#Poker theme

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

steady apex
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🧵

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I understand there are no real gambling elements to Balatro but I know people will probably still consider it a 'gambling' game because of the theme, hence why I wanted to put A as an option

primal patio
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I'm B but it didn't put me off, it made me want to learn more

real saddle
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I don't really hate poker but neither do I necessarily like it all that much, what drew me in was the fact the game revolves around a "classic" deck of cards

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Not to mention the aesthetic of the game which is lovely ofc

chilly jackal
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It’d be weird if someone who actively hates poker/gambling would play a roguelike poker game in the first place

steady apex
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It's a catch 22 because the theme draws some people in and boxes others out that might actually enjoy the game

crimson blaze
steady apex
crimson blaze
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What anti-gambling people (myself included) dislike the most about it isn't the theme but rather the unwinnable (or impossibility to win consistently) about them, their riggability against them'. If you can consistently win at the slot machine or at the game of chance then it's not really gambling

crimson blaze
primal patio
steady apex
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Incredibly frustrating considering that game is just thematically referencing gambling and there are actual pay to win games legal there

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I'll link the tweet, but yeah it sucks

primal patio
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D:

steady apex
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Isn't that a load of butts?

crimson blaze
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It's also a literal "we should kill the landlords/higher class" piece of media so I could see them taking any excuse to axe it on one of the countries that has the most income concentration in the world. I doubt it was the gabling that was the real reason and just the set dressing

primal patio
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I dont see why unless the government said so, and if they did then thats upsetting

crimson blaze
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But that's too off topic. For most people I don't think it'll impact that much

steady apex
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Google play specifically mentioned "games of skill containing simulated gambling or games of chance/skill conductive to gambling"

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I think they have different ToS for different regions and Google determined that was a rule being broken

primal patio
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Yeah, oh well

steady apex
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I just feel bad for him

primal patio
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yeah

crimson blaze
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If the law in those places says "No games of skill that simulate/encourage gambling", fair enough, I suppose.

primal patio
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atleast the game wasnt fully taken down everywhere

grizzled stone
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Dont know how you would rework the theming to make it appropriate for more restrictive places, so best not to worry about it too mucj

steady apex
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Yeah this was right around his mobile release so I think it took a lot of the wind out of his sails

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I'm not changing the Poker theme I just thought you guys would appreciate some context about how theming for something like this can muddy the waters

primal patio
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ok!

obtuse pier
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Hmm i love games who use "normal" playing card and use them for an interesting. Game but i dont think particular poker was the thing that drew me in. But the different jokers who advance the game was the MAIN thing that drew me and others in. At least i think so.

crimson blaze
steady apex
crimson blaze
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Fair 🫂

primal patio
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🫂

steady apex
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Give LBaL a download on your phone if you want a similar type of game btw 🙂

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It's a wonderful game and he's a wonderful person

primal patio
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true

crimson blaze
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Way ahead of ya 😛 - over 300 hours on steam in LBAL, game's awesome

primal patio
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dang

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I only have a few hours and I was using my brothers account like 1-2 years ago

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he probably has similar hours on his account though

drowsy karma
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Love Poker, never gambled for real before, just love poker.

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Balatro was just the logical next step in my enjoyment of the game

hybrid oak
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Theoretically if this game was to get a physical release in Aus (or you otherwise had to get it rated) it would probably have some issues

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New classification rules currently in the works making all "simulated gambling" an automatic R18+ rating, which is explicitly meant to apply not just to actual gambling

steady apex
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I thought the spirit of that was like lootboxes?

hybrid oak
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Might well be, but the spirit of the rules about drug use was to prohibit drug advertising through gameplay, and that got We Happy Few banned

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Good thing is that the ACB doesn't rate pure online releases

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With few exceptions

hybrid oak
steady apex
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That's what is so frustrating about the LBaL thing, it's a game you buy one time and the themes are [hand waving] gambly

hybrid oak
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But the way the draft rule is written, it would also apply to shit like the casinos in early Pokemon games, or the Qi Casino in Stardew Valley

steady apex
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Be that as it may, to me that makes no sense

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ethically

hybrid oak
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It's not tied to the real money spending at all

steady apex
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Yeah both the LBaL guy and me are pretty anti gambling in general

hybrid oak
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The ethical notion is that they don't want kids being somehow groomed into gambling through games, so anything that generally resembles real world gambling is a problem

steady apex
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Right, and from afar I can really understand how they think that about LBaL. But up close there really isn't any extra risk/reward compared to most other games

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And the theme is close to something in the real world that is related to gambling, but with all the actual gambling parts stripped out

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Both of our games can be thought of as like you the character trying to 'attack' an enemy with a number

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And the coat of paint we slapped atop that idea is close to real world gambling games

hybrid oak
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Notably there is no staking in Balatro, but nonetheless, you don't want to get into a scenario like Rimworld where you have to spend time and money appealing a dumb ruling from the hyper-conservative classifications board

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By pointing out specific details about your game

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(Rimworld got refused classification, i.e. banned, for "incentives related to drug use" and had to appeal pointing out how the drugs are actually detrimental and model all the real world downsides associated with regular drug use. Took months before the decision was finally reversed.)

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But yeah, you could absolutely be caught in the crossfire on some of these rules here in Australia

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If you ever found yourself needing classification

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Which you probably won't

golden coral
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for me I never enjoyed poker because it wasn't a interesting game to me (not complex enough, alot of luck, etc), I didn't think much abt the gambling aspect

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so I guess "poker but rougelike" make me very interested even though I wasn't interested in poker

sonic thistle
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I’m not too familiar with Poker, since most people I’ve met would prefer to gamble while playing it, but would be fine not gambling while playing other traditional card games (and I don’t want to gamble). However, seeing a Poker-based roguelike seemed intriguing, and the gameplay loop is one common to other games that I enjoy a lot. It’ll probably take some time for me to intuit Poker concepts but the game is still enjoyable, even if I find it challenging.

hybrid oak
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IRL Poker is kinda awkward because it only really works as a game when you have stakes that all players value equally

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A core part of the game is recognising when to call it quits

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Which requires staking

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But if the stake is just money, it becomes a problem if you play with people who have different tiers of disposable income

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Because a $100 raise means a lot more coming from a day labourer than it does coming from a real estate mogul

drowsy karma
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Ah yes, the "Washizu Iwao" way of betting.

whole pulsar
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D with some nuance. I enjoy poker, but that's not what drew me in. What drew me in was the roguelike deck building elements.
I certainly wouldn't have tried it out without knowing anything about it just because of the Poker.