Last updated 2:00 EST, 27 July
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All new posts asking about information already provided here will be removed and redirected here to reduce redundancy.

Release

As of 5:15 EST, the update has released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

• 3.4GB on PS4
• 3.2GB on Xbox One
• 2.9GB on Steam
• 2.6GB on Social Club.

On the note of releases... Some countries will not be able to access certain content from this update due to gambling laws. Thankfully though, players from these countries will still be allowed to download the update in general.

Money for Diamond Casino

For ways to make money to afford the new DLC content, along with methods to make an empty lobby to do CEO/MC work, check the Mega Guide.
Tips

• You only need $50,000 to register as a VIP! If you have at least that much, you can register as a VIP for 4 hours and get access to VIP missions (which can be done in an invite only session), giving you a lucrative way to save up.
• If you own both a crate warehouse and vehicle warehouse, you could use them together to make more money overtime than you could by using either exclusively. Use your sourcing/exports between crate pickups and sales, and you'll be getting the best of both worlds, gaining from the postive money-making aspects of both.

Content and Prices

Content that has initially released with the update.

Southern San Andreas Super Autos

• Weeny Issi Sport - $897,000
• Vapid Caracara 4x4 - $875,000

Legendary Motorsport

• Annis S80RR: $2.6million
• Enus Paragon R: $905,000
• Obey 8F Drafter: $718,000
• Truffade Thrax: $2.3million

Penthouses

• Cash Pad: $1.5million
• Party Penthouse: $3.78million
• High Roller: $6.5million
• "Design Your Own": $1.5million

Penthouse Customizations

• Colour options: $215,000 or $258,500
• Pattern options: $92,000 - $210,000

Penthouse Addons

• Lounge Area: $400,000
• Media Room: $500,000
• Spa: $800,000
• Bar and Party Hub: $700,000
• Private Dealer: $1.1million
• Office: $200,000
• Extra Bedroom: $200,000
• Garage: $800,000

Gambling

As this is a Casino-centric update, there's plenty of ways to gamble away your hard-grinded money.
The gambling in this game centers around a new form of currency, called Chips. These chips are pretty much like real-world gambling chips, with a one-to-one dollar value, except you keep your chips when you leave the casino. Chips are an actual currency in GTA Online, as they can be used to purchase exclusive items from a shop inside the casino, along with being used to bet with when playing the Gambling Games, listed below

• Slot Machines: There's plenty of options to choose from, but they all perform the same way. Spend some chips, and let the RNG decide whether or not you earn anything from it.
• Blackjack: Casino style blackjack with up to four simultaneous players, all of which play against the dealer. Anyone who beats the dealer individually wins, anyone who the dealer beats individually loses, and if the dealer gets Blackjack (an Ace and 10/face-card), everyone immediately loses. Assuming your initial hand isn't a Blackjack, you have the option of doubling-down, which doubles your initial bet with the caveat of only being able to hit once.
• Poker: Three-card poker. You make your bets, check your hand, and similar to Blackjack, each player wins if their hand is better than the dealer's, and the dealer beats whoever has a worse hand than him. While there is no option to double-down, how much you win does depend on how good of a hand you have. The better your hand, the more you win. Also, while you can fold your hand, you lose your initial bet anyway.
• Horse Racing: Pretty much standard horse racing bettering. You choose a horse, you put your money down, and if you bet correctly, you get double the amount you bet in return. Otherwise, you just lose the amount you bet.

To gain more chips, there is a counter inside the casino where you can buy them, however you are limited in how many you can buy per day (real-world 24 hours). As standard, you can buy a maximum of 20,000 chips per day, but if you own a penthouse of any tier, you can buy up to 50,000 chips per day. Chips can also be traded in for money, but there does not appear to be a limit on this. No matter how many chips you win from gambling, it appears that you can trade them all in at once for the equivalent dollar value.
Lastly, there is the Wheel. It's a roulette wheel that you can only spin once per day, which costs $500 per spin. There are twenty reward slots, and since some rewards are in multiple slots, they have greater chances of being selected. The biggest note about this wheel however is that there is one slot in which you can win a free car! What makes this so significant is that since the car takes a 1/20 slot on the wheel, that means you still have a 5% chance of winning a free high-value vehicle! Compared to most online games, that's pretty much the most generous RNG you can get.

Business and Missions

coming soon

FAQ

Are there any differences between the penthouses
For once, yes! Well, technically... they're the same basic property layout, but each option gives you different addon options.

• The Cash Pad: The basic Penthouse with no property addons available . You cannot purchase a garage, extra bedroom, lounge, etc. with the Cash Pad. You can, however, purchase penthouse customizations (colour and wall patterns).
• The Party Penthouse: Gives you certain of the addon options: the main Penthouse, the Extra Bedroom, the Lounge Area, the Spa, and the Bar and Party Hub. You are locked to these options, no more, no less.
• The High Roller: Gives you all of the property addons as standard, and the most expensive penthouse customization options... this means that you cannot choose your own colour and wall patterns with this version.
• The "Design Your Own": ...What should be the standard option. It gives you the basic penthouse and allows you to choose which addons and customizations you want, with an extra cost for each one, of course. Just get this one. You can also renovate this option later, allowing you to purchase more addons and change your customizations later.

What do the Penthouse Addons do?

• Lounge Area: Allows you to purchase the other Penthouse Addons (except for the Extra Bedroom and Garage, which are the only items addons that can be purchased without a Lounge).
• Media Room: You know the cinemas around Los Santos? The ones that play a few 5 minute animated films on repeat? That, but in a Penthouse.
• Spa: Gives you access to a hot tub and a Personal Stylist. The Stylist's services are the same as the ones spread around Los Santos (hair, contacts, and make up), but they're all free.
• Bar and Party Hub: Allows you to consume drinks that instantly intoxicate your character, along with access to special arcade games that aren't available anywhere else in the game.
• Private Dealer: Allows you to play gambling games in your penthouse.
• Office: Adds a standard computer, a Gun Locker, and a money vault (don't get excited, it's just aesthetic).
• Extra Bedroom: Bedrooms in owned properties in GTA Online are used as spawn points, so why can you pay to have an extra one? Because you can now allow a friend of yours to claim it! The Extra Bedroom allows a friend of yours to use your penthouse as a spawn apparently, though the exact implementation of this is not completely clear.
• Garage: Access to the Penthouse's garage bay.

How do I get the armored car?

• To recieve the Enus Paragon R (Armoured), you have to complete the Diamond Casino's mission series, which you must own a penthouse to access. Once of the missions are complete, you'll be given the vehicle for free! But remember, it's uninsured and you only get it once, so immediately go into passive mode and take it to the nearest Los Santos Customs to insure it, or else you could lose the vehicle permanently.

Passive Mode

Good news, passive mode has been fixed!

• Passive Mode can now no longer be active when using a weaponized vehicle
• A Passive Mode cooldown of 2 minutes is now in place for players who have just killed another player
• Players now must wait 5 minutes before they can activate Passive Mode again after disabling it
• Players now must wait 30 seconds before they can disable Passive Mode after activating it

These changes make is so that grievers can no longer abuse passive mode, or at least no where near as easily. If you start to get the upper-hand on a griefer and destroy whatever death-machine they're using to troll you, or if you confront them in a death-machine of your own, they can't abuse Passive Mode to try to get the upper-hand on you!

Solo Session

Check the Mega Guide for ways to push yourself into a public Online session with no one else in it. Keep in mind that some missions and abilities are unavailable if there's no one else with you though!

Bugs and Glitches

• Apparently on PS4 and Xbox One, you must have full size of GTA V available to download the update, so if you have less than ~60GB free, you may have trouble downloading the update. This does not mean that the entire game is re-downloaded, it just means that the update may not download if you don't have that much space available.

Credits

Special Thanks: u/Rebored_Warrior - Sent me the official patch notes link!

• u/LordMcze - Information on countries that restrict players from gambling functions.

