EVE General Discussion

There are more to dec!

Rare ships for 'raffle'
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=287581&find=unread

Plex for 'raffle'
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=287597&find=unread

Nor is the character lottery 100% guaranteed.

1st guy get 3000 tickets.
2nd guy gets 1 ticket.

Draw is made, who do you think will win statistically?

your own willful ignorance and myopic views have done more to insult you than any of us ever will.

*drops mic*

he didn't raffle the character. he raffled tickets for an opportunity to bid on the character. the character sale is technically open to everyone in the same manner that Somer's lottos are.

i find it hilarious that you can justify it for Somer but condemn others for the exact same thing. i wonder why you're playing the hypocrite... is there perhaps a conflict of interest we aren't aware of?

Strangely there is a thing called probability. If I enter a sufficient amount of Blinks purchasing 50% of the tickets I will win 50% of the time.

So if I buy 50 GTC and get given my 10 billion blink credits and buy 50% of the tickets in plex lotteries I will win 50% of the time.
Now in every lottery there are more isk than the item is worth, I can't remember the amount but it is about 20% loss to the customers.

So now to get these plex I just ask for pay out and recieve about 8 billion isk in plexes

Or I ask for in game isk and Somer takes even more for that so out of my 10 Billion credits I get what 6.5 Billion isk in game?

Explaining it the long way sounds more like money laundering than RMT to be honest, Somer has taken their cut to clean the isk of its RMT stench.

Either way around I put in cash and get out isk that did not come from an in game plex sale.

The character is not up for a lottery, the right to bid 1 isk for it is.

he already knows he's just being willfully obtuse. look at his post history in threads about Somegate, they're pretty much all the same.

Yep, they are all pointing out that you are making stuff up as you go along

The key element is that you have to prove the two parties aren't related. If there is any sort of mutual interest to be proven then my guess is that it would be illegal. But this isn't the case (yet) for SOMER and Markee Dragon. As it stands Markee is using an affiliate system to boost his sales, which is legal. SOMER is using that affiliate system to fund their servers, which is legal and done on wide scale in the EVE community. SOMER then decides to give people credit for using their affiliate link.

If you want to break it down, here is what happens:

1. Player buys GTC from Markee Dragon for $$$. Legal Transaction.
2. Markee Dragon gives SOMER a % in $$$ for forwarding a customer. Legal Transaction.
3. SOMER gives the player credit to use on their site. Legal Transaction (if this was illegal at the moment CCP would not have endorsed them, simple as that).
4. Player can then win ISK to cash out. Legal Transaction.

The reason this setup is legal and a one person setup is not is because SOMER is not receiving money from the player in return for ISK or even credit. In turn Markee Dragon is not giving out ISK in return for selling a GTC.

If you were to do this on your own you would be the one receiving the money AND giving out the ISK in return (directly or indirectly). That's the major issue here.

In my opinion the whole credit thing is a secondary issue that needs to be looked at. Should a website be allowed to reward its visitors for using their affiliate link? Google is a nice example here. Google (CCP) receives money to show ads (provide game time). Google(CCP) then allows website owners to get a cut of the profit for showing the ads they sold (selling GTC's). However Google very strictly prohibits website owners to encourage users to click on the ads or reward users for doing so. Maybe the same system should be applied here. You're free to make a buck or two by using affiliate links, but you shouldn't be allowed to reward people for using it.

The credit thing is a major issue not a minor one and as to two parties handling the GTC transaction, well they are not if you look at it from the perspective that Somer receives cash from the sale of that GTC, it is the same as if Somer bought them in bulk and sold them, they are making RL cash and though a system handing out isk.

As I said the someone else handles the cash makes as much sense as my brother selling the GTC and me giving out the isk, if I am receiving a portion of that sale I am still receiving cash in exchange for isk.

But I did like this sentiment "You're free to make a buck or two by using affiliate links, but you shouldn't be allowed to reward people for using it."