EVE General Discussion

sure they can. it's called buying every single ticket on a blink and cashing out the prize.

If you secretly do something that is ok, and people find out about it, no one cares.

If you secretly do something that is not ok, and people find out about it, they care.

Personally, I have never placed much on the fact that it was done in secret. The bigger gift was done openly anyways. I think many (like myself) didn't hear about the BIG gift because it obviously didn't get as much press.

If you do something horrible, but with full transparency ... it's still horrible.

It doesn't matter if it's direct or not.

One more step (gamble) is still a lot more direct than most RMT methods.


Also one thing not being mentioned yet - in the real world, gambling is an easy and effective way to launder money. I don't know exactly how blink works, because I have a math degree and also gambling is boring, but so long as there is a way to put in dirty space money and get out clean space goods, that is a vector for easy laundering of botted or other illegitimately acquired space money. Now, maybe CCP works closely with Somer to monitor and prevent this, or to ensure procedures are in place to make such laundering difficult or impossible. That may be. But that is an even deeper business relationship than has yet been disclosed. So it's either that, or CCP is turning a blind eye to space money laundering option because they are getting cash from them via gambling addicts buying plex. So what is it, CCP? Are you working closer with Blink than you have told us (likely, as that would explain why you are so confident it's not a scam), or are you just ignoring the threat it would otherwise pose to your in-game security options in order to enjoy the cash they funnel in?

Yes, as others have stated - just because you can't click a magic button that deposits blink cred to you eve wallet doesn't mean that you can't turn that credit into isk buy purchasing all tickets on a blink.

I mean, if you went to purchase isk on an RMT site and they made you create an account on their site to convert 'gold->isk', it would be the same amount of steps that somer has on his site to convert RMT blink cred to isk. Or, does adding the possibilty of NOT receiving(winning) the isk make it ok?

Because if that is the case then I might as well start up maybewineveisk4cash.org

Montmazar doesn't play SOMER "because he has a math degree." In other words, anyone who understands much math at all realizes that lotteries are a losing game for the players. But this is under the case that one has to actually pay for the tickets. If you are gifted the tickets, say as a bonus for using a certain affiliate gtc link, then that changes the math rather drastically.

Sure, there is basically an exchange rate converting the SOMER credit back to isk. Do not fool yourself into thinking it's not reliable though, particularly with smaller lotteries.

CCP Guard has been careful to not mention altruism or concrete reasons for support (leaving that to the more clueless, yet eager CSM). I think it is becoming blatantly clear that the reason they support Somer is due to having a positive business interest in them. And that is a conflict of interest.

And for everyone saying "this doesn't affect my corner of the sandbox" - how many titans and supercarriers do you think Somer and his employes now fly with their alts in various alliances in this game? Probably more than one. Probably a lot more than one. Somer and its employees have been gifted enough space money to make a very real impact on nullsec, lowsec, or the market via their alts.

Valid point but one addressed by CCP's anti-botting campaign. I can't really see any way they could guarantee the exact origin of any isk.

Chances are, we all have a little bot money sat mixed in with our isk - not because we've personally done it or because we are being used to launder isk, but because they will have put that isk into the market at one point or another (placement). That money used by the botters to buy x item is then part of a legitimate transaction (layering) and the seller is none the wiser they are now using illegally gained isk to purchase whatever they spend their isk on (integration). That isk then moves around as apparently clean money, despite it's actual origin.

Frankly, the replacement prizes were at least as bad as, if not worse than, the originally proposed prizes - they were something brand new and guaranteed unique; the SOMER lottery would be the only way to ever win one.

For anyone who doesn't know what "uptick" I'm talking about, it can be seen here (from SOMER Blink's own site tracking of Blink activity at the time the EVE Vegas giveaways were announced). It's pretty clear that this announcement had a huge impact on participation directed to SOMER Blink; they gained a massive ISK benefit from these prizes.

Impossible to fix? Hardly. CCP has reversed ISK transactions many times in the past; there is no reason that they could not have reset this. Instead, they chose to proceed with the giveaway even after the public uproar, completely ignoring the most significant of player concerns over the matter: favoritism towards SOMER Blink over other player organizations.

Seems it is 'around $3'.

So it looks like the 200 million you get from Somer becomes, on average with their rake, 120 million in prizes.

Say $24 per billion they actually have to give away.

Sorry, that is now definitely RMT to me and is a pretty effective way to convert ISK to $.