 25k on a in-game knife.
What I'm saying is, I doubt who ever bought it took a hard hit financially.[top comment]

Somewhat bizarre comment, with Kim Dot Com out of nowhere. Yeah, I suppose Bill Gates could afford this knife too. If someone has the money, and they enjoy this type of thing, then God bless.

very good point actually... [top child]

Such a low effort, non-contributive comment is highly upvoted, so most must have done so purely out of agreement.

If it makes someone happy and doesn't hurt anyone, what business do I have to judge it? [2nd top]

We're all understanding. It's their money, they're probably a Kim Dot Com type (or the child of a very wealthy person), they can spend it as they wish. A consensus has been reached.

This reminds me of those people who spend thousands of dollars playing F2P mobile and Facebook games.
Not worth $24k for most of us, but some people just have very different judgments about how much they value a rare or exclusive item. [4th top]

Someone points out the obvious, but makes the mistake of mentioning casual games, or mobile games, or microtransactions, or free-to-play games, or Facebook games, on Reddit.

I really don't think it's the same. People spending thousands in micro-transactions in F2P games is more like a gambling addiction. Each individual transaction is easy for them to justify to themselves so they keep putting in more and more and more. That's people who have a serious problem.
Spending tens of thousands on a singular transaction is more along the lines of good a old fasion free market "I shall not be out-bid" mentality. [top child]

Spending money on games I don't like = addiction. Spending tens of thousands on a single pretty game knife is free market libertar-pitalism.
There's a comment graveyard already, so I can guess what it was about.

We've now added six new moderators, we intended to add seven, but one didn't respond. We'll see if this is enough or if we need to add more in the future!
rohansamal
Hello Guys, I am rohansamal. I have been an avid Dota 2 player, Shifting To CSGO some 1.5 years back. Initially I was a silent reader / observer on this subreddit for some months. After that I started making some small analysis, reddit live scores on this subreddit. Some of you might know me from these posts.
I am from India and I am a college student. Looking forward to giving back to the community whatever I can. And lastly I would like to thank MrWZY and the mod team for giving me a chance to prove myself.
HighPing_
I am like most other people in this thread and spent most of my free time on my computer playing games and browsing my favorite subreddit pages.
I also help flair posts on /csgoscores. I live in the US and generally I am on or around my pc from noon until late in the night (2-5am) I just graduated high school not too long ago and will be attending a university later this year. Once at college I plan to do some live updates as a kind of a thank you for all the people Ive had to watch due to my slow internet.
I try to avoid arguments because internet arguments are quite pointless. I think of my self as a nice person but that is purely just my opinion and I could be wrong. I wish all the other candidates the best of luck and hope the community is happy with who gets picked!
TopSoulMan
Hey guys! It appears as if I will be your community liaison to the mod team! I look forward to hearing your requests as well as having discussions about what we can do to improve our level of communication with you!
I've been a part of this sub since September of last year and I've always considered it to be my "home on the internet". I've had a few ideas that have been moderately successful, such as the .04 cent raffle experiment and the Contributor of the Month.
I plan on continuing to develop ideas utilizing the help of the community while also maintaining a clean and updated forum. I am so very happy to be able to provide this community the type of support and love that you've shown me :D I am truly honored, humbled, and at your service! Thank you so much guys!!!!
-TopSoulMan
Doctanasty
Hello! I am a relatively new Counter Strike player, only being introduced to the game in early January. It has become my "go to" game and the betting scene has become my "go to" hobby. I admittedly watch more CS:GO than I actually play, but I still have managed the Silver 1 (and I truly deserved this rank) -> MGE dream. I am currently in school studying for Computer Engineering.
/csgobetting has by far been my most active subreddit since dabbling into the betting life a few months back, and I hope to help keep things here moving as quickly as possible and as clean as possible. Looking forward to continuing to be a part of the community!
TheCynisist
Not much about myself. I enjoy CSGO like everyone else here and I'm glad I can help moderate an important forum for CSGO discussion. I'm a fan of Elevate and have been since before Volcano left, and also been on this subreddit since about a month after the IBP Scandal. I plan to contribute more now that I'm a trial staff member. I hope everyone can have a good time with the gambling addictions community, and I'll help moderate gladly.
Hash0196
Hey guys I am Hashir or u can just call me HasH (The numbers in my name are cause of some other account by that name). I have been betting since August last year and I stumbled across this sub-reddit somewhere in September 2014 and I have been using it since then.
Some of you might know me from the score updates I used to frequently do before Reddit Live was a thing or my recent work which was the "Road to Katowice" work I did about each of teams which were attending ESL One Katowice 2015 and the Major threads about most LAN tournaments in which I covered all the brackets, prize pool distribution, format etc.
I will try my best as a moderator to flair the threads quickly and properly, and also continue my coverage of teams in "Road to Katowice" like posts.

