Does gacha save lives? Thoughts on the gambling epidemic

[tsugumi]

One guy is dropping $5K USD whenever a new waifu that catches his eye shows up. Another guy is dropping $5K on the weekly sports game of his choice. Who's really losing? Did the first man's gacha addiction actually save him from a future sports gambling addiction? In an era where gambling is easier than ever and the demographics of gambling addiction have completely shifted, should we be using hot anime pixels to staunch the bleed? Is FGO actually performing a public service? Have otaku finally come out on top over the dreaded normies? Much to think about.

[Dullahan]

at least the guy betting on the sports game might actually win something

[Ideofago]

More money constitutes a more valuable return, since it means he can at the very least bet more.

[TomPen94]

No, because the 5k the otaku whale spends on FGO are 5k he's never seeing again. The 5k the sports dudebro spends on Sports bets are 5k he might see, maybe double or triple, if he's rly rly lucky.
Neither are stopping unless their pockets are completely emptied, but the sports dudebro could bounce back with (a lot of) luck. The only bouncing the otaku whale would be doing at that point would be on top of a dakimakura (assuming they even saved enough for that instead of splurging everything on FGO).

Gacha is worse than ""regular"" gambling.

[tsugumi]

See, that was always my thought, and I used this to laugh at gacha gamblers. But the situation has radically changed in the years since, and sports betting apps are becoming a part of watching sport. Now, my heart is changing. My mind is opening. If fresh FGO titty only drops every month, and the gambling addict is opening himself up to big losses every single week... well.

FGO slowing to a non-existent crawl is also a public service, from this aspect.

[Rafflesiac]

Does it make a difference where you shoot yourself?

[tsugumi]

The head vs the foot?

[ResidentSeagull]

Are we really going into this argument again?

The point of any sort of gambling is the dopamine rush you get upon winning when the odds are not in your favour, not the rewards themselves.
Arguing whether or not you get anything tangible out of it is irrelevant.
Gamblers are gonna gamble by whichever methods they choose.

And if it fucks them over, they ultimately have no one to blame but themselves.

[mAc Chaos]

Scared money makes no money.

[Mattias]

More money constitutes a more valuable return, since it means he can at the very least bet more.

On the other hand the gacha is more sure bet. You can actually win by dumping more cash into it. Whether you bet 10 or 10,000 on a sport event the odds remains the same. Nothing you can do can really effect the outcome, outside of pulling a Tanya Harding. Gacha though, the more money you sink in the more chance you have to succeed in your goal.

[Formless Creature]

I think of gacha spending as being roughly akin to dropping 500k on a sports car you're never gonna use. Like yeah, the car is technically more materially useful than the waifu, since you can drive in it, but in either case you're just spending a ridiculous amount of money on something you only plan to admire and show off.

[Mattias]

Depending on the game it's utility can vary. Something like FGO or a Mihoyo can be akin to a DLC character from Street Fighter. My other gacha, Azur Lane, is 100% Jpeg collecting though. That's the limit on my gacha knowledge though, never played Nikke, Kancolle, Frontline or any of the other ones that bombard me with ads every time I hit youtube. RPG's are easy to do, just make characters with different skills, same with action games. Bullet Hells just make stronger characters for easier clears. No idea how a rhythm game like Love Live worked. Like did SSR's give you more leeway on hits? Or make Wedding Dress #3 have a unique song tied to it that will forever sit at a 0 on your record until you roll them?

[Ratman]

The sports betting guy is generally worse because he is also a normie caught up in genuine life-ruining addiction, and typically convinced he can actually make a return on it to feed his family, whereas gacha players are generally aware of their degeneracy, and tend to spend money when they have too much and no one in their life to spend it on. Of course, outliers everywhere, gacha players are delusional in their own ways, just speaking from experience.

Moreover, they are not the same in a vital regard: The sunk cost of sports betting is the money spent. The sunk cost of gacha is your time.

- - - Updated - - -

'Think how much Goethe you could read' implies one is missing out on self-improvement, stagnating. Of course, stagnation is bad philosophically, but it is quite alright mathemathically. "But don't you have bills to pay/family to feed" is quite different, and outright negative. You are not making a waste, you are actively in the minus for doing this.

[TomPen94]

That doesn't mean the gacha is saving the life of the otaku though. Your argument is based on the idea that otakus are already aware of their own shortcomings and would therefore control themselves better, so they wouldn't be betting on sports anyway should they decide not to do gacha. The gacha didn't prevent them from doing anything. They did, by themselves. All according to your logic.

[Ideofago]

Otaku are the least self aware people in existence, therefore your argument is invalid.

[Formless Creature]

I think the point that there is no expected return on investment is actually a good one. Because you can generally stop as soon as you get the waifu (or however many dupes you need to max her out). Sportsmaxxers invest as much money as they can in the vain hope that they'll actually get it all back and then some. So in that sense, the fact that you can't actually make any money out of a gacha game may be a good thing. It puts a hard limit on how much you can meaningfully spend, and the weirdos who go "but what if I had 10 copies of NP5 Merlin??" can't be stopped anyways.

[Ideofago]

Problem is, every gambler is already the weirdo who wants 10 copies of NP5 Merlin. The thirst will never be quenched.

[Ratman]

That doesn't mean the gacha is saving the life of the otaku though. Your argument is based on the idea that otakus are already aware of their own shortcomings and would therefore control themselves better, so they wouldn't be betting on sports anyway should they decide not to do gacha. The gacha didn't prevent them from doing anything. They did, by themselves. All according to your logic.

It is the privilege of those who have nothing to lose to freely ruin their lives.
I don't think anyone over 15 has had the repoman called on them due to buying too much quartz, but with sports, it happens regularly.