but... doesn't that exclude *most* games?
"(1) (a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner"
Ok. No random number generators. Fine. So we can't play 2-up.
But blackjack? Alright, that's also obviously gambling. It doesn't rely *entirely* on chance or random numbers, but does rely *partially* on chance considering the cards you get.
But what does that leave? Obviously, it leaves *all* games that don't give linden dollars as rewards, but linden dollars are the primary reward in the game. What else can you give? Skins, clothes, etc. for the avatars. But most players have already customized their characters.
My study of game theory makes me want to point out that *all* games are, to a greater or lesser extent, gambling. That's part of the psychology that makes it fun. But... I'll resist that urge, and instead ponder more.
So a game like Diablo wouldn't be acceptable? We can't have second life people killing creatures and collecting the gold (linden dollars) that they drop? Because there are random number generators involved. Would it be acceptable if the creatures are deterministic?
We *can* give jigsaw puzzles, or riddles. We *can't* give everyone a different jigsaw puzzle. That would involve randomness. So we can give everyone the *same* game that can be solved the *same* way every time. And give linden dollars as a prize.
Or we can have voting games ("who has the coolest costume", etc.)
If we remove "chance" would things be acceptable? Could I cheat? Could I make a game of blackjack which doesn't pick cards "randomly" - it picks cards due to a formula based on the time as the cards are shuffled? I could even publish the formula. See? Entirely player actions, no chance at all!
Uh huh. Yeah. This sounds really workable.
But to be fair, does anyone have a more workable definition that seperates "winning gold from playing cards or lotteries" from "winning gold from killing monsters in WoW"?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