TLDR Video Game Gambling Machines are now a thing. I would be interesting in seeing if Jim or anyone else has any thoughts. I shudder to think what the Silent Hill VGM will be like. I think a preemptive "fuck Konami" is in order.
Now with loot boxes and that CSGO thing gambling in video games has been a hot topic that out old boy Jim has covered many a time. Questions like can you subtly modify game mechanics to encourage people to spend money on random loot.
Enter a little company I just found out about called "GAMECO: The Video Game Casino" and their Video Game Gambling Machines (VGM don't ask me where the second G went I think they killed it). They have been getting press with a FPS called Danger Arena. You bet a certain amount of money and are thrown into a very basic arena shooter where you get real money based on how many enemies you kill. Looking at the trailer its also full of bullshit like invincible enemies and you do get "unwinnable maps". Looking at a trailer for the company they also have a bejeweled clone and some basketball shooting game thing.
Firstly I think this is important to the community because these machines are targeted right at us gamers. They are using our love of challenging interactive experiences to trick us into thinking we can "win" at a fucking slot machine. I see this as partially capitalizing on the way loot boxes really can introduce you to the "risk reveal" loop that makes gambling addictive. If you haven't read it I recomend the book Addiction By Design. It does a wonderful job of explaining what gives gambling its addictive qualities and spoiler its not the win no matter what the (owned by the games industry that profits from all this) ESRB says. I already made a post where I compare the feedback you get from penny slots to what you get from loot boxes if you are interested. https://www.reddit.com/Tarmack/comments/75ycx4/a_rebuttal_to_the_esrb_about_loot_box_gambling/doa0gyf/ To put it shortly I think the parallels between how a penny slot sucks you in and how loot boxes do it are obvious.
Beyond that I know this is different in some ways to loot boxes but where I see a connection is both forms of gambling work by tricking the player into thinking that the game is fair and if they just spent a little more they would be able to compete and win. "I want to see the ending but my best ork just died. I'm sooo close!" Honestly I can't help but feel like really exploitative freemium games, loot-boxes, and "VGMs" (retching) are three branches of the same rotten tree. I fully expect in 5-10 years we will see plenty of studies on how game mechanics can subtly encourage gambling.
Games to begin with play with the risk reward centers of the brain. When games are made to be entertaining experiences that can be purchased for a set price this makes them an enjoyable escape to another world. Once you start hiring psychologists to help refine pseudo gambling mechanics to maximize your now UNLIMITED PROFITS! it becomes dangerous and frankly needs regulation. And now you have these VGMs ready to capitalize on any budding gamblers who love the "risk reveal" loop of loot boxes.
Here is an interview explaining the machines (sorry for the ad at the beginning skip to about 1min in). https://vimeo.com/185986414#t=68s
"patented math model"
We don't use the words harder or easier we use the word achievability. Some levels are more achievable then others.
You don't always have enough killable enemies to get a payout.

