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Mar. 7th, 2013 08:53 amWent with Mom to the library yesterday to ask about that situation with Puella Magi Madoka Magica. We got there half an hour early before it opened, so we did some shopping at a nearby grocery store. I had taken $3 worth of quarters with me from the basement to buy a scratch card with. There were two checkout lines open, and for whatever reason, neither of the clerks there were willing to open up their respective cash register to exchange my quarters for singles to spend on the machine until I was to actually check stuff out. (I guess this forum thread that I just found might explain why.)
So anyway, I spoke to one of the cashiers again, and thought she said something along the lines of getting permission from someone else. Hovered around for a minute or so, until Mom spotted me and asked me what the matter was. I came over to her, explained, and accompanied her for the rest of the visit.
And, it wasn't long before we checked everything out, and I got my damn singles. Spent them on a 7X the Win, the only $3 brand that was in the machine. Mom got on my case from there on out about how wasteful it is to spend $3 on a scratch card and about the fact that what's in the jars is hers and Dad's that they collect from loose change. I told her it would've been the same amount spent if I bought a PowerPlay, but she told me that they buy PowerBall tickets less than once a week, and the fact that I would take their quarters to gamble with every time she goes out somewhere makes her not want to bring me along.
We dropped the subject when we got to the library parking lot. We were still a few minutes early, so I took the time to scratch my card off. Got a whole bunch of almost-wins, and Mom explained to me that a lot of these things are specifically mapped out to hype people up so that they come back thinking they're just about to win. (More on that in a bit.)
Told Mom when we were leaving that I only brought some quarters with me in the first place because I already had an actual reason to leave the house, and that I'm not gonna take every last opportunity to buy scratchoffs that presents itself. (Last Sunday, it was to use up what was left on my gift card, since I had less than a dollar on that.) In fact, the reason I'm playing Getter Love!! right now is specifically so that I miss out on some such opportunities that might arise, as well as to keep myself busy in general (especially while I'm waiting for Chelle to get back to me with certain things).
(Well, next brand chosen after this one is 2 Cool, which only costs $1. Next time I go somewhere that sells lotto, that's the amount I will bring (if I don't get singles of my own first), and that's what it'll be if it's over-the-counter. My watch digits will decide if it's at a machine, and if either they don't have that brand or they only sell tickets, then it will be whichever semi-weekly game happens to be ending on that day.)
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About scratch cards being arranged so that you lose by just one... Well, something similar about the Battle Towers and Frontiers becoming increasingly rigged is exactly the final reason why I stopped playing Pokemon. There are differences, though. With the lottery, I can understand the company behind these games wanting to hype customers up so that they come back for more. Unlike video games, these games carry the potential for huge sums of money, and there actually are tickets that win these. It's obvious enough why few people ever win, though, or else the lottery would go out of business in a hurry.
The main problem with Pokemon's Battle Towers and Frontiers is that, as you win more consecutive battles, the game actually fucks with the Random Number Generator in favor of your opponents, so that things happen like you always miss, even with the most accurate moves, while your opponent keeps scoring critical hits even with less accurate moves. That defeats the purpose of having an RNG in the first place. I always played these games, hoping for fair fights (or at least a fair as you can get with AI). These are supposed to be fair challenges between Trainers, not the hero and bosses. Your opponents getting stronger is one thing, but when the game rigs itself against you when you're battling others who should follow the same rules as you do, that's not a challenge, that's just a fucking insult. And none of this says anything about everything else that's wrong with the games, which is exactly why I started Parasitic Trio almost a year ago.
So anyway, I spoke to one of the cashiers again, and thought she said something along the lines of getting permission from someone else. Hovered around for a minute or so, until Mom spotted me and asked me what the matter was. I came over to her, explained, and accompanied her for the rest of the visit.
And, it wasn't long before we checked everything out, and I got my damn singles. Spent them on a 7X the Win, the only $3 brand that was in the machine. Mom got on my case from there on out about how wasteful it is to spend $3 on a scratch card and about the fact that what's in the jars is hers and Dad's that they collect from loose change. I told her it would've been the same amount spent if I bought a PowerPlay, but she told me that they buy PowerBall tickets less than once a week, and the fact that I would take their quarters to gamble with every time she goes out somewhere makes her not want to bring me along.
We dropped the subject when we got to the library parking lot. We were still a few minutes early, so I took the time to scratch my card off. Got a whole bunch of almost-wins, and Mom explained to me that a lot of these things are specifically mapped out to hype people up so that they come back thinking they're just about to win. (More on that in a bit.)
Told Mom when we were leaving that I only brought some quarters with me in the first place because I already had an actual reason to leave the house, and that I'm not gonna take every last opportunity to buy scratchoffs that presents itself. (Last Sunday, it was to use up what was left on my gift card, since I had less than a dollar on that.) In fact, the reason I'm playing Getter Love!! right now is specifically so that I miss out on some such opportunities that might arise, as well as to keep myself busy in general (especially while I'm waiting for Chelle to get back to me with certain things).
(Well, next brand chosen after this one is 2 Cool, which only costs $1. Next time I go somewhere that sells lotto, that's the amount I will bring (if I don't get singles of my own first), and that's what it'll be if it's over-the-counter. My watch digits will decide if it's at a machine, and if either they don't have that brand or they only sell tickets, then it will be whichever semi-weekly game happens to be ending on that day.)
-----
About scratch cards being arranged so that you lose by just one... Well, something similar about the Battle Towers and Frontiers becoming increasingly rigged is exactly the final reason why I stopped playing Pokemon. There are differences, though. With the lottery, I can understand the company behind these games wanting to hype customers up so that they come back for more. Unlike video games, these games carry the potential for huge sums of money, and there actually are tickets that win these. It's obvious enough why few people ever win, though, or else the lottery would go out of business in a hurry.
The main problem with Pokemon's Battle Towers and Frontiers is that, as you win more consecutive battles, the game actually fucks with the Random Number Generator in favor of your opponents, so that things happen like you always miss, even with the most accurate moves, while your opponent keeps scoring critical hits even with less accurate moves. That defeats the purpose of having an RNG in the first place. I always played these games, hoping for fair fights (or at least a fair as you can get with AI). These are supposed to be fair challenges between Trainers, not the hero and bosses. Your opponents getting stronger is one thing, but when the game rigs itself against you when you're battling others who should follow the same rules as you do, that's not a challenge, that's just a fucking insult. And none of this says anything about everything else that's wrong with the games, which is exactly why I started Parasitic Trio almost a year ago.