Does the Gambling Ban kill Sploders too?

Sploders require people to pay to play and are based on a randome award and pay out Lindens. Sounds like gambling to me, but I hope it doesn't sound that way to the Lindens. I love my sploder!

Technically it would be I'd think.

Context probably plays a big role as well though in enforcement. If you throw a party and have a sploder out for fun, I doubt LL would care much.

Putting and leaving one out in a club might be trickier.

In the end they're not going to say any kind of gambling device is allowed since then you'd have a "casino" stuffed full of the allowed kind and nothing would change.

Context has zero issue.

LL has ZERO say in this matter and has to follow federal US laws. If they don't enforce them after being alerted to online gambling (and yes sploders are a chance game) then the government would get a tad bit pissy.

If context had zero issue then LL would simply announce that it's purging every last copy of every gambling device they know about from the grid, it's very easy for them to do and an entirely automated process that runs through both sims and inventory.

Since that's not what they're doing, they're stuck with going instance by instance and their main concern by far is to go after gambling venues, not a sploder for 10 people at a party. Given the choice of handling an AR about a casino, or a private sploder, they'll take care of the casino first.

will Slingo be banned too?

Yes.

I'm well aware they'll go after the casino first HOWEVER they will hit the private sploder as well if they get enough AR reports.

Linden Lab Will not purge SL of gambling machines. If they did then Linden Lab would be responsible for everything in Second Life and be considered a Publisher.

"Even though in the TOS Linden Lab can by (Your Agreement to the TOS) delete anything within the Digital World. Ban an Account for no Reason... A US Judge has over ruled Linden Lab TOS in the Bragg case for a un-fair TOS Agreement"

Saying that people cannot use them, but not purging the Second Life world of the objects.
therefor Linden Lab should still be Ok with the US Laws. "For Now"



The Laws about the Internet are still evolving and will probably continue to do so for a good long time. Laws about Virtual Worlds and Second Life are just now going to evolve.


(I For one am in favor of Linden Lab doing this. Most machines are rigged so the house always wins. Plus some un lawful casino owners not paying out big jack pots. Scum I Say, Plain Scum)

I can also feel the pain of Developers who made all this equipment. but those are the punches of creating such items.

Now just wait to see the underground gambling houses pop up... Hush Hush scene's.
The Underground world of Second Life starts now!

the new policy as written doesn't ban Slingo, as there is a small amount of skill involved in that game, no matter how trivial. Whether they plan on changing the policy or not to include Slingo within that ban is an open question. personally, considering Slingo is one of SL's success stories, I doubt it, unless pushed by actual US legislation.

Spolders are an interesting case in point ... they don't really rely on a random number generator to provide a game result ... but then again ...

Interesting ...

Slingo/Tringo is also an interesting case in point as it is not a necessary casino game ...

If there was a fixed odds element to ALL games then that could be regulated but LL would have to obtain a gaming licence to do so (hi there Kanawake Gaming Commission!!) but LL will not want to do that, nor should they.

This is going to be fascinating to watch, for me, and I hope there's an answer re sploders soon. I often feed sploders in areas with nublets, as a form of random social philanthropy (no wonder I am skint!)

Slingo involves random number generation, according to the blog it therefore falls foul of the law.

Funny thing about (1)(a) up there.... Sploders usually allow you to change the payout mode. "Mixed payouts," which give one person a certain percentage and another person a DIFFERENT percentage, use random number generation. "Everyone wins" payout modes are more like communism; The owner takes his cut, and then everyone else gets the same percentage of the pot.

"Mixed payouts" are against the rules, "Everyone wins" do not seem to be.

The owner takes his cut = rake = profit from gambling.

Well that seems clearer to me that if the owner takes ANY profit then that's foul of this new TOS.

Hmm, in taht mode, there is NO random chance, so by the new policy, it is not strictly speaking, banend as such. Remember boys and girls, the rule is essentially no wagering on games of chance with a potential payout of value. A sploder with no random element removes the game of chance aspect, making it acceptable by the rules as written.

The thing is that what happens in SL isn't actually gambling as no real money is being used. Also, there's nothing in the federal law against gambling. If that were the case no place in the U.S. would have gambling - goodbye Las Vagas and atlantic City.

Poker and BlackJack require a degree of skill as well, so, unfortunatly, that arguemtn can't save Slingo.

By the text of the policy, I'd say Slingo, sploders, Blood21 and the like are all out. However, these are all games of chance created within SL, so only LL can make the call on them.

Wait...I'll hold my breath waiting for a response from LL to clarify a policy.....

~Jessy

Is blue your colour, hon?

Yeah but ... yeah ... but ... if someone takes a CUT of the money in the pot then that is taking a rake.

Same as the majority of Poker rooms, who take a percentage of the pot as their payment for running the table.

= profit from gambling, potentially

Erm.....

Yes, I know there is a rake in that scenario. Nonetheless, it fails to meet the strict definition of items that have been banned, as there is no random number involved in determining a "winner".

Really, in that mode it isn't so much gambling as communism.

ETA: Which is probably going to be grounds for banning sooner or later anyway

LOL

Damnit I won't buy that Trotsky avatar then.

Seriously tho ... it mentions profit being made. That COULD also be used, yanno?

I like sploders personally. I don't see really that they do any great harm as they are not relying on a gameplay result per se ... you know when you enter than you could lose ... how much you put in there is your own judgement ... it's a way to put some money out to people if you're feeling so inclined (1000L spolder fests have not been unknown here when I was hosting an event).

I don't know where you get that from. It's never mentioned in the policy statement, and is irrelevant to whether or not something is gambling.

Go to the Knowledge Base, select policies in the sidebar, and then select Policies Regarding Wagering in Second Life (at https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4532). Search the page for the word "profit". It's not there. Follow the Wagering Games link at the bottom to get to the FAQ. Search the page again, it's still not there.

I dont know but saw you on here and, looked around the halls.... Ah this is where the janitor has been hiding!