(keep in mind i live in New Zealand, school systems are different here than America, i think they are similar to Britain though as New Zealand used to be a British colony... SOrry about the novel i wrote here... :p)

My past social life and experiences

So for a while i have been feeling empty without porn. Wasted more than 6 years of my teenage years on it since 11, now i'm 17. Although i believe that you should embrace the past because you wouldn't be the same person if you changed even something so small, i do have doubts. I feel as if i would be in a different place without it, like i would know what i am doing. Ik it's rare to be able to gain the lessons you get from becoming an addict then overcoming it, but i used porn to escape my loneliness. My family is great, don't get me wrong (except for my brother, he's an ass) but i ost my best friends when i moved schools for the last year of primary school of year 6. This had a big impact on me honestly and when i think about it, i don't feel too much resent but when i think about it, i lost my 3-4 best friends, many of my memories of the first 5 years of school and i really missed it. Now the new school i moved to was small but have me so many opportunities, i would not know near aas many ppl as i do today if it weren't for it, so much can happen in 1 year and many of my enemies became my friends or just neutral.
I had one great friend in year 6 but he was 1 year younger than me, when i started my second tier school which goes from year 7-8, i started getting lost, like really lost. Year 7 was appalling, no one in my class knew me, they thought i was weird but in reality, i was just really shy and not so much scared but not comfortable. I didn't have enemies, but i didn't have friends in year 7 either. I hung out with a group of friends (the one who became my friend actually used to be my enemy, but his friend left for another school so we became actually quite good friends, his teasing was never taken personally by me luckily). I did start making more friends slowly but idk, year 7 was so empty.
Year 8 was a bit better, especially the start. I had something happen to me, i was more outgoing and energetic, but this slowly stopped for some reason. I did have friends in my new class i was moved to, and i started hanging out with 2 new groups of friends outside class from time to time, but i still felt ehh. Keep in mind i started watching porn in year 7, but it became too much in year 9 where i went from once every 2 or 3 days to once a day, even twice a day.
Year 9 was when i started high school, it was a terrible start. I got into a class that had soooo many popular kids in the school for my home room. I had few friends, but i was awkward during this year. I really didn't enjoy this year so i started watching porn even more.
As time went on, it got better and better, year 10 i split from the group of friends i had no place in and started hanging out with a new group of friends, year 11 i became much more popular and year 12 may have been he best year of my life. I now have a large range of friends who are good friends, not best but good friends. I even made a really good friend from playing CSGO (Counter-Strike Global Offensive) online (played with my friend group at school but slowly we all stopped playing). He's now the guy i go shopping with and go to movies with and just hang out outside school, so year 12 was awesome in general.
Year 12 was the year i started gambling for a short period of time online. It was a CSGO betting website, however csgo skins are highly marketed, you can make a lot of money with selling them and converting the money from steam cash into real-life cash. This is what got me to continue, i ended up losing roughly $350 but i quit in 2-3 weeks. Luckily, it could have been much much worse and i learnt a valuable lesson about gambling, now i know gambling, how it effects you and what my limits are without wasting thousands.
The end of year 12 turned my entire life around. Our Christmas holidays/end of year holidays are 2-3 months (depends on what year level you are). Since i really do not have many friends to hang out with, i didn't know what i was gonna do this holiday, then i stumbled upon NoFap. I fell in love with the idea, but the whole idea of superpowers kinda threw me off, until i found NoPorn and off i was, now here i am 23 days in.
The end of 2016 also saw myself getting on a high protein diet to counter my skinniness, gyming to build strength, i even used YouTube to learn some small self-defense moves to make myself a but better when threat comes. I also started investing less time into gaming and more time doing anything else, i still spend a lot of time on technology but it's mostly writing here, expanding my thoughts and letting out some old feelings...