Since the Diamond Casino update, I have seen a large number of 12-year-olds posting Blackjack memes on this sub. As a parent, this has me very worried.
On top of that, I have seen some of the most trustworthy GTA Youtubers giving flawed gambling advice, which can have damaging impact on their gullible audiences.
So that's why I decided to write this up, to educate everyone on the subject, so there will be no more misunderstandings.
(2020 Update down at the bottom.)
If you're one of those Youtubers that wants to use this information in a video, feel free to do so. The more people (especially kids) that become educated about gambling, the better.
But then also please go back and review your own work, and delete or edit the videos that are giving out the wrong advice, like where you're saying you have "a good strategy for making money with roulette", or some other nonsense that I've heard this week. Delete that please.
Before I get into the individual games, I need to discuss a few concepts first, that will make understanding the rest a lot easier.
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Expected return and variance
A game like Roulette or Slots has a fixed expected return on your bets. This is a percentage that you have no way of influencing. Say you are flipping a coin against a friend, and you both put up $1. The winner gets the pot. Since the odds are even at 50%, in the long run, you will expect to break even. Your expected return is 100% of your bet.
But imagine if you would play this coin flipping game in a casino against the house. On the "house rules" listed at the table they would probably say that you would only get 95 cents back for every win, while you are forfeiting a dollar on every loss. Would you still play?
Sounds stupid to do so, but still, everybody does it. Every bet they place on Roulette, every coin they put into a Slot machine, is based on the same concept.
Those few cents they take on every bet are their profit margin, and has paid for all the Vegas lights, the Mirage volcanoes, and the Bellagio fountains. Make no mistake - casino gambling games are not designed to make you lose, because sure, you can get lucky on a single night, but they are designed to make them win. That's the beauty of it. They can both exist at the same time.
Too many people that don't see how this works, are just destined for disaster. Just because you went on a lucky streak and won 8 games out of 10, does not mean that flipping coins is a profitable game, or that choosing tails is a winning strategy. Always be aware of the house edge, your true chances of winning, and just realize that you got lucky. There is no such thing as a strategy in flipping a coin that will give you a higher expected return, so it's just pure gambling, just like Slots and Roulette.
Most casino games are made in such a way, that your expected return is a little under 100%. This means that from every dollar bet at the tables, the casino expects to keep a few cents. For individual players, results may vary. Some will win, most will lose. But for the house, it doesn't matter. They take millions of bets each day, so for them, the expected average works out a lot sooner. In short: the house always wins.
When looking at the house edge, we're talking about the expected long-term result, based on the game's house rules. But for a player, it can take literally tens of thousands of hands or spins before you also reach this average number. Until that time, you can experience huge upswings and downswings, that are the result of nothing but short-term luck, which is called variance.
Some games and some bets have a much higher variance than others, which means your actual results will differ enormously from what you're expected to be at.
Take for example betting on red/black at the Roulette table. This is a low-variance proposition, because it has a high percentage chance of occurring, and a low payout.
Contrast this with betting single numbers in Roulette, which only win once every 38 spins on average. This bet has a much higher variance, meaning you can easily hit a dry spell, and not hit anything for 200 bets in a row, or you can see a single number hit three times in five consecutive spins. This is not a freak occurrence in high-variance bets.
Even though the expected return in both these bets is exactly the same, there's a huge difference in variance, causing massive differences in short-term results, which can go both ways. You need to be aware of this, before you decide what types of bets you are comfortable with placing.
​
Gamblers' Fallacy
Another thing to realize, is that each individual game, hand, or spin, is completely independent from the one(s) before it, and after it.
Gamblers tend to believe, that the chance of a certain outcome is increased, based on previous results.
The most famous example comes from the Casino de Monte Carlo, where the Roulette wheel managed to land on black 26 times in a row. Gamblers lost many millions during that streak, all frantically betting on red, believing that the odds were in favor of the wheel coming out on red, after producing so many blacks. This is not true. Each round is completely independent, and the odds are exactly the same.
You will hear people say things like a Blackjack table being "hot" or "cold", which is completely superstitious, and should be ignored. The exception was when Blackjack was being dealt from a shoe. It made card counting possible. But with the introduction of shuffle machines, and continuous shuffling like is being used in GTA, this no longer exists.
This is also why "chasing your losses" is a very bad idea. After being on a losing streak for some time, many gamblers believe that now it's their turn to start winning. So they will often increase their bet size, believing that when their predicted winning streak comes around, they will win back their losses, and more.
The reality of it, more often than not, is that people will indeed start playing higher and higher limits, until they are completely broke. Nobody is ever "due for a win". There is never a guarantee that you're about to start winning. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. You are, after all, in a casino.
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Betting systems
Some people like to think that they have a fool-proof betting system, like the Martingale system. Simply increase or even double your bet when you lose, and keep doing that until you win. In theory, this system will always win. So that's why table limits were introduced, and where the system fails.
If you start at the Roulette table, playing red/black, with a small 750 chip wager, and just double your bet every time you lose, you only have to lose 6 times in a row, before you will be betting the table limit of 48,000, just to get that 750 chip profit.
Sure, you can go on all evening without this happening, winning 750 chips each time, but this losing streak only has to happen once, and you're bust. Any betting system like this is ill-advised, because you are hugely increasing your so-called "risk of ruin", and that's what we were trying to avoid.
And even if your starting bet is only 100 chips, after only nine straight losses, and nine doubled bets, you are betting the table limit at 50,000 chips. If you lose that bet, you're 100,000 chips in the hole, with no way to recover that with your 100 chip base wager.
So don't believe anyone that says this is the perfect system to always win in the casino. Sooner or later they will understand why they were wrong, when they're asking you for a loan.
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Set your limits BEFORE you start playing
One final point before we get into the games, a general tip for people that head out to play: money management.
Just like in real life, before you go to the casino, decide on a maximum amount that you are WILLING TO LOSE.
Bet small enough, so that amount can last you through the entire evening, and you will not be tempted to run to the ATM to continue playing.
Considering GTA money, some people will be comfortable losing 1% of their GTA bank balance, some people will be comfortable with gambling away 5% of their total GTA savings. It's up to you what you can handle. Decide for yourself where it will start to hurt, and don't cross that line.
But whatever number you decide on, as soon as you lost that amount, get up and walk away. Don't chase your losses, stick to your limits, and accept that this has not been your day. There is always another game tomorrow. Always agree with yourself on a simple stop-loss rule, how much you would want to lose at most, and simply stop playing when you get there.
Same goes for winning. You can decide on a number, how much profit you would like to take away from the casino. You can go on a hot streak and be up half a million in a short period of time, but if you would continue to play longer, looking for more, chances are that you're going to lose it all back.
Most people are happy with doubling their daily casino budget, for example. Others are looking for 10 bets profit in Blackjack. Whatever you choose, when you hit that number, you can stop playing and bank your profits, or you can continue playing if you're still enjoying the games, but then only just play minimum bet sizes. Then you're just playing for fun, not for money. You've already made your profit, so simply keep it in your pocket, and don't risk losing it again.
Either way, decide on what your money management strategy will be, and STICK TO IT.
​
Casino games in GTA Online
Now, I'm going to dive into the games that you can find at the Diamond casino, ordered from worst to best.
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6) Slots
Generally the rule is this: the less strategy a game has, the worse it is for the player. And with slots, this is definitely the case.
The only influence you have, is choosing what type of machine you're going to play. Basically, there are two types of slot machines:
-high frequency, low payout slots
-low frequency, high payout slots
In the first type, there is no huge (progressive) jackpot on offer, just your average selection of prizes that don't go up to crazy amounts.
This will result in a player having many more spins resulting in a win. The amounts that you win on the bigger prizes, will be smaller, but they do come around more often. This type of slot machine has a lower variance, which means that your money should last you longer, winning many smaller prizes along the way to keep you going.
The second type of slot machine lures you in with the temptation of a huge jackpot prize. Even though the long-term expected return on these machines is the same as the previous type, the prize distribution is hugely different. The large jackpot prize weighs heavily on the scale of expected return, but the chance of it hitting is extremely small. This results in a much higher variance on this type of machine. Usually your money will go down very fast, because the smaller prizes are less rewarding than on the other type of machine.
At the Diamond, the info screen says the player return at slots is set at 98.7%. This means that, on average, for every maximum bet of 2,500 chips, you expect to lose 32.5 chips.
This might not seem like a lot, but the danger of slots is that the game is extremely fast. You can spin about once every 6 seconds, which would result in an expected LOSS of about 20,000 chips per hour of playing.
But again, in this long-term expected number, the large jackpot awards are also factored in, and as long as you don't hit those big prizes, you'll see your money go down a lot faster.
In any case, thank heavens the max bet is only set at 2,500, or else we would see more players go bankrupt at alarming rates.
Optimal strategy for slots:
There is none. Because after betting, you have no more influence over the outcome. The only choices you have, is what type of machine you want to play at, and how much money you are going to risk. And those are all personal preference. As long as you stick to your loss limits, as discussed above, there's no harm in having a go every once in a while, hoping to get a lucky hit. Just realize that you don't have a high chance of scoring a big win, so as soon as you do, get up and walk away.
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5) Roulette
Roulette is also a game where you have no influence over the outcome. There is zero skill involved. You place your bet, and that's it.
In traditional French roulette, a table has only the single-zero, but of course, for American casinos that wasn't enough of a house edge, so they simply doubled their profits by adding a second zero. The house edge was increased from 1/37 to 1/19, which is huge.
This makes playing on a double-zero roulette table by definition a sucker's play.
The payouts scale evenly, which means that a bet on a single number, and a bet on half of the numbers, and everything in between, yields the same expected return. The only difference, again, being the variance that you are willing to subject yourself to.
The player return for double-zero Roulette for all bets is 94.74%.
Except for the 5-number bet, which can only be made by placing a bet on the two top rows that contain 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The expected return on this bet is lower: 92.1%. This is because it only pays out 6-1. Why? Well, the number 36 isn't divisible by 5, so the greedy people that came up with double-zero Roulette had to round it off someway, and as expected, it wasn't going to be in the players' favor.Just remember that that 5-number bet is the worst bet at the table, and should be avoided. All other possible bets have the same expected return.
So it really doesn't matter how you spread your bets, if you bet only one chip, or if you litter the entire table with a bucketload of chips. Each chip you put out there, has the same expected return, so there is no strategy that will improve your long-term results.
Assuming that you're betting the maximum table amount of 50,000 chips, you will be looking at an expected loss of about 2,630 chips per spin. Considering that a round takes about 45 seconds to complete, your expected LOSS at the GTA Roulette tables will be around 200,000 chips per hour of playing.
Optimal strategy for double-zero roulette:
Stay away. Stay far away.
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4) Three Card Poker
With Three Card Poker, we come across the first game where there is actually some strategy involved. You get to look at your cards, and then decide if you want to fold, and surrender your ante, or double your bet.
Additionally, you can choose to place a side bet on "Pair Plus", which offers progressive payouts.
There are some websites out there that ran all the numbers with computer simulations, and even though I would like to quote the source here, these websites are understandably littered to the max with online casino ads, so that's why I have decided against doing that.
Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker:
For this game you only have to remember one strategy rule: Always bet on any high card queen-six-four or better, and fold any high card queen-six-three or lower. That's it. Just don't forget to double check if you're not folding a straight or a flush, and you'll be fine.
This strategy will result in an expected return of 96.63%.
The Pair Plus sidebet, with the payout table that is used at the Diamond casino, gives you an expected return of 97.68%, which is actually a bit better than the main ante bet.
So by playing both wagers, you're reducing your expected losses per bet, but since you're betting more, you're also increasing your expected loss per hour.
My advice would obviously be to not play this game at all, but if you do, put as much of your bet as possible on the Pair Plus, while making our Ante bet as small as you can.
To be able to compare it to the other games at the Diamond, let's stay on that 50,000 maximum wager, meaning making your ante bet 35,000, and your pair plus bet 15,000, if the table would allow it.
This results in an expected loss of about 1,525 chips per hand, and with a round taking about 45 seconds, this adds up to an expected LOSS of around 120,000 chips per hour of playing. In comparison, if you would only play the ante bet for 50,000 per hand, you expect to lose 1,685 chips per hand, which means an expected LOSS of about 135,000 chips per hour. So the more out of that 50,000 wager you can put on the "Pair Plus" sidebet, the better.
Even though it may be fun to try out this game for a bit, since there's only one simple strategy rule to follow, you'll soon find yourself robotically grinding down your bankroll until it has vaporized. You're not missing out on anything if you skip these tables, there is no real challenge.
Just like with Roulette and Slots, if you want to try it out nonetheless, you can just bet the minimum amounts and only play for fun, so it won't matter if you win or lose.
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3) Blackjack
Blackjack is the most complicated game by far. Simply because the player has to make a series of decisions, which will largely decide the outcome. Luckily, there is such a thing as an optimal strategy, which will be outlined below.
However, the strategy is also dependent on the house rules. These not only affect your expected return, but in some places also your decisions.
Here are the house rules at the Diamond casino:
-The game uses 4 standard decks, and a continuous shuffle.
-Blackjack pays 3 to 2, dealer checks for early blackjack.
-No insurance offered, no surrender.
-Dealer stands on soft 17.
-Double down on any two cards.
-Player can split only once, but doubling after split is allowed.
-Seven-Card Charlie.
Under these rules, and following the "basic strategy" chart, your expected return at Blackjack is a shade under 99.6%, which is extremely good for a casino game, that's why Blackjack should be your table game of choice.
But it comes at a price: you are going to have to memorize the relatively complicated strategy chart, or at least stick it to your monitor until you have it in your head. But in case you ever stumble into a real-life casino, you won't regret having this table memorized, so I would definitely advise you to work on that.
The strategy chart might look complicated at first, but you will be able to notice certain patterns. Your decisions are mainly based on the dealer's upcard, which is basically divided into a weak card (2 to 6), and a strong card (7 to ace).
When a dealer shows a strong card, you will be hitting more often with the risk of going bust, but when a dealer shows a weak card, you're not taking that risk, and you will be standing more, but also doubling and splitting more. You want to increase your bets when the odds are in your favor, and get out cheap when they're not.
But it also helps to take some time to think about why a certain advice is given. For example, why does it say that you always have to split two eights, even against an ace. Well, that's because two eights equals 16, which is the worst total you can have. It's better to split them up, and give yourself a chance of finding a 17, 18 or 19 with the next card. Once you see the logic in that, you'll have one less thing to memorize.
The playing advice in the basic strategy chart is a result of computer simulations that ran all possible outcomes against each other, and produced the most profitable decision for each situation. So you can't go wrong following it.
Optimal strategy for Blackjack with Seven-Card Charlie
The added house rule of Seven-Card Charlie, adds a small advantage for the player, and it does influence a few strategy decisions. For example, you might have a 14 with 6 cards, against the dealer's 5 upcard.
Normally this would be an automatic stand, but if you're only one card away from the Seven-Card Charlie, meaning an instant win for the player, regardless of the dealer's hand, it turns it into a hit.
Here's the most optimal strategy chart to follow for the Diamond Casino house rules: https://prnt.sc/olct6g
You'll see that two fives are missing from the chart, and that's because you never split them. You treat them as a regular 10. You also never split tens. Just stand on 20.
If you follow this strategy religiously, even with a maximum wager of 50,000 chips, you only expect to lose about 215 chips per hand, and with rounds taking about 30 seconds, that amounts to an expected LOSS of 26,000 chips per hour, which is only half a bet. A small price to pay for an hour of entertainment.
But since the expected return is so extremely close to 100%, you will see more positive short-term results than with other games. But obviously it can also swing the other way. Again, this is supposed to be the game where your money lasts you the longest, but always set your loss and win limits before you sit down. That rule simply always applies.
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Still, even with optimal strategies applied, all these games are expected to lose you money in the long run. So betting any kind of large amounts is not advised. If you simply want to enjoy playing these games, there's nothing wrong with betting a minimal amount. Playing these games for a longer period of time will already cost you money anyway, since your daily property fees will still be charged while you're playing in the GTA casino. As long as you can play for fun, there's nothing wrong, but when you see yourself betting insane chunks of your entire bank balance to try to recoup some unfortunate losses, you're doing it wrong.
As the commercials in Britain all correctly say: when the fun stops, stop.
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2) Virtual Horse Racing
Now onto the good stuff. I ran some numbers, and I believe Rockstar has made a mistake with the horse racing game. Because as it stands, and if I read the numbers correctly, this game is actually profitable for the player. You can actually make money with this, at least, until Rockstar figures out their mistake and patches it.
If anyone wants to jump into the math and double check this to make sure, please do so. I will add any corrections to this post. This is one of those "to good to be true" things, so I keep thinking that I might have overlooked something. So please verify it if you can.
The setup is this. There is a pool of 100 horses, each with their own attached payout. These are divided into 3 groups, ranked by their odds. From each group, 2 horses are randomly selected to provide a pool of six runners for you to bet on.
Now it's not an actual race you're looking at. You are looking at a raffle. This is important to realize.
Each horse gets awarded a certain number of raffle tickets. The favorites get awarded more tickets than the underdogs, and therefore, have a higher chance of winning.
If this distribution works like it does in the real-life casinos, then the raffle tickets are awarded according to the betting odds.
Example 1: imagine a race with 3 runners, all have 2/1 odds, representing a 33.3% chance of winning. (Because 2/1 means 2 AGAINST 1, so 3 total.) In this case, each horse gets one third of the raffle tickets, giving them an equal chance to win.
Example 2: imagine a race with 3 runners, one has 1/1 odds (or EVENS), representing a 50% chance of winning, and the other two horses are marked up as 3/1, with a 25% chance of winning. The favorite gets half the tickets, the other two get a quarter of the tickets each.
A ticket is drawn, and you'll have a winner.
It doesn't matter in this game which horse you bet on, because the expected return is always the same: 100% or break-even, for the above examples.
Now, what happens if the percentages don't exactly add up to 100%?
They must add up to 100%, because there will always be a winner. And only one winner.
So when this is the case, the actual winning chances of the horses are adjusted to meet the 100% requirement, using their payout odds to determine the scale.
So, if the represented percentages add up to more than 100%, the actual winning chances of the runners will be DECREASED, resulting in all bets becoming losing propositions for the players.
Example: In a 6-horse race, all runners are listed at 4/1, representing a 20% chance. Only with six runners that amounts to 120%. So all chances are scaled down by 1/6th, to end up at 100%.
This means your horse's chances are reduced from 20% to 16.67%, turning it into a losing bet: 5 times you will lose your bet, and 1 time you will win, but only get 4 bets back in this instance, instead of 5. A losing bet in the long run.
This is the type of odds that you find in regular casinos, with fields as large as 15 runners to bet on, where the assumed winning chances always add up to more than 100%, therefore are decreased for all runners, resulting in a house edge.
​
But in GTA Online's Inside Track, there are other scenarios, because of the small field, and the way that they are put together.
In some cases, the represented percentages when added up, are LESS than 100%, meaning that the actual winning chances of all runners, are INCREASED.
This creates profitable bets for the players, because in the long run, you're expecting to win more money than you lose. This is a gambler's dream, pure and simple.
So, according to the in-game information, the three groups of horses are divided as follows:
-Favorites: EVENS to 5-1
-Outsiders: 6-1 to 15-1
-Underdogs: 16-1 to 30-1
​
Let's take the two most extreme examples to show what's happening.
The worst possible field to bet on: two runners at EVENS, two runners at 6-1, and two runners at 16-1.
EVENS represents a 50% chance, 6-1 is 14.29%, and 16-1 is 5.88%. Add those up and you land on a total of 140.34%.
This means that the actual winning chances of the horses are decreased by 28.75% (to get that 140% down to 100%), which makes betting on this field extremely unwise.
A horse at EVENS will only come in as a winner 35.63% of the time, instead of 50%,
a horse at 6-1 will only win 10.18% of the time,
and an underdog at 16-1 will only win 4.19% of the time.
​
The expected return on a bet on any of the horses in this field is only 71.26%, so a maximum bet of 10,000 chips on any of these horses holds an expected LOSS of 2,875 chips.
These returns are the same, because the winning chances are scaled equally, according to the payout numbers. So it really doesn't matter which horse you bet on, in the long run, you expect the same results.
But as explained before, it does influence variance, and therefore your short-term result, which can swing both ways.
​
But now, the best possible field to bet on: two runners at 5-1, two runners at 15-1, and two runners at 30-1.
Odds at 5-1 represents a winning chance of 16.67%, 15-1 odds means 6.25% chance, and 30-1 odds means a 3.23% chance of winning. Add these six horses together, and you only get 52.285%.
This means that, to get from 52% to 100%, the actual winning chances of these horses will be almost doubled! Multiplied by 1.91 to be exact.
So the 5-1 favorites will now win 31.88% of the time, instead of 16.67%,
the 15-1 runners will win 11.95% of the time,
and the underdogs at 30-1 odds will still win 6.17% of the time.
When betting on this field, the expected return on your bet is 191.25%!
This means that a max bet of 10,000 chips will result in an expected PROFIT of 9,125 chips.
This is printing money, if there ever was such a thing.
Optimal strategy for Virtual Horse racing
So all you have to do, is only bet high on the games where you have an expected positive return, and bet the absolute minimum on the games where your expected return is negative. Or back out of the racing game to refresh the field.
If you don't have a way to quickly add up all the percentages, and until somebody shows up here with a neatly formatted table, just use a few general rules of thumb:
-Always bet the maximum on a race with favorites at 2/1 and 3/1 or higher in it.
-Simply skip all races with two favorites at EVENS in it, and at EVENS and 2/1. Or bet the minimum, if you can't skip or refresh the field.
-To decide if you should play races with other favorite combinations EVENS and 3/1, EVENS and 4/1, EVENS and 5/1, or two favorites at 2/1, the payouts on the other four runners determine whether or not it's profitable to play them. The results of betting on these fields vary from an expected 1,330 chip loss (worst-case) to an expected 1,680 chip win (best-case), with a max bet of 10,000 chips.
But if you're not looking for another strategy chart, you might just want to skip these borderline cases, and just cherry pick the best ones, which are easy to recognize, and with which you can never go wrong.
It's difficult to put a number on an expected win-rate, because it all depends on which fields you get presented with, but it's not unreasonable to state that you can maintain a steady win-rate of around 200,000 chips per hour, with about 50 seconds per race.
Remember, you're not trying to win every race. You're trying to win the most money per hour. So don't sweat it when you bet on a 4/1 favorite, and lose a couple of races in a row. It will still be more profitable in the long run. You have the math on your side.
To reduce negative variance, always bet on the favorite, when betting on profitable fields. We're not gambling anymore, we're grinding out a steady profit. We want to keep the swings to a minimum.
I contacted Rockstar support to verify if this is indeed how it works, but the only reply I got after 6 weeks is that they were "looking into it".
User u/Garsant made a useful Excel-worksheet, available for you to download, where you can quickly type in the payouts on the horses, to see if it produces a profitable bet or not. You can find it in his post here: https://www.reddit.com/gtaonline/comments/ekp8na/gta_online_inside_track_odd_calculato
​
1) Wheel of Fortune
The number one profitable casino game in GTA Online is obviously the Wheel of Fortune, because it costs you nothing to play.
Unfortunately, you only get one free spin per day, but it holds great value, so make sure you do it.
With a chance to win a super car, vehicle discounts, expensive mystery prizes (which also can be vehicles), and a lot of cash and chips, the expected return on a single spin is around $100,000 in value.
So don't forget your daily spin, it's definitely worth your time.
​
2020 Update:
As of the Diamond Casino Heist update, the Inside Track horse racing is confirmed to still be as profitable as outlined above.The only thing that seems to be changed, is that you can't refresh the field anymore by backing out of the screen. This does affect your hourly rate in a negative way, but does not change the fact that this game has a huge positive expected return, and should be your go-to when you're trying to take money from the house, without having Lester's nagging voice in your ear. That should also be worth something.
​
And with that, I conclude my 5,000 word essay on gambling in GTA. Questions, comments, feel free to add your input to this guide.
​
Cliffs:
-Gambling games should only be played for fun, not for big money. You should expect to lose in the long run. The house always wins.
-A casino game doesn't have a memory, and betting systems don't work.
-Set your limits before you start, how much you are willing to lose or win, and then walk away when you get there.
-Don't play slots, roulette, or three card poker.
-Only play blackjack following a basic strategy chart (https://prnt.sc/olct6g).
-Inside Track betting can be played profitably, if you only bet on fields WITHOUT a heavy favorite.
-Wheel of Fortune is always your best bet, because it's a free bet.

