Do card pack odds get audited by any independent regulators?
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I have been seeing many posts by people saying their pack pulls have been coming in significantly lower than the published odds for those packs lately. The thought occurred to me. Who is holding SDS Studios (and all game developers that have loot boxes for that matter) accountable?
What is stopping SDS Studios from just listing pack odds, but not actually seeding packs with those odds? Could they just be faking the odds? Is there some regulator that actually audits these things, or are these game companies doing loot boxes/packs just on the "honor" system for abiding by their stated odds?
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If SDS really was faking their odds and someone found out, they would get sued, lose their MLB license, and would be ruined as a company, all so they could maybe make a few extra dollars. We would have heard from some whistleblower by now if the odds were not the same as posted.
Personally, Ive gotten pretty lucky this year from diamond pulls, for what thats worth. Since diamond pulls are pretty rare, we are too early in the year for there to be a large enough sample size to judge. People say this every year, theyre just frustrated because they need stubs and are getting unlucky. -
Man how we have forgotten.
You know, Parliament took all these companies on the stand b4 they outlawed loot boxes and they awnserd that question under oath. Its all public =p they admitted alot of things you are suspecting manipulation with some justification ect, EA called the star wars loot boxes "suprise mechanics". Should watch and not let stuff die to history. There is a reason loot box games are outlawed in certain countries, and its all due to that.
And the awnser is "internal audits" and admit to self adjusting on how they deem fit.
There is a reason these guys go to court and get finned millions of bucks and still do it =p the profit out wt's the court fee.
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I have been seeing many posts by people saying their pack pulls have been coming in significantly lower than the published odds for those packs lately.
Always assume those posts are cherry picked or highly embellished. Very few people come in and post "I got 4 diamonds in my last 50 packs"
There is no one, as far as I am aware, explicitly auditing. However, there are definitely users tracking their own packs and considering they give out thousands of packs to each of us throughout the year the sample size is pretty significant. We would almost certainly know.
That said, its always possible the rates are off. Given SDS goes the extra step to publish the specific rates (2K could never....) I think its unlikely they do anything intentionally fishy, but I don't necessarily trust the coding.
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what you're seeing is a dwindling education system where basic math and statistics are not understood.
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Such as all the weird duplicates that always seem to happen in specialty packs. I’m talking 3 or 4 of the same guy in a row despite similar odds.
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You would think, so many people complain about odds they might throw a cookie our way once in awhile. Maybe instead of double xp, they could juice packs for a weekend, or do a flash sale on 90+ live series. I’ve been grinding mini seasons and haven’t got a diamond in DAYS. I just opened 32 standard packs, and 7 Ballin’. NOT ONE diamond. So that’s odds for you.
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@aaronjw76_PSN this made me laugh out loud way too loud. 100% correct.
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@TheRupster12_XBL Oh by no means do I think they are faking the odds, but what is actually stopping them from doing so, other than threats of the consequences of negative public image? Surely, some organization audits the pack/loot box odds of game companies?
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The awnser is literally in the 3rd post. You dont have to care about your public image when you are makeing money and own the sole rights to something.
You think MLB cares about a sub company as long as they make a profit?
2k and EA with Basketball and Madden, they get sue'd and settle all the time the profit they make is more than the fee. The era of image is dead, No one cares anymore they just want the product. i can think of many companies off the top of my head that knowingly use labor and unethical methods to make a product for so long its known and joked about and yet it still sells.
You have Testimony in front of parliament admitting to such and its just forgotten and ignored =p this is lol
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@XxSoLiSxX_PSN I do remember all of the discourse over the EA Star Wars "surprise mechanics". I too do think that game companies in general fudge internal numbers on these things a bit, and now with AI, I can see people that pulled something big will get less in the future, and vise versa.
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The numbers can be skewed a lot with cheap/low diamond players and diamond stadiums, icons and other basically worthless cards. The truly good diamonds are much lower than the stated odds.
So technically correct but extremely misleading. It’s not like these are real cards with actual value. Once this game cycle is complete they are worth absolutely nothing.
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Always assume those posts are cherry picked or highly embellished. Very few people come in and post "I got 4 diamonds in my last 50 packs"
I'm not just talking about this game either, but the bigger loot box and card pack practice in gaming in general. Lots of people are raising eyebrows to if the pack odds are actually being seeded properly. Who holds them accountable?
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@NWOStunna_PSN I'd like to see a one week tax free community market, where sellers don't get the 10% taken off. That would stimulate the market like it needs.
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@NWOStunna_PSN I'd like to see a one week tax free community market, where sellers don't get the 10% taken off. That would stimulate the market like it needs.
that would lead to higher prices than we're already seeing.
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@aaronjw76_PSN I know statistics, and have heavy math and engineering in my education (nor was I educated in the USA). I am not actually bringing up my own personal experience with this game. If anything, I think I've pulled more than my fair share of diamonds. I was just really trying to see if these look box odds are actually regulated and double checked.
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@TripleH-4481_PSN That's a great point to bring up. Not all diamonds are created the same either. I feel there is too much of a gap between the top and lower tier of diamonds they put out there. Do they weigh certain diamond cards less and more than others? Like is pulling Ohtani less likely than pulling a Max Fried diamond?
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@aaronjw76_PSN No, I think it would just start the market gaining volume, which it sorely needs. There is no margins in the community market. All cards, the sell price is within 10% of the buy price, and people aren't even bothering to use the market anymore.
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@aaronjw76_PSN Actually, taxes generally lead to inflated prices. That tax is always taken into consideration in the Selling prices. Without the tax, a seller could sell a card for a bit less, and still see more profit.
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Absolutely there is and they openly publish the pull rates for any specific card from a pack on their website.
