i feel so frustrated by the way discourse around gambling and compulsive behavior in games is reduced to nothing from both sides. there's a middle ground and gray zone here, you don't have to pretend there isn't
yes, i think gambling systems in games are dangerous and we should be suspicious of them and something needs to be done (regulation) on a societal level. when i say this people often say "oh, so you're saying any amount of randomness in a game is bad?" which is like, no, that's not what i'm saying, but would you reject the evidence if i was saying that? we can acknowledge that alcohol is a chemical that is dangerous to us and still decide there are acceptable levels of using it. that's what i want
i am not a scholar but i think we have a lot of evidence of how humans are prone to being manipulable by games of chance. that doesn't mean Big Brother is coming for your roguelike! you are allowed to be recreationally manipulated by media! i just think we should recognize that that direction has a pathological end which is Harmful