This is not mine, the creator of this is u/enderpiet
​
Since the Diamond Casino update, I have seen a large number of 12-year-olds posting Blackjack memes on this sub. As a parent, this has me very worried.
On top of that, I have seen some of the most trustworthy GTA Youtubers giving flawed gambling advice, which can have damaging impact on their gullible audiences.
So that's why I decided to write this up, to educate everyone on the subject, so there will be no more misunderstandings.
(2020 Update down at the bottom.)
If you're one of those Youtubers that wants to use this information in a video, feel free to do so. The more people (especially kids) that become educated about gambling, the better.
But then also please go back and review your own work, and delete or edit the videos that are giving out the wrong advice, like where you're saying you have "a good strategy for making money with roulette", or some other nonsense that I've heard this week. Delete that please.
Before I get into the individual games, I need to discuss a few concepts first, that will make understanding the rest a lot easier.
Expected return and variance
A game like Roulette or Slots has a fixed expected return on your bets. This is a percentage that you have no way of influencing. Say you are flipping a coin against a friend, and you both put up $1. The winner gets the pot. Since the odds are even at 50%, in the long run, you will expect to break even. Your expected return is 100% of your bet.
But imagine if you would play this coin flipping game in a casino against the house. On the "house rules" listed at the table they would probably say that you would only get 95 cents back for every win, while you are forfeiting a dollar on every loss. Would you still play?
Sounds stupid to do so, but still, everybody does it. Every bet they place on Roulette, every coin they put into a Slot machine, is based on the same concept.
Those few cents they take on every bet are their profit margin, and has paid for all the Vegas lights, the Mirage volcanoes, and the Bellagio fountains. Make no mistake - casino gambling games are not designed to make you lose, because sure, you can get lucky on a single night, but they are designed to make them win. That's the beauty of it. They can both exist at the same time.
Too many people that don't see how this works, are just destined for disaster. Just because you went on a lucky streak and won 8 games out of 10, does not mean that flipping coins is a profitable game, or that choosing tails is a winning strategy. Always be aware of the house edge, your true chances of winning, and just realize that you got lucky. There is no such thing as a strategy in flipping a coin that will give you a higher expected return, so it's just pure gambling, just like Slots and Roulette.
Most casino games are made in such a way, that your expected return is a little under 100%. This means that from every dollar bet at the tables, the casino expects to keep a few cents. For individual players, results may vary. Some will win, most will lose. But for the house, it doesn't matter. They take millions of bets each day, so for them, the expected average works out a lot sooner. In short: the house always wins.
When looking at the house edge, we're talking about the expected long-term result, based on the game's house rules. But for a player, it can take literally tens of thousands of hands or spins before you also reach this average number. Until that time, you can experience huge upswings and downswings, that are the result of nothing but short-term luck, which is called variance.
Some games and some bets have a much higher variance than others, which means your actual results will differ enormously from what you're expected to be at.
Take for example betting on red/black at the Roulette table. This is a low-variance proposition, because it has a high percentage chance of occurring, and a low payout.
Contrast this with betting single numbers in Roulette, which only win once every 38 spins on average. This bet has a much higher variance, meaning you can easily hit a dry spell, and not hit anything for 200 bets in a row, or you can see a single number hit three times in five consecutive spins. This is not a freak occurrence in high-variance bets.
Even though the expected return in both these bets is exactly the same, there's a huge difference in variance, causing massive differences in short-term results, which can go both ways. You need to be aware of this, before you decide what types of bets you are comfortable with placing.
Gamblers' Fallacy
Another thing to realize, is that each individual game, hand, or spin, is completely independent from the one(s) before it, and after it.
Gamblers tend to believe, that the chance of a certain outcome is increased, based on previous results.
The most famous example comes from the Casino de Monte Carlo, where the Roulette wheel managed to land on black 26 times in a row. Gamblers lost many millions during that streak, all frantically betting on red, believing that the odds were in favor of the wheel coming out on red, after producing so many blacks. This is not true. Each round is completely independent, and the odds are exactly the same.
You will hear people say things like a Blackjack table being "hot" or "cold", which is completely superstitious, and should be ignored. The exception was when Blackjack was being dealt from a shoe. It made card counting possible. But with the introduction of shuffle machines, and continuous shuffling like is being used in GTA, this no longer exists.
This is also why "chasing your losses" is a very bad idea. After being on a losing streak for some time, many gamblers believe that now it's their turn to start winning. So they will often increase their bet size, believing that when their predicted winning streak comes around, they will win back their losses, and more.
The reality of it, more often than not, is that people will indeed start playing higher and higher limits, until they are completely broke. Nobody is ever "due for a win". There is never a guarantee that you're about to start winning. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. You are, after all, in a casino.
Betting systems
Some people like to think that they have a fool-proof betting system, like the Martingale system. Simply increase or even double your bet when you lose, and keep doing that until you win. In theory, this system will always win. So that's why table limits were introduced, and where the system fails.
If you start at the Roulette table, playing red/black, with a small 750 chip wager, and just double your bet every time you lose, you only have to lose 6 times in a row, before you will be betting the table limit of 48,000, just to get that 750 chip profit.
Sure, you can go on all evening without this happening, winning 750 chips each time, but this losing streak only has to happen once, and you're bust. Any betting system like this is ill-advised, because you are hugely increasing your so-called "risk of ruin", and that's what we were trying to avoid.
And even if your starting bet is only 100 chips, after only nine straight losses, and nine doubled bets, you are betting the table limit at 50,000 chips. If you lose that bet, you're 100,000 chips in the hole, with no way to recover that with your 100 chip base wager.
So don't believe anyone that says this is the perfect system to always win in the casino. Sooner or later they will understand why they were wrong, when they're asking you for a loan.
Set your limits BEFORE you start playing
One final point before we get into the games, a general tip for people that head out to play: money management.
Just like in real life, before you go to the casino, decide on a maximum amount that you are WILLING TO LOSE.
Bet small enough, so that amount can last you through the entire evening, and you will not be tempted to run to the ATM to continue playing.
Considering GTA money, some people will be comfortable losing 1% of their GTA bank balance, some people will be comfortable with gambling away 5% of their total GTA savings. It's up to you what you can handle. Decide for yourself where it will start to hurt, and don't cross that line.
But whatever number you decide on, as soon as you lost that amount, get up and walk away. Don't chase your losses, stick to your limits, and accept that this has not been your day. There is always another game tomorrow. Always agree with yourself on a simple stop-loss rule, how much you would want to lose at most, and simply stop playing when you get there.
Same goes for winning. You can decide on a number, how much profit you would like to take away from the casino. You can go on a hot streak and be up half a million in a short period of time, but if you would continue to play longer, looking for more, chances are that you're going to lose it all back.
Most people are happy with doubling their daily casino budget, for example. Others are looking for 10 bets profit in Blackjack. Whatever you choose, when you hit that number, you can stop playing and bank your profits, or you can continue playing if you're still enjoying the games, but then only just play minimum bet sizes. Then you're just playing for fun, not for money. You've already made your profit, so simply keep it in your pocket, and don't risk losing it again.
Either way, decide on what your money management strategy will be, and STICK TO IT.
Casino games in GTA Online
Now, I'm going to dive into the games that you can find at the Diamond casino, ordered from worst to best.
6) Slots
Generally the rule is this: the less strategy a game has, the worse it is for the player. And with slots, this is definitely the case.
The only influence you have, is choosing what type of machine you're going to play. Basically, there are two types of slot machines:
-high frequency, low payout slots
-low frequency, high payout slots
In the first type, there is no huge (progressive) jackpot on offer, just your average selection of prizes that don't go up to crazy amounts.
This will result in a player having many more spins resulting in a win. The amounts that you win on the bigger prizes, will be smaller, but they do come around more often. This type of slot machine has a lower variance, which means that your money should last you longer, winning many smaller prizes along the way to keep you going.
The second type of slot machine lures you in with the temptation of a huge jackpot prize. Even though the long-term expected return on these machines is the same as the previous type, the prize distribution is hugely different. The large jackpot prize weighs heavily on the scale of expected return, but the chance of it hitting is extremely small. This results in a much higher variance on this type of machine. Usually your money will go down very fast, because the smaller prizes are less rewarding than on the other type of machine.
At the Diamond, the info screen says the player return at slots is set at 98.7%. This means that, on average, for every maximum bet of 2,500 chips, you expect to lose 32.5 chips.
This might not seem like a lot, but the danger of slots is that the game is extremely fast. You can spin about once every 6 seconds, which would result in an expected LOSS of about 20,000 chips per hour of playing.
But again, in this long-term expected number, the large jackpot awards are also factored in, and as long as you don't hit those big prizes, you'll see your money go down a lot faster.
In any case, thank heavens the max bet is only set at 2,500, or else we would see more players go bankrupt at alarming rates.
Optimal strategy for slots:
There is none. Because after betting, you have no more influence over the outcome. The only choices you have, is what type of machine you want to play at, and how much money you are going to risk. And those are all personal preference. As long as you stick to your loss limits, as discussed above, there's no harm in having a go every once in a while, hoping to get a lucky hit. Just realize that you don't have a high chance of scoring a big win, so as soon as you do, get up and walk away.
5) Roulette
Roulette is also a game where you have no influence over the outcome. There is zero skill involved. You place your bet, and that's it.
In traditional French roulette, a table has only the single-zero, but of course, for American casinos that wasn't enough of a house edge, so they simply doubled their profits by adding a second zero. The house edge was increased from 1/37 to 1/19, which is huge.
This makes playing on a double-zero roulette table by definition a sucker's play.
The payouts scale evenly, which means that a bet on a single number, and a bet on half of the numbers, and everything in between, yields the same expected return. The only difference, again, being the variance that you are willing to subject yourself to.
The player return for double-zero Roulette for all bets is 94.74%.
Except for the 5-number bet, which can only be made by placing a bet on the two top rows that contain 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The expected return on this bet is lower: 92.1%. This is because it only pays out 6-1. Why? Well, the number 36 isn't divisible by 5, so the greedy people that came up with double-zero Roulette had to round it off someway, and as expected, it wasn't going to be in the players' favor.Just remember that that 5-number bet is the worst bet at the table, and should be avoided. All other possible bets have the same expected return.
So it really doesn't matter how you spread your bets, if you bet only one chip, or if you litter the entire table with a bucketload of chips. Each chip you put out there, has the same expected return, so there is no strategy that will improve your long-term results.
Assuming that you're betting the maximum table amount of 50,000 chips, you will be looking at an expected loss of about 2,630 chips per spin. Considering that a round takes about 45 seconds to complete, your expected LOSS at the GTA Roulette tables will be around 200,000 chips per hour of playing.
Optimal strategy for double-zero roulette:
Stay away. Stay far away.
4) Three Card Poker
With Three Card Poker, we come across the first game where there is actually some strategy involved. You get to look at your cards, and then decide if you want to fold, and surrender your ante, or double your bet.
Additionally, you can choose to place a side bet on "Pair Plus", which offers progressive payouts.
There are some websites out there that ran all the numbers with computer simulations, and even though I would like to quote the source here, these websites are understandably littered to the max with online casino ads, so that's why I have decided against doing that.
Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker:
For this game you only have to remember one strategy rule: Always bet on any high card queen-six-four or better, and fold any high card queen-six-three or lower. That's it. Just don't forget to double check if you're not folding a straight or a flush, and you'll be fine.
This strategy will result in an expected return of 96.63%.
The Pair Plus sidebet, with the payout table that is used at the Diamond casino, gives you an expected return of 97.68%, which is actually a bit better than the main ante bet.
So by playing both wagers, you're reducing your expected losses per bet, but since you're betting more, you're also increasing your expected loss per hour.
My advice would obviously be to not play this game at all, but if you do, put as much of your bet as possible on the Pair Plus, while making our Ante bet as small as you can.
To be able to compare it to the other games at the Diamond, let's stay on that 50,000 maximum wager, meaning making your ante bet 35,000, and your pair plus bet 15,000, if the table would allow it.
This results in an expected loss of about 1,525 chips per hand, and with a round taking about 45 seconds, this adds up to an expected LOSS of around 120,000 chips per hour of playing. In comparison, if you would only play the ante bet for 50,000 per hand, you expect to lose 1,685 chips per hand, which means an expected LOSS of about 135,000 chips per hour. So the more out of that 50,000 wager you can put on the "Pair Plus" sidebet, the better.
Even though it may be fun to try out this game for a bit, since there's only one simple strategy rule to follow, you'll soon find yourself robotically grinding down your bankroll until it has vaporized. You're not missing out on anything if you skip these tables, there is no real challenge.
Just like with Roulette and Slots, if you want to try it out nonetheless, you can just bet the minimum amounts and only play for fun, so it won't matter if you win or lose.
3) Blackjack
Blackjack is the most complicated game by far. Simply because the player has to make a series of decisions, which will largely decide the outcome. Luckily, there is such a thing as an optimal strategy, which will be outlined below.
However, the strategy is also dependent on the house rules. These not only affect your expected return, but in some places also your decisions.
Here are the house rules at the Diamond casino:
-The game uses 4 standard decks, and a continuous shuffle.
-Blackjack pays 3 to 2, dealer checks for early blackjack.
-No insurance offered, no surrender.
-Dealer stands on soft 17.
-Double down on any two cards.
-Player can split only once, but doubling after split is allowed.
-Seven-Card Charlie.
Under these rules, and following the "basic strategy" chart, your expected return at Blackjack is a shade under 99.6%, which is extremely good for a casino game, that's why Blackjack should be your table game of choice.
But it comes at a price: you are going to have to memorize the relatively complicated strategy chart, or at least stick it to your monitor until you have it in your head. But in case you ever stumble into a real-life casino, you won't regret having this table memorized, so I would definitely advise you to work on that.
The strategy chart might look complicated at first, but you will be able to notice certain patterns. Your decisions are mainly based on the dealer's upcard, which is basically divided into a weak card (2 to 6), and a strong card (7 to ace).
When a dealer shows a strong card, you will be hitting more often with the risk of going bust, but when a dealer shows a weak card, you're not taking that risk, and you will be standing more, but also doubling and splitting more. You want to increase your bets when the odds are in your favor, and get out cheap when they're not.
But it also helps to take some time to think about why a certain advice is given. For example, why does it say that you always have to split two eights, even against an ace. Well, that's because two eights equals 16, which is the worst total you can have. It's better to split them up, and give yourself a chance of finding a 17, 18 or 19 with the next card. Once you see the logic in that, you'll have one less thing to memorize.
The playing advice in the basic strategy chart is a result of computer simulations that ran all possible outcomes against each other, and produced the most profitable decision for each situation. So you can't go wrong following it.
Optimal strategy for Blackjack with Seven-Card Charlie
The added house rule of Seven-Card Charlie, adds a small advantage for the player, and it does influence a few strategy decisions. For example, you might have a 14 with 6 cards, against the dealer's 5 upcard.
Normally this would be an automatic stand, but if you're only one card away from the Seven-Card Charlie, meaning an instant win for the player, regardless of the dealer's hand, it turns it into a hit.
Here's the most optimal strategy chart to follow for the Diamond Casino house rules:https://prnt.sc/olct6g
You'll see that two fives are missing from the chart, and that's because you never split them. You treat them as a regular 10. You also never split tens. Just stand on 20.
If you follow this strategy religiously, even with a maximum wager of 50,000 chips, you only expect to lose about 215 chips per hand, and with rounds taking about 30 seconds, that amounts to an expected LOSS of 26,000 chips per hour, which is only half a bet. A small price to pay for an hour of entertainment.
But since the expected return is so extremely close to 100%, you will see more positive short-term results than with other games. But obviously it can also swing the other way. Again, this is supposed to be the game where your money lasts you the longest, but always set your loss and win limits before you sit down. That rule simply always applies.
Still, even with optimal strategies applied, all these games are expected to lose you money in the long run. So betting any kind of large amounts is not advised. If you simply want to enjoy playing these games, there's nothing wrong with betting a minimal amount. Playing these games for a longer period of time will already cost you money anyway, since your daily property fees will still be charged while you're playing in the GTA casino. As long as you can play for fun, there's nothing wrong, but when you see yourself betting insane chunks of your entire bank balance to try to recoup some unfortunate losses, you're doing it wrong.
As the commercials in Britain all correctly say: when the fun stops, stop.
2) Virtual Horse Racing
Now onto the good stuff. I ran some numbers, and I believe Rockstar has made a mistake with the horse racing game. Because as it stands, and if I read the numbers correctly, this game is actually profitable for the player. You can actually make money with this, at least, until Rockstar figures out their mistake and patches it.
If anyone wants to jump into the math and double check this to make sure, please do so. I will add any corrections to this post. This is one of those "to good to be true" things, so I keep thinking that I might have overlooked something. So please verify it if you can.
The setup is this. There is a pool of 100 horses, each with their own attached payout. These are divided into 3 groups, ranked by their odds. From each group, 2 horses are randomly selected to provide a pool of six runners for you to bet on.
Now it's not an actual race you're looking at. You are looking at a raffle. This is important to realize.
Each horse gets awarded a certain number of raffle tickets. The favorites get awarded more tickets than the underdogs, and therefore, have a higher chance of winning.
If this distribution works like it does in the real-life casinos, then the raffle tickets are awarded according to the betting odds.
Example 1: imagine a race with 3 runners, all have 2/1 odds, representing a 33.3% chance of winning. (Because 2/1 means 2 AGAINST 1, so 3 total.) In this case, each horse gets one third of the raffle tickets, giving them an equal chance to win.
Example 2: imagine a race with 3 runners, one has 1/1 odds (or EVENS), representing a 50% chance of winning, and the other two horses are marked up as 3/1, with a 25% chance of winning. The favorite gets half the tickets, the other two get a quarter of the tickets each.
A ticket is drawn, and you'll have a winner.
It doesn't matter in this game which horse you bet on, because the expected return is always the same: 100% or break-even, for the above examples.
Now, what happens if the percentages don't exactly add up to 100%?
They must add up to 100%, because there will always be a winner. And only one winner.
So when this is the case, the actual winning chances of the horses are adjusted to meet the 100% requirement, using their payout odds to determine the scale.
So, if the represented percentages add up to more than 100%, the actual winning chances of the runners will be DECREASED, resulting in all bets becoming losing propositions for the players.
Example: In a 6-horse race, all runners are listed at 4/1, representing a 20% chance. Only with six runners that amounts to 120%. So all chances are scaled down by 1/6th, to end up at 100%.
This means your horse's chances are reduced from 20% to 16.67%, turning it into a losing bet: 5 times you will lose your bet, and 1 time you will win, but only get 4 bets back in this instance, instead of 5. A losing bet in the long run.
This is the type of odds that you find in regular casinos, with fields as large as 15 runners to bet on, where the assumed winning chances always add up to more than 100%, therefore are decreased for all runners, resulting in a house edge.
But in GTA Online's Inside Track, there are other scenarios, because of the small field, and the way that they are put together.
In some cases, the represented percentages when added up, are LESS than 100%, meaning that the actual winning chances of all runners, are INCREASED.
This creates profitable bets for the players, because in the long run, you're expecting to win more money than you lose. This is a gambler's dream, pure and simple.
So, according to the in-game information, the three groups of horses are divided as follows:
-Favorites: EVENS to 5-1
-Outsiders: 6-1 to 15-1
-Underdogs: 16-1 to 30-1
Let's take the two most extreme examples to show what's happening.
The worst possible field to bet on: two runners at EVENS, two runners at 6-1, and two runners at 16-1.
EVENS represents a 50% chance, 6-1 is 14.29%, and 16-1 is 5.88%. Add those up and you land on a total of 140.34%.
This means that the actual winning chances of the horses are decreased by 28.75% (to get that 140% down to 100%), which makes betting on this field extremely unwise.
A horse at EVENS will only come in as a winner 35.63% of the time, instead of 50%,
a horse at 6-1 will only win 10.18% of the time,
and an underdog at 16-1 will only win 4.19% of the time.
The expected return on a bet on any of the horses in this field is only 71.26%, so a maximum bet of 10,000 chips on any of these horses holds an expected LOSS of 2,875 chips.
These returns are the same, because the winning chances are scaled equally, according to the payout numbers. So it really doesn't matter which horse you bet on, in the long run, you expect the same results.
But as explained before, it does influence variance, and therefore your short-term result, which can swing both ways.
But now, the best possible field to bet on: two runners at 5-1, two runners at 15-1, and two runners at 30-1.
Odds at 5-1 represents a winning chance of 16.67%, 15-1 odds means 6.25% chance, and 30-1 odds means a 3.23% chance of winning. Add these six horses together, and you only get 52.285%.
This means that, to get from 52% to 100%, the actual winning chances of these horses will be almost doubled! Multiplied by 1.91 to be exact.
So the 5-1 favorites will now win 31.88% of the time, instead of 16.67%,
the 15-1 runners will win 11.95% of the time,
and the underdogs at 30-1 odds will still win 6.17% of the time.
When betting on this field, the expected return on your bet is 191.25%!
This means that a max bet of 10,000 chips will result in an expected PROFIT of 9,125 chips.
This is printing money, if there ever was such a thing.
Optimal strategy for Virtual Horse racing
So all you have to do, is only bet high on the games where you have an expected positive return, and bet the absolute minimum on the games where your expected return is negative. Or back out of the racing game to refresh the field.
If you don't have a way to quickly add up all the percentages, and until somebody shows up here with a neatly formatted table, just use a few general rules of thumb:
-Always bet the maximum on a race with favorites at 2/1 and 3/1 or higher in it.
-Simply skip all races with two favorites at EVENS in it, and at EVENS and 2/1. Or bet the minimum, if you can't skip or refresh the field.
-To decide if you should play races with other favorite combinations EVENS and 3/1, EVENS and 4/1, EVENS and 5/1, or two favorites at 2/1, the payouts on the other four runners determine whether or not it's profitable to play them. The results of betting on these fields vary from an expected 1,330 chip loss (worst-case) to an expected 1,680 chip win (best-case), with a max bet of 10,000 chips.
But if you're not looking for another strategy chart, you might just want to skip these borderline cases, and just cherry pick the best ones, which are easy to recognize, and with which you can never go wrong.
It's difficult to put a number on an expected win-rate, because it all depends on which fields you get presented with, but it's not unreasonable to state that you can maintain a steady win-rate of around 200,000 chips per hour, with about 50 seconds per race.
Remember, you're not trying to win every race. You're trying to win the most money per hour. So don't sweat it when you bet on a 4/1 favorite, and lose a couple of races in a row. It will still be more profitable in the long run. You have the math on your side.
To reduce negative variance, always bet on the favorite, when betting on profitable fields. We're not gambling anymore, we're grinding out a steady profit. We want to keep the swings to a minimum.
I contacted Rockstar support to verify if this is indeed how it works, but the only reply I got after 6 weeks is that they were "looking into it".
User u/Garsant made a useful Excel-worksheet, available for you to download, where you can quickly type in the payouts on the horses, to see if it produces a profitable bet or not. You can find it in his post here: https://www.reddit.com/gtaonline/comments/ekp8na/gta_online_inside_track_odd_calculato
1) Wheel of Fortune
The number one profitable casino game in GTA Online is obviously the Wheel of Fortune, because it costs you nothing to play.
Unfortunately, you only get one free spin per day, but it holds great value, so make sure you do it.
With a chance to win a super car, vehicle discounts, expensive mystery prizes (which also can be vehicles), and a lot of cash and chips, the expected return on a single spin is around $100,000 in value.
So don't forget your daily spin, it's definitely worth your time.
2020 Update:
As of the Diamond Casino Heist update, the Inside Track horse racing is confirmed to still be as profitable as outlined above.The only thing that seems to be changed, is that you can't refresh the field anymore by backing out of the screen. This does affect your hourly rate in a negative way, but does not change the fact that this game has a huge positive expected return, and should be your go-to when you're trying to take money from the house, without having Lester's nagging voice in your ear. That should also be worth something.
And with that, I conclude my 5,000 word essay on gambling in GTA. Questions, comments, feel free to add your input to this guide.
Cliffs:
-Gambling games should only be played for fun, not for big money. You should expect to lose in the long run. The house always wins.
-A casino game doesn't have a memory, and betting systems don't work.
-Set your limits before you start, how much you are willing to lose or win, and then walk away when you get there.
-Don't play slots, roulette, or three card poker.
-Only play blackjack following a basic strategy chart (https://prnt.sc/olct6g).
-Inside Track betting can be played profitably, if you only bet on fields WITHOUT a heavy favorite.
-Wheel of Fortune is always your best bet, because it's a free bet.

