Monday, March 24, 2008

WARNING - Do NOT attempt social commentary

So.............
It's time for me to go through all the buyable stuff in Kudos and decide which of it goes in Kudos 2, and what gets added.
I just ditched the lottery ticket.
Why?
Because people kept asking me why they never won. they asked me how many times to buy a ticket before I won a prize.
Here is the confession:

THE LOTTERY TICKET IS A WASTE OF MONEY.


It was a joke I put in. There is NO chance of winning. There is no code for it. It is deliberate. I find lotteries to be exploitative and wrong. the chances of winning are very very low, and yet they are marketed at people who have very little money. Some people on the minimum wage spend a noticeable chunk of their income on lottery tickets, hoping for a sudden win and a way out of poverty. Statistically, that money is better spent on buying books to learn more profitable skills, but people don't want to hear that. it sounds like hard work, and a celeb and talent-show obsessed media fuels the nonsense that you can be an overnight success and a millionaire.

Lottery tickets in real life are a waste of money. you will NOT win. I've met quite a few millionaires, and every single one of them got their money by working hard. The percentage of people who became rich (and stayed rich) by gambling is insignificant.

I guess the conventional 'casual game' wisdom is to be optimistic, and fulfil peoples dreams, but I'd rather fulfil dreams of working their way to fame and success rather than just getting lucky.
Earning money is way more satisfying than winning it. It has real value then. Something you get for nothing often feels worthless.