EMPTINESS

Despite me realizing my past was not the terrible, in fact it was pretty great compared to others who have it worse, i stil feel as if my life has no meaning. I don't know what i want to do next, i am a great student in school, i plan to start University next year for an engineer but from all the things i learnt, this won't make me happy. A job that gives me money but i feel i won't enjoy in the future is obviously not what I want. But I don't know what i do want. I know all i want is happiness, we all do. I want a happy relationship, a job i enjoy and people i can care about, but that's the thing, i want want want. You cannot want something unless you go for it. I feel my life is starting to fall apart without porn, porn has made the illusion that i really don't have much to offer the world. Many say i have quite a lot of wisdom and knowledge for a 17 year old but i don't know what to do with it. Others say i have quite a creative mind, but i don't know what to do with it. Some say i am a brave thinker but i don't know what to do with it. Porn has just stopped me from further increasing my ambitions and i feel i know too much about the world. I know how much it sucks, how corrupt it is, how if i move to another country to get a better job i will be treated like shit because i am an immigrant, how homeless ppl are spat on for apparently "wasting their lives" but no one asked for their story, how all ppl want is money and little care. The ppl who own the least are the most happy, but i know if i was wealthy, i would never look down on ppl because i am apparently a big shot. I want money to feel safe as money is what allows you to support yourself, without it you really aren't safe are you?
I feel i have been drained of all hope of the future, all my ambitions have been crushed. Quitting porn made me realize how perceptive i am but being perceptive has its flaws, it makes you realize this world is a shithole and the few things that could make you happy are sure to be out of reach unless you dedicate yourself to them. No one is going to hand you love, no one is going to hand you what you want, you need to work for it. The problem is i don't know where to start, i don't know where to end. When i am 80 years old, 70, 60, 50 or whatever age i die, i don't really care when i die, what is important is i want to look back at my life and see whether i actually achieved what i want
I know this is based on yourself, but right now myself is hopeless. I have no one to do something for, nt even myself. I know too much and knowing too much sometimes kills you, i know dangers, risks, i can see through ppl and see what they really are, i can strip the mask off anyone to see their true inside whether that's good or bad. I just don't want to hurt anyone but truly, the economy is designed to hurt someone. You become rich means more ppl need to become poor, not everyone can be rich, some ppl need to be poor....
I do not intend to commit suicide in any sense, to me that would be pathetic. I refuse to go out of life without doing something that i like, no matter how much i hate this world.
All i am asking myself is.... What the FUCK do i do? I came here to share my thoughts, mostly to clear my head of all these thoughts. I wish i could profit off my thoughts but who would truly want to hear my voice, it's not like i went through a life worth sharing. Even if i wanted to, i wouldn't know where to start (though sharing my thoughts on reddit is great for helping me think my life through, i appreciate support which is why i am here). I just hate the idea of waiting for opportunity. I have wasted so many opportunities (i was even offered to be trained and work as an online digital designer, but i was scared that i wouldn't be good enough, now i believe that i am good enough for everything but it's too late now) and i feel not many will come for a long time. I want to go out threre and do something but i really don't know what to do.... I just have no idea what i like or want to do because porn have stopped me from knowing

The gist of it is, two big youtubers have been doing videos on betting (and winning) on a CSGO gambling website... that they founded and own.
For all intents and purposes, the csgo gambling site is gambling with real money. The target audience of those two youtubers are younger people, many under 18. So basically they are profiting off enabling kids into gambling addicts.
In one of the videos, it was mentioned that CSGO gambling accounted for about 2.3 billion dollars in 2015 alone. I don't have a source for that so don't take my word for it.
If you're not familiar with all this, here is one thread about it.
https://www.reddit.com/pcgaming/comments/4r4oqdeception_lies_and_csgo/
Anyway, if this were happening in australia with an australian company and australian citizens, what would happen? What should happen?
Reading some comments, it seems like it's "highly illegal" falling under anticompetitive behaviour. This would be the ACCC's business (or FTC in the US). Any truth to that?

IGS REP Steam Profile
[H] ALL STEAM KEYS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

• Day of the Tentacle
• Invisible Inc.
• Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery
• Thirty Flights of Loving
• Spirits
• 2064: Read Only Memories
• A Virus Named Tom
• 7 Grand Steps
• Retro Game Crunch
• Tower of Guns
• Waking Mars
• AI War: Fleet Command
• Girls Like Robots
• Streamline
• Ninja Pizza Girl
• Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball (HUMBLE LINK)
• The Swapper (HUMBLE LINK)
• Super Hexagon (HUMBLE LINK)
• Rituals
• Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble
• Super Galaxy Squadron EX
• TIMEframe
• GRAV
• Team Indie
• Chroma Squad
• shutshimi

[W] Games below, Offers, or CSGO skins to feed my gambling addiction

• Worms W.M.D
• Rainbow Six Siege
• The Long Dark
• Dishonored
• BeamNG.drive
• Subnautical
• Other games from my steam wishlist