Based on Beginners guide: Properties ranked by Necessity by CretaceousFossil. Related: GTA Online property location guide, if you are wondering what the difference is between locations. For moneymaking specifics see /gtaonline's pinned weekly Mega Guide thread.

1. An Apartment, Stilthouse, or Penthouse: The #1 property every player should have by Level 30 is an apartment. While they may be less effective property for earning money, they definitely have advantages. You can spawn there safely, not having to worry about spawn killing by griefers. If another player is relentlessly chasing you down, even if you own no other properties, you can evade them. And finally, its nice to feel like an actual resident of Los Santos. Also its the only way to do the regular heists as a host.
   
2. CEO Office or Biker Clubhouse: It mainly comes down to what you like. You might like the clean, authoritative, high-rise feel of being a CEO, or you might like the gritty, street-level, rock'n'roll style of an MC president. However one or the other, is the second property you should invest in or at least prioritize. With the CEO Office, you won't need to make sure you have your 50,000 dollars every-time you join the game. Although the missions that come with the CEO are monotonous and underwhelming, so many of the other properties on this list require you to be a CEO or MC President to operate. As an MC president you have the ability to spawn in any bike you own, next to you with, no cooldown (except for the Oppressor Mk2); and as a CEO you have the ability to spawn in Organization vehicles (see #Organization_Vehicles on how to unlock them). You can also get free snacks at the Assistant in the Office.
   
3. Bunker: If you are beginner or someone who doesn't own a ton of Mk2 weapons or weaponized vehicles, the money is definitely the best part. The resupply missions are fairly easy (but once you have both production upgrades, you should buy supplies), and most of the sell missions without rival players are a breeze. Whenever you are online and you have supplies in the Bunker, it is passively producing. This allows you to do other activities in the meantime. However besides the money, if you wish to own a lot of Mk2 Weapons and maybe a weaponized vehicle, the research does pay off. Also this property allows you to buy an MOC. While the interior may seem like a bunch of gray, drab, ugly, concrete tunnels at first, once you get the golf carts, sleeping quarters, shooting range, upgrades, and the yellow paint job its gives a nice industrial/laboratory feel.
   
