As I understand it, the same is true for lootbox drops. The only difference is in how rare an item actually is, but that is also reflected in price, since the resale is entirely market driven.

You could say that Valve rigs the drop rate, but you could say the same thing for Magic. It's all manufactured shortage.

You could say that Magic items are tangible...but honestly I don't see how that's an argument in the modern digital-first era.

I'm not trying to defend lootboxes...not directly, at least. Just trying to understand the hypocrisy in the gaming community comparing these two.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

But trading cards are real physical things that you can sell loot boxes and virtual goods that will disappear if the game developers ever decide that they'll go and you also can't sell them.

The problem with the CS go gambling site was that that was an extra thing on top of the skins. The gambling was added by a third party.

No one's gambling with Pokémon cards. Any attempt to do so and the Pokémon company would come down on you like a ton of bricks they're about as ligacious as Nintendo.