4. Vehicle Warehouse: Import/Export is one of the best solo money-making methods. There is no upfront cost as with Special Cargo but if done correctly it can still net a good $200k per hour (or more, combined with VIP jobs). The Specialized Vehicles stored in the basement are rather lackluster though, Rockstar introduced much more powerful weaponized vehicles since then, most of them even cheaper and customizable.
   
5. (Special Cargo) Warehouse or MC Business: The warehouse's drop-shipping style buy & sell formula makes it the most straightforward and it's a good way to introduce beginners to selling. However, there are definitely some flaws with this option. While the selling yields good profits, if you lose your cargo, your losing time and money. Open-Road Businesses are similar in idea to gunrunning. Steal or buy supplies and wait for your stock to build up. However they don't pay that well, and are obsolete compared to other businesses.
   
6. Nightclub: The nightclub definitely has some very good benefits. You get a free Speedo Custom right off the bat, which at first is a "so-so" vehicle, but once you have all the vehicle upgrades, the armor plating, the minigun, and mines, it's a very fun and effective vehicle. While the cargo accrues quite slowly, if you are patient and play the business battle missions, you will have some considerable stock. Plus you can purchase the Terrorbyte, more info on it below. For the Nightclub to be most effective you should own (and run, that is not have it shut down) other businesses, as the stock is generated from linked businesses. Keeping the Nightclub at higher levels of popularity will put more money every 24 ingame hours (48 minutes IRL) into your safe. Every ingame day decreases the popularity by 5% (1/4 of a popularity bar), changing DJs for $10k (once you unlocked them for $100k - this maxes out popularity) will up your popularity by 10% (half of a bar). Or you may wait a couple ingame days and do a popularity mission which increases popularity by 1.5 bar. You can see how much cash gets added into your safe (capacity: $70k) every day: https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Nightclubs#Cash
   
7. Terrorbyte (requires Nightclub): The Terrorbyte is a really great vehicle. Besides having a literal base inside in a truck, which is sweet, it is incredibly functional. The missions have awesome pay considering the level of effort/hassle needed to complete them, plus you can remotely launch resupply missions for any of your businesses. If you decide to buy this truck, make sure you have over $1.2m extra, to get the drone station and missiles (though the latter is not very useful), and you if don't own a Mk2 weapon workshop, getting one with the terrorbyte is a good idea.
   
8. Arcade: The Arcade provides another passive income (max $5k per day) to the player while also giving the player the ability to host Casino Heists which pay really well if the player knows what they are doing. The passive income depends on how many games are placed, you may even just place the same games in every slot to achieve the highest possible payout, you don't have to buy all the machines. Owning a Terrorbyte makes you able to hire Paige as hacker, which is necessary for good Casino Heist runs to max out the time you can spend grabbing loot (or you may alternatively unlock Avi Schwartzman as a hacker).
   
9. Facility: The facility although one of the more expensive properties, can get you some serious cash and XP from the Doomsday Heists, plus the front desk has free snack. This is my favorite property just because of how expansive it is. With the wall designs, color scheme, fully upgraded quarters, and statues you get after the heists, its very aesthetically pleasing and is a good way to impress.
   
10. Garage (standalone property): If you are too broke to afford an apartment because you don't that much time to play or apartments are not your thing, put this at number 1 over the apartment as the first property to buy. However although being able to to store cars, garages are obsolete considering you can add garages and garage levels to nightclub, and apartments and the facilities include garages. Also you can't set your spawn location to standalone garages.
    
11. Mobile Operations Center (MOC) or Avenger): While both have a better bang for your buck than the warehouse, they aren't that crucial for beginning players. The MOC at first is very barebones and while there are missions that can be launched from it, they require multiple players and can't be launched in freemode. The Avenger can be a useful vehicle for freemode jobs (such as Hangar missions or Facility/Arcade preps) but it's definitely not necessary.
    
12. Hangar: If you love flying in GTA Online and want to spend all your money on planes, this is the property for you. However, if you want to make money, it's not a very good option. Crates are only worth $10k each and the missions require some flying skills, and only give 1 crate per player in the MC or Organization, with a maximum of 4. The sale missions also require flying skills, some even more than the sourcing missions and some of them can't really be done solo.
    
13. Arena Workshop: With the paint job, decals, and office, the Arena Workshop can be made to look very cool, and with the weapons workshop you can add weapons to vehicles and upgrade guns. You also have access to the Arena War career, which allows you to unlock discount prices for outfits and vehicle mods (albeit randomly, so it's not a very effective model), and the base prices for the upgardes are very steep. This property is over a million, so unless you are planning to buy a ton of discounted items or you just love Arena War, wait out on this one or skip it altogether.
    
14. Casino Master Penthouse: Basically a very expensive apartment, with very expensive modular upgrades and decorations. You can also add a 10-car garage for $900k. It also lets you do the Casino Missions (from Agatha Baker) as a host, which upon completion awards the player with the Paragon R (Armored)) car, which is exclusively available from here.
    
15. CEO Office Garage: Unless you are super rich and own more cars than you know what to do with, make this property dead last. It costs millions to add more levels. You can add a Custom Auto Shop (for even more money) with it to custom your cars straight from the garage though.
    
16. Yacht: Big floating apartment on water, gives you the option to play one extra type of VIP job. Not a priority.
    

The results

First things first, Here is the raw data from the resuts of the poll I posted last week, with over 1.8k votes from various places (I didn't just post the poll on Reddit).
According to this one poll, overall 39% use homebrew or CFW on their 3DS, while 61% do not for whatever reason.
41% do not wish to install such things in the first place, followed by 30% who use custom firmwares. The 3 other options are tied, with users who only installed homebrew as 9%.

Accuracy of the data

Some kind folks pointed out to me that the data was likely to be biased, the biggest reason for which was title bias. Due to mentioning certain words in the title, certain people were more likely to click on it. I understand that was my error and I corrected it when posting this poll in places outside of Reddit.
Another reason I posted the polls outside of this sub-reddit, was that some folks pointed out this subreddit often has such discussions on it, so the number of such users would be higher than normal.
Nonetheless, I ran a statistical test on it to see if the results were significant. It's probably unnecessary and overboard for data that some may argue is biased, but I rarely get to use what I learnt in school anyway, so I decided to to a chi-squared tests for nostalgia's sake. If you don't know much statistical maths, then just ignore the next paragraph.
Not having a clue as to what the 'expected' value should be, I just put in the proportions as equal. The value I got back from the calculator was 827 for the chi-squared. Thus the P-value was very significant. Unfortunately, there's no way to calculate (that I know of or can remember) to test for bias.

Discussion

Firstly, I was a bit disappointed at the original thread. While there were a few helpful comments and interesting opinions from people, a few folks acted like it was a war. I felt like I'd started a small fire.
But what got me most were the folks that wrote off the discussion entirely claiming it was pointless or such. While I admit that some information is better not known, this is one thing that doesn't hurt anybody to know or even to try and find out (even if just an estimate). Discussion is almost always a good thing, if one doesn't agree, then discuss it in a reasonable manner.
Some folks are immediately defensive and frown upon such discussion as the first thing that comes into their minds is 'piracy'. But as I'll eventually explain, it is only one such facet of the scene and discussing it never hurt anyone. I understand why folks might think that way.
This seems to be an issue exclusive to this subreddit and possible /Nintendo. Having been on other subreddits like /PCGaming and game-specific sub-reddits, folks are more open to discuss things. Back on PCG sub-reddit, discussion of things like emulators and piracy statistics is fine and actually rather appreciated (there's often been posts regarding piracy statistics of games and discussion of what it means). It makes subreddits which shy away from such topics a bit childish and closed-off. Apologies if I've offended anyone, it wasn't the intention. I clearly mentioned homebrew/CFW in the title and it was your choice to read this thread knowing what would be discussed. You had the option of avoiding this post if you don't enjoy the discussion.

My interpretation

I personally expected a lot more folks to not use homebrew than those that do, the homebrew subreddit itself is a lot smaller than this 3DS subreddit. That said, a higher proportion are more active users, i.e. it suggests they are more vocal which leads into the bias argument.
Back in the DS days, flashcarts were all too common, to the point where one can buy a cheap knockoff for a few quid from an open market these days (as one person told me where they got their flashcart from). I personally never had one for various reasons, but most of the people I knew who had a 3DS, also had flashcarts. That said, most of those people were young and in the teenage years, as was I.
Fast forward to now, and while there are such things as 3DS flashcarts, the main equivalent is known as custom firmwares or homebrew. The funny thing is that I was unaware of the existence of any of these things for the 3DS, until October last year. My desire to find out whether it was possible to bypass the region-lock on a 3DS, to play imported games led me to discover homebrew. Custom-firmwares have become more common in 2016 due to break-throughs in the 3DS hacking scene, which explains the imbalance and relatively low numbers of folks who use homebrew but not CFW. I really wonder how much different the results of this poll would be if it had been posted in December 2015.
For whatever reasons, CFW seems to be somewhat popular right now. Perhaps folks just want that extra bit of control or customisability or perhaps folks are unable to afford many games.

Some words on piracy (read to the end before commenting)

Which brings me to my discussion on piracy. I've discussed this before on other subreddits subreddit. The things that some big companies try to do to combat piracy don't work too well. We've seen the effect the likes of DRM and online passes have had on other platforms like PC and consoles. Such has led to rise of such services like GoG and music sold on both iTunes and Google Play are DRM-free. Usually such implementations tend to cause more trouble for legitimate users. Such things have failed in the past, Games for Windows Live was one notorious system tht was ditched and so was the online pass system.
I bought the PC Collector's Edition of Just Cause 3 at release and barely played it outside of the first few weeks due to forced online-log in requirements and updates that killed off the modding scene. No mods for Just Cause 3... what has the world come to?
So what does any of this have to do with Nintendo? In their attempts to combat homebrew, Nintendo have been updating the 3DS firmware very often with few actual benefits to the users. Often an update patch will just list 'stability updates'. This has now become a meme among the users or /3dshacks. How does this affect legitimate users? Well one must update their 3DS everytime this occurs. And if you choose not to update? You cannot access the eShop to buy games, you cannot access online features in games, you cannot update games themselves and cannot do anything that requires NNID sign-in on 3DS.
The funny thing is, there are homebrew apps that can bypass this and allow users to access the eShop on older firmwares if they haven't updated for whatever reason. Not only that, but the most popular 'exploits' to gain homebrew access cannot be patched out by such patches. Most of all, patches do not prevent custom firmwares or flash carts from working (i.e. it has no effect on piracy). It appears that Nintendo is throwing peas at a brick wall.
The other day I was playing Pokemon Y and wanted to access the Pokemon Bank to withdraw some Pokemon. I load it up, it starts to sign in and... I can't use it because the 3DS has to update. It wouldn't matter so much if the updates added significant improvements for the user or weren't as annoyingly common. Nonetheless, it still took 5-10 minutes to update when the 3DS was placed directly next to my router.
Besides updates what else is there? Not much to complain if it's just updates right? With the recent addition of SNES Virtual Console on 3DS, legitimate users now lose out again. If you don't own a new model of 3DS and want to buy SNES titles on the eShop... tough. Your only option is homebrew, where we can see that SNES games work just fine on original 3DS with the right emulator. How is it that homebrew developers can do what Nintendo cannot?
Finally, the biggest issue I have with the 3DS and one major reason why a lot of people use homebrew or custom firmwares: region-lock. Back in the DS days, no such thing existed. I remember a friend of mine went on holiday abroad and bought a NTSC copy of GTA: Chinatown Wars on the cheap. It ran perfectly fine on his PAL DSi. Odd DS games that released only in Japan? Games that released earlier in Japan (like the Pokemon games used to)? No problem, import them and contribute to sales of that game. But that is no longer possible on 3DS. Want to play Monster Hunter 4? Want to play Fire Emblem Fates with the original Japanese voice overs? Nintendo says no, they don't want your import money.
But once again, the only option is homebrew (or to spend an absurd amount of money on a foreign version of something you already own). One key feature of homebrew, and why so many people use it, is region-free. Many people imported Monster Hunter X and played it on their Western 3DS with homebrew region-free. Of course, due to an update by Nintendo (and the game itself) they were soon unable to play online, but it was playable. If anyone has the physical cartridge for the Japanese Fire Emblem, you can play a fan-translation via homebrew. Though you have to dive into CFW if you want to play region-exclusive eShope titles.
Oh and I almost forgot to mention that there might be a few folks out there out to spite Nintendo. I don't blame them considering the things they've done like the Youtube content lock and similarly silencing or reducing the impact of critical reviews.
All these complaints are not without a point. The best way to combat piracy is to give legit users a better experience in the first place. PS4... region-free. So what if that Dead or Alive game isn't launching in the West, the good news is that players can import it and put it in their machine and just play. No homebrew or such required. This also applies to pricing. Due to economy issues, piracy rates are high in Russia. To combat this, Steam has adapted better pricing to make games more affordable for Russian users. Due to things like this, piracy isn't as common as it once was on the PC platform. People I know who used to pirate PC games (myself included), no longer feel the need to do so. We can just buy games on PC and have no issues with it these days (as long as on doesn't do anything dumb like pre-order or buy a broken game).
All Nintendo has to do is to stop doing dumb stuff like not including audio options in games, having region-locked/region-exclusive software, removing content from localisations, terrible pricing (Minecraft WiiU costs more than the PC version ever did, apparently pricing is mainly up to Nintendo themselves even for indie titles), updates that don't add anything and more.
I understand that much of this might not apply for a lot of folks. They might only use their 3DS for western Mario and Pokemon releases and don't play on it enough for the updates to get annoying. But it sure does affect a fair few folks. I'm not the first to say that a better product in the first place can reduce piracy, big names have also said it (certain Youtubers...)

What is homebrew/CFW? Is it piracy?

The short answer is that no, it is not piracy. I apologise if I made homebrew/CFW look like the villain in the previous section. Custom firmwares can allow piracy to occur, but it is not their marketed intent. Similarly, to how one can can use their internet connection to pirate games, the service itself is not to blame for what the users intend. It is a users own prerogative to use their hardware however they please, homebrew and custom firmwares give that control to the user. If a user doesn't wish to install such things, that's their right to choose not to. Something that enables something malicious is not to blame. Otherwise, by the same logic, guns should be outlawed completely, they 'enable' crimes like murder. Heck, why don't we remove other 'enablers' like tall buildings for allowing people to jump off them?
Homebrew- Installing homebrew doesn't modify any files of the 3DS. It is completely safe to do so, everything is done on the external SD card. Using regular homebrew will not 'brick' a 3DS or cause issues, just turn it off and restore the SD card if you don't like it. However, certain homebrew software, if allowed to run, do have the ability to modify the internal 3DS memory. It is by these means that one can modify the firmware on their 3DS and install custom firmware. Due to the methods of access, it is possible for some access points to be patched out.
Things homebrew can be used for: -Region-free play of physical cartridge games -Overclocking full usage of new 3DS processor for better game performance [see this archived post from this subreddit] -Emulation -Ability to use eShop on older firmwares [currently on hiatus] -Back-up of save files for games (enables sharing of save files or multiple saves on games with single save slots) -Fan-made modifications/patches for games (language patches, re-textures, etc) -Play games developed for 3DS via homebrew (there's a 3DS version of Portal) -Use other homebrew software like file browsers (homebrew Pokemon Bank in the making) -Downgrade 3DS firmware (can cause bricks if you don't know what you're doing) -Install Custom firmwares on downgraded 3DS (same as above)
FYI, downgrades and CFW installations have gotten 'safer' over time. There's now stability jokes for updates to the software.
Custom Firmware is the thing that is actually 'hacking' a 3DS. It modifies the firmware data, accesses and copies the NAND and can mess up, though usually due to user's own fault (installation is usually safe). Thus it is possible to 'brick' one's 3DS during the process to try and install CFW. I'll try and list the uses of it, but I'm not familiar with everything.
Uses of CFW: -Region-free built in (optional) -Cheats built-in (optional) -Save states built-in (optional) -Ability to install official/unofficial software onto the 3DS via SD card (just like an eShop software AKA the piracy enabler) -Have multiple firmwares on the same 3DS, just like multi-boot PCs -Support for unofficial 3DS apps, CFW file browsesave back-up software are generally superior to homebrew offerings -A whole bunch of stuff I don't know, understand or care to use, but others may find useful
Some folks will probably not appreciate me listing and trying to explain what these things are. All I'm doing is giving you the full knowledge to allow you to make your own judgement as to what exactly it is. I find with many things in life, people tend to criticise things they don't understand or have no knowlegde about. Like shit-talking a game they've never played (I know I've done my fair share of that).

Disclaimer

Personally, I have used homebrew a little since discovering it. Since February, I've also used CFW. I mostly use it for JK's Save Manager, homebrew via 3DS app and region-free without needing to enter homebrew (I've put 60+ hours into Monster Hunter X). Thus if you call me biased, fair enough. I don't really care, I'm just layout out the info and trying to figure out how common homebrew really is.
I'll also admit that I currently dislike Nintendo. I prefer to play on the WiiU (no homebrew on that) and they've dropped support for it. Barely any new WiiU games coming out, whereas the 3DS has plenty. I don't like the way they do their handhelds, the 3DS feels like an iPhone business-wise. I don't like their many recent douch moves like region-lock, removing content from localisations, the youtube content nonsense (on the heels of Mario Kart 8 too, that game supported uploading replays to Youtube) and their adamance for stingy game pricing (Metroid Other M is being sold for more than release price on their official store). Not to mention they've joined in on the microtransactions/cutting content for DLC/selling seperately started by the likes of EA and Ubisoft.
I don't complain because I'm plain mean, I complain because I want it to be better. I want to enjoy Nintendo games and in fact I have been recently (thanks to homebrew/CFW for being helpful): 300+ hours in Xenoblade Chronicles X, 3rd playthrough of Pokemon Y finished and currently on my 2nd playthrough of Pokemon OR.
I think this comment from another redditor sums it up. We complain because we care and we want Nintendo to be better.
Thanks for reading this far if you have done. It's not easy trying to seperate facts from strong opinion but I think I've got enough in there. I hope folks learn something, anything from this post and enjoy a healthy civilised discussion down in the comments below. Try not to get too upset, ignore things if you do. Please do correct me if I'm wrong on anything, I am human after all (that means I can make mistakes). I hope I can grow to appreciate this subreddit the same way I do others like /PCGaming and /Xenoblade_Chronicles.
Cheers folks and have a good day.

Edit [07/04/16]: An interesting article and an update

Thanks for your replies, in general people have been taking to the discussion rather well, even if some disagree with a few things I've said. A few folks have seemed to take my post as a positive spin on piracy and I apologise if it somehow reads that way, but that is not my intent to say that piracy is a good thing. No doubt it will always occur, but my main point was that doing things a lot better can reduce piracy. I alsmost feel like this is similar to my guide (I made a guide on how to install China-exclusive free-to-play Monster Hunter MMO), where some of the concerns folks have are already addressed in the text itself. I.e. I kept on getting sent problems that were already mentioned in the guide. I don't blame ya, this is a wall of text.
The newly linked article was an interesting read for me, I personally don't understand all of the jargon, but what little I did understand from it was amusing. As time went on, the security of the 3DS appeared to become more complex but this actually made things worse and seemed to make hacking easier, whether by alluding to existing exploits or providing new ones. It makes a few good points like the fact that a system cannot be completely secure forever, but developers should aim to keep it secure for the lifetime of the system.
I've mentioned in a few replies that Nintendo have improved in that respect with the WiiU, granted while its life is relatively short, they still managed to keep it 'hack-free' for that duration. WiiU equivalent of 3DS homebrew is only now on the horizon, as is the successor to WiiU (regardless of Nintendo's claims that it's not a replacement). But on the 3DS, they just made things worse everytime they tried to go back to the drawing board, which is kinda funny to read about. And the article also mentioned that they took the new 3DS as an opportunity to try and tighten up security, which also eventually was figured out by the 3DS hackers.
A few folks have mentioned that I may be wrong on SNES emulation on original 3DS. I provided a video link of SNES emulation working fairly well via homebrew, I've never used it or tried it myself. It was using BlargSNES and from what I read, it's the emulator that works well, apparently RetroArch doesn't. If you've personally found it doesn't work well, then please do give details of your experiences, it's likely that certain builds don't work well with certain games. Once again, I hope folks find they can learn something new from this post.

After watching this video youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5CDrq4dGg I was thinking that we need a microTX check website. Jim Sterling rightfully stated that publishers use gameplay and cosmetic microTX, pre-orders, lootboxes and 8 or 9 deluxe versions of the same games to create a fear of missing out among customers. In a world where IGN saying ‘believe the hype’ is a tagline for a game, in which PR controls the message, in which reviews are strictly monitored and not always trustworthy and in which pre-orders are pushed to the moon is it surprising that many people fail to make an informed choice?
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Soon consumers have to purchase a game, then have to subscribe to yearly payment scheme and then livestream the game on Twitch to have access to a lootbox, which in return reveal a consumable item which cannot be used without buying a day 1 DLC, after purchasing the DLC and using the consumable item in singleplayer the consumer will realize that the item will not be available for second playthrough. There is no guarantee in future ‘whales’ will not be called ‘victims’.
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PC gaming needs a content checker so people don’t have to suffer fear of missing out. There is microtransaction.zone, which has not been updated for a long time so it doesn't have any newer AAA or indie game. It has a search capability but limited. MicroTX check Steam curator is good but some game gets red card for having cosmetics others get yellow for cosmetic DLC, which is confusing. It has the limitation as it's just a curator page so word count and many other features are limited. A proper wiki should not only list microTX/lootboxes in a video game but also should list all the exclusive items in the game.
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Who should read this? People who want to know what are they missing out by not pre-ordering/purchasing microTX; journalists who want to investigate the situation but lost their minds reading about all these types of microTX; developers/publishers who are out of ideas to implement microTX in their games; in general, people who just want to buy any triple ayyy game these days as there is no way to avoid microTX/lootboxes.
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Even though this is a very thorough list of microTX mechanics I might have missed something as corporations are finding new ways to exploit customers. What did I miss?
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Somebody make this wiki already, heck I think there should be a kickstarter for this.
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(don’t PM me about this, unless you work for google fiber)
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Part A Tags/Factors the website have to monitor regarding microTX/DLC
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1a- How does the game monetize itself? Does the game has microTX/advertisement/lootbox/donation system/subscription? Or is it purely paid/purely free game?
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B Whether microTX/paid DLC/lootbox are cosmetic only or gameplay changer? Singleplayemultiplayer which section has which type of microTX? If the game has crafting system how does it work? Does the crafting system encourage microTX?
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C Wiki should also mention paid DLC for singleplayers etc.
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d Which tag should the games with paid standalone extensions have? Many games have standalone extensions, they are to be considered seperate game, right? However some standalone extensions can give you more advantage in multiplayer, Age of Empires 2 had extensions which will give you more civilizations in multiplayer.
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E How many types of virtual currency is in the game and what are the ways to gain virtual currencies? How long will it take on average to gain virtual currency using each methods?
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F For games with paid DLC it has to mention how much is the total amount of DLC? There are games like train simulator which has 9000$ worth of DLC/microTX.
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G Some games obfuscate usage of real world money in multiple layers. The wiki should explain how a game obfuscating monetization.
For example R6S has multiple virtual currencies and cosmetic lootboxes. Customer can never pay real world money to purchase lootbox. However if the customer purchase booster pack (which can only be bought with real money, even lootboxes don’t have any booster packs) to get more virtual currency, he can buy more lootboxes.
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2a- How many versions are available to purchase and what types of pre-order exclusives does the game have? Most games have virtual currency/rare items as pre-order exclusives.
For example- recent Assassin’s Creed titles have 8 or 9 different versions available for pre-order, some have more virtual currency some versions have collectibles. EA Access subscribers had the ability to play Anthem early and this made Anthem’s pre-order versions extremely confusing.
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B Whether the game has Bestbuy/Gamestop/Amazon/Burger King/Totino’s pizza or Steam/GOG/Epic Store purchase or pre-order exclusives. Many games have retailestore exclusives or pre-order-retailer exclusives so customers are always missing out something depending on which store they are buying/pre-ordering from.
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c What does the game/DLC/season pass/battle pass/year pass/premium/gold edition exactly cover? Many games have misleading advertisement to persuade people to purchase season passes which doesn’t cover all items in the season. The wiki should display prices of all the things each season pass does not cover.
Many people thought Destiny expansion pass covered all the first year DLC, but actually it only covered first two DLC so the Taken King had to be purchases seperately.
Evolve season pass was released with over hundreds of dollar worth of cosmetic/gameplay items which the season pass did not cover.
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D To make matters worse many games unexpectedly have multiple season passes.
Steep has very confusing season passes and gold editions, they also changed many of the content policy in their editions long after they were released. Unless you are a Steep player, it’s not recommended that you try to understand how each versions of Steep works because it is literally as much difficult as rocket science.
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E Does the microTX/DLC/Premium edition divide playerbase? If DLCs divide playerbase it indicates that the multiplayer will probably die faster than expected.
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F Is it difficult to understand microTX policy.
Many games have 1 paragraph long game mechanics guide and 10 pages long document to describe how different versions of the game work.
For example- Mortal Kombat 11 has quite complicated grinding mechanics to encourage microTX, it even has a microTX to skip grinding matches.
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G Non-digital items are not the main concern here, so stuff like collector’s edition/steelbook/action figures are mostly not a part of the discussion here. However some things can be considered cosmetic items, like in-game music pack/background noise/ digital artbook which gives you information about map/weapons etc.
Some games have ‘name in game’ DLC, some variant of this type of DLC can seem like a cosmetic items, because letting user change name is cosmetic.
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H Is the game available under a subscription system? If it is, what are the exclusive items available under subscription? Many games now have exclusive items when being played under Origin Access or Xbox Live subscription.
What are the method of subscription? Do you need to bind your credit card to the account or subscription can deduct wallet balance? Does the subscription system support prepaid credit cards etc
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I How many microTX in the game needs reward points like Ubisoft club reward points, Origin points, Steam levels etc.? Many game has items which require reward points, but in order to gain reward points you have to buy more games inside the client, which creates a circle of spending. Some store’s customer care will prioritze people with high reward points.
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J How many Steam reward points/Ubisoft club points a game can generate? Store reward points like Steam badges or Steam account levels are not in-game cosmetic items themselves but many consumers actually use them as cosmetic items. People play lot of money to buy games with Steam achievements to rank up.
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K What are the kickstarter exclusives (if the game is crowdfunded)?
Star citizen has a handful of crownfunding exclusive as it was the biggest crowdfunding event. This may give crowdfunders an advantage over new customers.
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L How many people pre-ordered the game? If a game has too many pre-orders they may rush the game out to either make DLCs or to create another game.
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3a- The wiki should display how many months it took the developers to release/announce DLCs after they released the game? Late DLC may indicate the developers used most of their resources to develop the main game and not the DLC.
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B The wiki should have a tag for games which did not announce any free/paid DLC on release day. Witcher 3 did not announce any paid DLC on release day. Some games have option to pre-order DLC before release day i.e. Evolve.
Some games even have DLC available to play on day 1.
Battlefield 4 had launch day DLC on Xbox One. Evolve had the option to buy DLC on day 1 . Some games even have locked content on disk on day 1 which can be unlocked with DLC purchase.
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C Whether a paid game has paid DLC/microTX/lootbox in while in early access. This may indicate that the developers are taking resources from the main game to build the DLCs. Ark Survival have sold paid DLC while it was still in early access. Many battle royale games have microTX or even lootbox while they are still in beta.
Can you pre-order micro transaction? This can give consumers a red flag about the game.
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4a- The website should mention how many hours are needed to unlock all things behind paywall? And in order to unlock/progress how many hours do you have to play same boring mission over and over again (like Anthem)?
Some games don’t even need to be played to do anything or to gain virtual currency, they just require you to keep the game on screen for a long time to complete mission.
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B The website should have a tag for games which doesn’t allow consumer to unlock everything just by playing the game. Many 60$ games won’t allow consumer to unlock every cosmetic microTX by playing, some paywall needs to be paid by real world money.
In CSGO some items must be unlocked through lootbox purchases.
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5a- The wiki should note whether you can see preview of the cosmetic items before you are buying/receiving. Some games have good preview option, they show how each items/animations in store goes with your existing character etc.
Warframe had somewhat confusing preview system for an animal breeding system and people unknowingly changed the slider too many times and lost their money, so developers later fixed it.
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B Many cosmetic microTX can give you an advantage/disadvantage over other players in multiplayer. For example- dark clothing in first person shooters.
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c Some cosmetic items have hidden stat boost which can only be realised when tested.
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d How regularly will the game allow users to skip mission? Do the customers have to purchase microTX to skip mission? This may indicate that the game is too grindy and painful to be - ironically - played.
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E Pretty soon publishers will sell graphics settings like blood decal/motion blucell shaderain effects or other settings like footstep sound, subtitles, localization as microTX. Oh wait, Warhammer Total War sells blood decal for 2$
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f Some games (like Garry’s Mod) allow community servers to introduce community microTX. This way you can spend money to community servers to help them and receive cosmetic/gameplay changing items. However it is technically possible for all multiplayer games that supports community servers to allow community microTX and this cannot be monitored.
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6a- On which platforms/online stores is the game available? In future what other stores will sell the game?
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B What is the store’s refund policy regarding microTX/ unused lootbox?
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C What is the region locking policy on DLC/microTX/lootbox etc?
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D Whether the store requires credit cards/paypal and acquire your personal info that way, whether it supports third party cdkeys or wallet codes (Although some cdkey resellers are themselves shady).
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E What are the payment methods? Does the store allow prepaid credit cards?
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F Whether or not by default the store will forget your credit card and personal info. If the store forgets your credit card info it can’t charge you for accidental microTX purchases. This is particularly useful for mobile purchases as children sometimes accidentally purchase microTX using parents mobile, however a few PC stores this can be a problem too. This may also protect against credit card theft or database breach.
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G Whether the store has family sharing option/gifting feature.
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H From where the microTX have to be purchases? Some games are sold in online stores but their microTX/lootboxes are sold from game server.
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I Some stores deduct account balance if customer doesn’t login regularly
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j GDPR compliance.
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K What types of data is the store saving? How easy is for the consumer to look at his data which is saved in the database?
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L Does the store save consumer telemetry data? Many stores save consumer’s telemetry data secretly.
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M Ability to delete user data from the database and AI
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n Which company owns the store? Who can have access to user data? In which server a particular user’s data located(because different countries have different data policy/privacy policy)? Will the store let users know if their data leave servers of one country to another country?
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O Data sharing policy with third parties/data brokers. Many stores/games sell data to data brokers so data brokers can track all the users and sell information to other game developers/advertisement agencies etc.
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p What type of artificial intelligence are using customer data? Is the recommendation system AI opt-in or opt-out?
Can you browse games in ‘private mode’ without the store tracking your browsing activity?
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Q How many data breaches have the company suffered from? Do they protect from stolen credit cards?
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R How many types of 2-factor authentication does the store support?
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S How exactly the advertisement system work within the store? Do they advertise games by pushing them into your game library screen instead of keeping them in store page?
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T Do they sell misleading content without proper warning? Some stores don’t warn users that DLC/Expansion won’t work without original game. Some stores don’t warn if online features of a game is shut down.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 had always online DRM. Couple of months after release online features were turned off then it was on sale on playstation store misleading millions of PS4 users.
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7a Same questions for game website, some games are not sold in stores instead they are directly sold through their own website. What are the refund policy regarding microTX/currency? Whether the game website forgets your credit card info by default data etc.
How does the family sharing work with microTX items?
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B Does the game have multiple save slot? Some games deny replayability by charging for additional savegame slots.
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Metal Gear Survive requires 10$ to unlock additional save slots. Not only multiple persons can’t enjoy the game from a single machine, one consumer can’t create multiple savegame to replay the game without paying money.
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C Some games have virtual currency which will expire if left unused for a long time. For example- Metal Gear Solid 5
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D What is their Data policy?
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8a- Some microTX are consumable microTX like Destiny 2 shaders and camos. This means microTX will be like buying gems in mobile games, they will expire after certain number of usage.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided has lots of consumable items.
Skins in CSGO are not consumables but pastes are.
Many free to play games have premium ammos which are obviously consumables.
Some things in PUBG Royale Pass are consumables/temporarily available.
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B Some games have animal breeding system, users can breed cats/pandas to create biggemore beautiful cats/pandas. If one cat is to be bred limited number of times it should be considered consumables.
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C The wiki should mention how actually the consumables work and savegames work, whether it supports second playthrough or a second family member playing the same game.
Many consumables in singleplayer games are strictly one playthrough only. This means in many games users have to be extremely careful, have to save their games manually and have to use their savegame files in a complex way to use consumables in multiple playthroughs.
Examples are Deus EX Mankind Divided and Borderlands franchise.
(Well there is a reason why 60$ games don’t have cheatcodes anymore)
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9-Some advertisement based games require you/give you option to watch ads in order to save progress/gain additional save slots etc.
Street Fighter V has in-game advertisements as a way to earn in game money which can be used to purchase gameplay enchancing microTX.
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B Whether advertisements in a game occupies part of the screen and hinder gameplay.
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10- Dynamic pricing in most countries is not illegal itself if it is based on spending habit/credit card balance etc. However if a game has dynamic pricing the consumers need to know that to compare prices with other consumers.
Example of dynamic pricing- Star Citizen will show you an option to purchase almost all ships in the game with 27000$, only if you have already spent 1000$ in microTX in the game.
Instead of dynamic pricing some games have dynamic discount.
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11 - What are the types of lootboxes in the game?
Any mechanic/cosmetic item which depends on virtual currency can be considered lootbox if acquiring the item depends on a random number generator. By this definition lootboxes and random card decks are the same. Even looting of corpses and similar mechanics can be considered lootbox if looting depends on RNG in the game.
Assassin’s Creed Unity had random collector edition pre-order reward depending on result of a spinning wheel, this can be considered lootbox.
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However not all types of lootboxes can be considered gambling. Firstly, gambling laws differ from country to country. Secondly, random sticker decks like Panini football stickers are not considered gambling at any country as number of stickers for each players are equal and it does not have a normal,rare,premium tiers like Fifa Ultimate Pack has.
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B Do the lootboxes in the game only have cosmetic items or gameplay mechanics?
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C paid or free lootbox? CSGO lootboxes have to be considered paid because you must use keys for lootboxes and those keys muse be bought. Battlefield battlepacks can be earned or bought.
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D The wiki has to show what are the exact probability of finding each item inside lootbox?
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E If lootbox has a drop probability what is that, exactly? Exact is the keyword here, many companies publish rough estimate of lootbox probability but never reveal the definite probability.
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F Whether the lootboxes in the game has dynamic probability for items. Many games have dynamic probability, in first week of a lootbox system the game will drop many lootboxes but after the game hooked people on Twitch, the droprate/item rate will be decreased.
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G Can a consumer easily see all lootboxes he used in the past in chronological (and other sort) order? By default EA doesn’t show how many Fifa Ultimate Packs a customer has bought unless they deliberately request that information through GDPR or other regulations. Even with GDPR they don’t usually show what lootbox revealed which player cards in game and other relevent information.
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H Do the lootboxes in the game guarantee that there will be no duplicate item reveal?
If no, then in case there is a duplicate what type of rewards the consumer will receive? Will the game return portion of the money the consumer paid to acquire the lootbox?
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12- Some games have marketplace/auction house to trade microTX or lootbox items. There have to be specific tags for marketplace enabled videogames. Even though marketplace can be good for a video game, many parents don’t want their children to be exposed to marketplace because they believe it can encourage gambling.
For example- CSGO/Rust/TF2/Payday 2 and many other games have Steam market.
Diablo 3 had auction house which was later disabled.
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B Does the game/store have third party API for login? Steam used to allow third party sites to use Steam API and that lead to young people gambling items on the internet.
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13a - Does the lootbox system in the game guarantee that no lootbox item will need a DLC purchase if the consumer who revealed the lootbox did not have that DLC beforehand?
Many lootbox items in many games are attachments of weapons/characters which are not available by default and must be/can be unlocked with real world money.
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B Whether the game has microTX for microTX. Yes, it is a thing now.
The Sims 4 has microTX which only works if you have already purchased a DLC.
Black ops 4 season pass requires Black ops 4 Special editions, standard black ops 4 can’t work with season pass. To make matters worse, some DLCs can’t be played without season pass.
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C How often game UI promotes virtual currency or item purchase. Most games will hit players face with microTX options and annoy them.
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D How often an in-game mission promotes paid DLC content? Some games mentions DLC endings to pursue consumer to buy the DLCs to see all the endings.
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E What are the marketing policy of the game? Some games deliberately market themselves to children/teenagers, then try to push microTX or lootboxes to them.
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14- The wiki should also show which countries have banned the game/part of the game. Many European countries are banning lootboxes, like Belgium banned lootbox from Fifa and Destiny 2.
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15- Some games have anti-consumer-consumer mechanics for pre-order or microTX. For example- Deus ex mankind divided wanted people to influence their friends to pre-order the game(they changed the policy later).
This type of crowd pre-order is not technically pyramid schemes, because kickstarters work in the same way. However it’s still shady.
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B Some coop focused games/battle royale games can influence people to purchase microTX to save teammates.
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C What type of AI and matchmaking are the developers using? Some developers i.e. Call of Duty franchise have matchmaking system that can make a consumer think that the microTX they purchased are more effective than they actually are. They do it by placing a player in a multplayer match where the microTX is useful just after they bought it/got it from a lootbox. Some companies also using dynamic difficulty in singleplayer to force a player to lose a game or win a game whenever the company desires.
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D Some games have fundamental social features that will promote lootbox/pre-orders.
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Example- Lootboxes used in Call of Duty WWII matchmaking area will be visible to other players in the team (even those who are not inside customer's friendlist). It even gives players rewards to watch other players’ lootbox openings.
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Activision and EA are creating mechanics to integrate microTX promotions in replay system/livestream.
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E Some ‘Twitch plays video game’ games also have mechanics that will promote microTX/lootbox purchase among livestream viewers.
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F Many e-sports games and fighting games have heroes/mechanics behind DLC/lootbox/pre-order, that way if people are to be good with the game they have to pay more.
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G Some games have e-sports ticket pass/invitational pass as microTX or lootbox. This way they create pressure on fans to increase prize money for the tournament champions. To make matters worse many e-sportsman have to request fans to purchase more microTX to increase the prizes etc.
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H Some games create direct stress in consumer’s mind to instigate a panic.
Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery will choke a kid to death if a user don’t pay money to save him.
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16A- The wiki should note how many times developers changed DLC/microTX/lootbox policy in the game. Many games nowadays changing XP gain/currency gain post release as that will help them get good reviews on metacritic while still earning revenues from microTX.
Example- Mortal Kombat 11, Fallout 76 etc.
Destiny 2 also blocked many levels behind DLC purchase which was previously allowed to be accessed by standard edition buyers. They did it through a DLC rank lock.
Steep editions were already very confusing, to make matters worse Ubisoft changed lots of content of Steep standard and gold editions. There are many editions of Steep and some of them have swapped content, sometimes even secretly. It’s rocket science.
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B In some cases developers actually change policy which was previously promised. For example- Payday 2 introduced gameplay changing lootbox even though developers previously promised no lootboxes. Fallout 76 added non-cosmetic microTX.
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17A- This is getting quite common lately. Developers secretly change XP gain/lootbox mechanics to encourage purchase of microTX/lootbox. Most of time people have to listen to what publishers are not telling them rather than what they are saying.
Example- Destiny 2 and Fallout 76. Bungie later apologized for secretly decreasing XP gains and changed it back.
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B It is possible when developers/publishers get sued for lying to customer about dynamic pricing/dynamic reward system etc. they will just blame their AI and neural network instead of their corporate practices.
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18 What type of DRM the game uses?
Online only DRM can leave game unplayable if DRM server is down. Many games use 3rd party DRM so if the DRM service goes out of business it will make the game unplayable so consumer investments on microTX will be wasted.
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B Does the DRM breach privacy?
Many 3rd party DRM also compromise privacy by monitoring and storing information about applications running in the computer. The wiki should mention whether consumer can delete personal info from DRM servers.
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C Whether the multiplayer has LAN feature. If developers of a multiplayer only game shut down server the consumer will lose all microTX/lootbox spent on the game, but LAN feature can keep the game alive.
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D The website has to show how many open source mods are available for SP/MP. Modding can allow consumers to be non-dependent on microTX and guarantee more content.
Modding friendly means game either has a modtoolkit or even for a amateur programmar it’s possible to alter simple stuff such as swords or weapon props. Some game developers are calling microTX as mods, which are not actually true.
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E Does the game have cheatcodes? Many singleplayer games have killed cheatcodes to sell microTX or even lootbox in singleplayer games.
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F Whether the game requires/ has the option to rate the game within the game.
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G Whether game will ban you from online servers if you rate the game low on store.
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H Whether the game will ban you from online servers if you simply mention that the developers broke promise or mention some game bugs in their forum.
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I What type of anti-cheat service the game uses? Does the anti-cheat service compromise privacy/security by monitoring activities? Will the anti-cheat falsely ban people from a game they have invested money in?
A rogue PUBG employee was secretly selling cheating data and player information to Chinese hackers and were later fired from his job from Bluehole Studio.
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J Some games have rather confusing anti-cheat policy, and they will not engage the banned players with all the details of the alleged crimes they have committed.
For example PUBG bans people for alleged stream sniping even though streamers can always delay their streams by 10 or 20 minutes. GTA 5 will ban user if they ever possesed any hacked currency, even though it’s pretty common to pickup in game money from a deadbody.
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K Some games have Redshell and other spywares to track and sell all user data on the computer. Although most games removed Redshell lately.
According to Jim Sterling, while game is online, Deus Ex Mankind Divided spies on every in-game clicks a user does to optimize microTX even more.
Some game softwares/clients require permission which can possibly breach privacy. War Thunder used to require special permissions.
(Although many hardware manufacturers and operating system developers are themselves using telemetry/keyloggers these days)
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Additional suggestions regarding game reviews etc
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19 Maybe the website should mention how many DMCA takedowns a publisher have claimed over youtube videos? If a publisher is claiming copyright after release of a game it may indicate either they are immature or they don’t want microTX policy to become public. Same thing goes for Nintedo Creator Program.
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20 How many times the developer tried suing journalists over leaked information? Example- Take Two threatened to sue journalists over leaked information claiming they were stolen.
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21 Did the game have review embargo? How long before the game launched did the reviews show up in review sites? Some developers misuse review embargo to censor game’s bugs. Assassin’s Creed Unity pulled their review embargo 6 hours after the game was released, obviously that game was a bug infested den.
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22 Some games allegedly break price gouging laws. Website should be able to monitor that. However not all types of price hikes are unlawful.
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23 Asset flipping- Some indie games buys cheap assets from Unity marketplace then sell it as game/DLC. Asset flipping is relative, not all usage of marketplace assets are asset flipping.
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24 If the website has a review section it should compare E3 screenshots/video demos with actual games. Famously Watch Dogs, Colonial Marines and many other AAA games lied with their screenshots/E3 demos. Watch dogs secretly disabled many textures and Colonial Marines did not actually develop a game.
Even Witcher 3 announcement trailer had misleading graphics which was not possible for them to release in full game.
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24 b- It should also compare features announced and released. No man’s sky.
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25- Whether the Steam forum/subreddit is controlled and curated by developers
Many games’ reddit community is controlled by developer and they delete criticism of their policy.
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26- Some game publishers promise free cdkeys or other incentive to fans if they help them get approved/greenlit in stores by upvoting etc.
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Part B Website suggestions
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1- The website has to have tags/factors to seperate games.
Whether microTX/paid DLC are cosmetic only or gameplay changer? Singleplayemultiplayer which section has which type of microTX?
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2- It has to be a website so it is searchable for a game’s tag/rank and other information.
The wiki can work as an aggregate site like metacritic. Many of the suggested features are difficult to implement without hiring actual journalists. So having a aggregate review/news section will help consumers.
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3- It’s better to have a factual wiki, not subjective one, but it’s difficult to stick to only facts. Some things have to be subjective. For example there is no proper distinction between DLC and microTX. For a gameplay based DLC, you can say microTX will give you gameplay advantage over other players while DLC will give you/other players more content. However for cosmetic DLC, you can’t easily differentiate between DLC and microTX. That’s why many stores like Steam doesn’t differentiate between DLC and microTX.
However for most part it is possible to stick with facts. Facts like whether or not the game had day 1 DLC or how many hours neeeded to unlock each items in game etc. Let the game reviewers give opinion about microTX policy in each game.
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4- It should have a rank system, A+ for older games like doom series/elder scrolls which had no microTX or paid DLC. A for games like witcher 3, B for R6S which solds mostly cosmetic microTX and you can earn most of them by playing (it also has cosmetic lootbox).
Rank system will be highly argumentative, of course. Rank is supposed to be a summary of all information, so it can be misleading. It’s always better to read whole microTX wiki.
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5- It has to be updated regularly otherwise it will die. Game devs often update their game to include microTX as many games are early access games. Each game’s wiki have to show when the wiki was last updated.
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6- It may have a subreddit or forum so people can express their own microTX feedback for games.
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7 The wiki should be properly searchable by tags/factors. It should even be searchable by developer or publisher name. So if a user clicks on a publisher they can see all other games they have made and what type of monetization those games had. User can easily see if the company previously secretly changed XP gain to lure people to the game etc.
For example- Many company sells pre-order exlcusives 1 year after release, this can indicate that in future they will do this again, so better to be patient.
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8 The website may have a section for comparison and recommendation.
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B It should show prices of microTX compared to previous games of the same franchise.
Some game sells microTX items which were free in previous games in franchise.
Solitaire was free for 3 decades then Microsoft released subscription based Solitaire for Windows 10, priced 10$ yearly. Minesweeper is also subscription based now, both games have advertisement based free to play versions.
Call of duty black ops 4 sells red dot on screen for 1$, previously things like this were free in call of duty franchise.
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C Some remastered games have paid DLCs which were free DLCs in original game. Wiki will compare prices of original and remastered DLCs/microTX.
For example Modern warfare remastered was a DLC of infinite warfare. Remastered had it’s own DLC which was priced at 15$, which is 5$ more than the original DLC for call of duty 4.
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D The wiki may have a recommendation system, when you are browsing a first person shooter which promotes lootboxes by showing your lootbox purchases in multiplayer lobby, the wiki will show other fps games coming out this year which doesn’t have lootboxes.
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E How differently does the microTX/currency system work compared to other games/previous games?
For example- Destiny 1 and 2 microTX works completely differently. Destiny 2 cosmetics are almost always one time use. This led to people losing their money in the game.
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F The silliest example of microTX from the game and maybe the best example too.

Now before we start this topic off, no I do not support any company microtransactions I do not buy them nor will I ever. Let me ask you guys a question, in the last 2-5 years name an Online Multiplayer focused based game that didn't have microtransactions. That includes Loot boxes to unlock customization for characters, "P2W" (lol) mechanics that give one player a weapon or ability that the other player doesn't have and/or buying in-game currency with real money.
Over the past few days, this microtransactions "P2W" controversy has been growing so fast, that even a friend of mine who isn't a big gamer mentioned it to me about it. So I've been digging around, searching twitter, forums, sub reddits and trying to figure out why people making false statements and false opinions to drive other people away from playing the game. I have seen people straight up lie saying "EA encourages you to buy in-game currency if you want to win every single game" and "Disney is promoting gambling". Now let me debunk these two statements, EA does not encourages you to buy in game currency, there is no big screen saying "Buy Crystals now to get the best item ever". In fact EA primarily wants you to play the game for hours to unlock something without buying currency. Now this is something the community doesn't agree on, which is why they reduced iconic heroes prices down by 75% off of it's original price. This is something I agree on, the heroes were ridiculously overpriced.
Playing Galactic assault you can earn good decent amount of credits, having a high objective score, dragging out the game, winning the game, you can at least see 450+ credits at the end of each match. The most Cr I earned was at least 410 and that's from having the highest score in the lobby and actually playing the game. Galactic assault can last 15-20 minutes, but if you play the game you can literally win a game in 10 minutes tops. If you did the calculations that is a long time to get crates, but you guys are not thinking, you complete challenges that also reward you with a high amount of credits and now cutting the time in half of getting loot boxes. Keep in mind, if you are not decent at shooters or this game in general you won't be seeing 450+ cr score or challenges completed for a long time. I will go over this in detail later down the road. Now you're probably thinking "They still encourage you to buy it" actually if you play decent and complete challenges you won't have to buy anything. Battlefront 2 is a team based game, everything depends on you and your team in order to win games. There is no "P2W" in team based games, only skill and intelligence , this is not 1v1 battles either.
Continuing on now, "Disney is promoting gambling" sigh I didn't know star cards aka Perks, pay bills or can actually buy me something in real life. Gambling is putting money up and getting money back in a bigger amount than you put up. Literally you don't have to put money up in this game at all other than buying it. The loot crates do have a random chance mechanics implemented but it doesn't spit money back at you like Slot machines. In no way Disney or EA is promoting gambling, buying crystals is all up to the individual player. There is also other things going on as well, a lot of people who have never played the game before ever, saying the game is "Trash", "Terrible" and etc. These opinions lead to potential customers into thinking they shouldn't buy the game due to "P2W" Micro transactions mechanics. Now when you judge games, usually it's based on gameplay, content, story mode, graphics, sound and other things implemented in the game. In no way a game should be knocked down 3.5 points because it has microtransactions and the controversy over it. A lot of reviewers recently have been following the masses and basing the score on how other people think of a game they never played before. The reason why is, it generates more users, have a better following, and people respect your reviews more. If a reviewer honestly likes a game and has an unpopular opinion, they are most likely to lose users, money, following and etc. In no way i'm targeting a specific reviewers, it's just been in the past few years reviewers been basing their score off how other people think.
Now before we start this topic off, no I do not support any company microtransactions I do not buy them nor will I ever. Let me ask you guys a question, in the last 2-5 years name an Online Multiplayer focused based game that didn't have microtransactions. That includes Loot boxes to unlock customization for characters, "P2W" (lol) mechanics that give one player a weapon or ability that the other player doesn't have and/or buying in-game currency with real money.
Over the past few days, this microtransactions "P2W" controversy has been growing so fast, that even a friend of mine who isn't a big gamer mentioned it to me about it. So I've been digging around, searching twitter, forums, sub reddits and trying to figure out why people making false statements and false opinions to drive other people away from playing the game. I have seen people straight up lie saying "EA encourages you to buy in-game currency if you want to win every single game" and "Disney is promoting gambling". Now let me debunk these two statements, EA does not encourages you to buy in game currency, there is no big screen saying "Buy Crystals now to get the best item ever". In fact EA primarily wants you to play the game for hours to unlock something without buying currency. Now this is something the community doesn't agree on, which is why they reduced iconic heroes prices down by 75% off of it's original price. This is something I agree on, the heroes were ridiculously overpriced.
Playing Galactic assault you can earn good decent amount of credits, having a high objective score, dragging out the game, winning the game, you can at least see 450+ credits at the end of each match. The most Cr I earned was at least 410 and that's from having the highest score in the lobby and actually playing the game. Galactic assault can last 15-20 minutes, but if you play the game you can literally win a game in 10 minutes tops. If you did the calculations that is a long time to get crates, but you guys are not thinking, you complete challenges that also reward you with a high amount of credits and now cutting the time in half of getting loot boxes. Keep in mind, if you are not decent at shooters or this game in general you won't be seeing 450+ cr score or challenges completed for a long time. I will go over this in detail later down the road. Now you're probably thinking "They still encourage you to buy it" actually if you play decent and complete challenges you won't have to buy anything. Battlefront 2 is a team based game, everything depends on you and your team in order to win games. There is no "P2W" in team based games, only skill and intelligence , this is not 1v1 battles either.
Continuing on now, "Disney is promoting gambling" sigh I didn't know star cards aka Perks, pay bills or can actually buy me something in real life. Gambling is putting money up and getting money back in a bigger amount than you put up. Literally you don't have to put money up in this game at all other than buying it. The loot crates do have a random chance mechanics implemented but it doesn't spit money back at you like Slot machines. In no way Disney or EA is promoting gambling, buying crystals is all up to the individual player. There is also other things going on as well, a lot of people who have never played the game before ever, saying the game is "Trash", "Terrible" and etc. These opinions lead to potential customers into thinking they shouldn't buy the game due to "P2W" Micro transactions mechanics. Now when you judge games, usually it's based on gameplay, content, story mode, graphics, sound and other things implemented in the game. In no way a game should be knocked down 3.5 points because it has microtransactions and the controversy over it. A lot of reviewers recently have been following the masses and basing the score on how other people think of a game they never played before. The reason why is, it generates more users, have a better following, and people respect your reviews more. If a reviewer honestly likes a game and has an unpopular opinion, they are most likely to lose users, money, following and etc. In no way i'm targeting a specific reviewers, it's just been in the past few years reviewers been basing their score off how other people think.
Let's talk about "P2W" when you hear Pay 2 Win, you think to get a huge advantage over another player and eventually winning the game. This can be true to an extent, if you play someone that has more skill than you or a pro player you will lose regardless if you bought something or not; trust me. In Battlefront 2 the most the star cards can actually give you an advantage in is "Extra battle points" where you can use that to get an iconic hero or villain in play before someone else does. Keep in mind now if you are not good, you're gonna lose that iconic character in about 20 seconds. Battlefront 2 offers ability cards for each class but this just changes Recharge time on abilities, having a different ability or having the ability active longer based on kills. The Starfighter Ships however do have increased damage, increase health and other perks, but that's not any different from infantry star cards. I read things saying "I saw someone wreck us with the slave and we couldn't even kill him" well let me give you the bad news, those are hero ships, those ships give at least 4x the amount of health and damage than a regular ship. You will get destroyed no matter what star card they have on a hero ship, but you can win if you outplay the player. Skill always come first before someone buying some loot crates for star cards that have no affect on another player that actually skillful in the game. I'm going to use some real life analogies and video game analogies to get it through your head. If you were fighting a prime Mike Tyson and you have 1 year boxing experience and given a performance enhancement who is going to the win fight? Mike Tyson. If you were playing LeBron 1 on 1 and you have the latest $300 kicks that can make you jump 5 inches higher, a performance enhancer and 6 mo worth of basketball training. While LeBron has the heaviest basketball shoes, who will win? Definitely not you, and the reason why is they are more skillful than you in their category. Injustice 2 a popular fighting game, also has microtransactions, and you turn on gear stats in matchmaking you got all the best gear, incl. damage, health, defense and super recharges faster. But you're not very good online, and you get matched up with the number 1 person in the world(you guys know who i am talking about) with very low level gear. Who will win that match? Not you; trust me. To get a sense of what I am saying is, it doesn't matter who has the best character, gear, higher level, if you are better than the person you will always be better than them. Give your little sibling the controller with the best gear and high level character vs you with barely nothing on, I bet you would win, cause your sibling is not skillful at games. In my personal experience I have beat people with the best characters(nba2k, fifa), best gear(Dark souls) and higher level(runescape) just by out playing them and having more skill than them. One thing i can say that is a popular saying is "Git Gud".
I like this community, you guys are vocal and had the developers flipping around changing things. But also you guys have been getting toxic, from death threats, boycotting and just getting mad at people who have a different opinion from you. You don't have to cancel your pre-order because of microtransactions cause if that was the case you wouldn't be playing any multiplayer game from this console gen. If one player chooses to buy microtransactions cause he barely plays games as is and want to be caught up to everyone then so be it. It's their money and they can do what they want with it, most of them don't even buy it for advantage over someone, they do it cause they want to be caught up. "But but the time it takes to actually unlock an epic card is 24hours of gameplay, that's too long". Okay so tell me this, on average how long do you end up playing a video game for? 10hrs, 20hrs maybe even 100 hours. If you're in this category those epic cards will be unlocked sooner than you know it. The whole point of a video game is to keep you on it, not to keep you off it. It is possible to pack extra credits and crafting parts in one pack, or even a whole bunch of rare cards. You can't really determine hours of play to craft an epic, its like for example FUT you can pack Ibrahimovic and Benzema in one pack, it all depends on luck and how the computer randomize it. "I'm still cancelling my preorder cause that's too long" so be it, but if i see you with 200+ hours on Destiny, CoD and even Battlefield One I don't want to see you be talking.
I wish you guys had the same energy for other games that released within the past year that have microtransactions. But I noticed when people complain about one thing in a game before it releases, then eventually playing the game that one thing they were complaining about is not even a thing no more. There is a lot more things to be vocal about in this game other than microtransactions, such as, No Rogue One content, Star Wars 2/3 content, no Jango Fett, Grevious, Dooku, Windu, Ahsoka, Young Anakin, Young Obiwan, Old Obiwan, no Droideka, Lack of Clone wars/rebels content, More weapons, More ability cards, No mode like Operations mode like in Battlefield One, more modes in general and etc. There is a LONG LONG list of things to complain about that is more Major than microtransactions. Remember this is a team based game, play the objective and you can win the game. Someone buying some crates and unlocking an Epic Star card that gives you increase blast radius (lol) is not gonna hurt you and your team from winning the whole match.
To conclude this off microtransactions are never going to leave multiplayer based games whatever you like it or not, over the recent years there has been increase sales in microtransactions in video games, hell GTA V made $500M from selling shark cards, but you guys are not vocal about that. FUT got little kids stealing their parents credit cards and make $1000 purchases of packs, but nobody wants to talk about that. 2K has a VC problem and nobody says nothing about that. But if its pertaining to Star Wars it's a huge problem. DICE most likely added microtransactions due to the fact they are giving the community free maps, yes you heard that right FREE maps. DLC Maps separate the community cause you have to buy them to play with majority of the community. Every company does it, if its a single player game they will push DLC content, if its multiplayer they have a choice free maps or microtransactions. I know Gears of War 4 has both but they offer free 2 maps a month in rotation a month I think. Fighting games are the worse cause not only some of them have microtransactions, they have it where certain characters are locked cause you got to buy them. Companies do this to gain more revenue after a game releases. It's sad but there is nothing you can really do. "Vote with your wallet" well thats the thing, not everybody is going to do that. Just cause you didn't buy the game doesn't mean everybody else did, especially faithful Star Wars fans this game will sell millions regardless, just cause the title "Star Wars". "Well i'm going to keep boycotting this game till its cheap". That's not boycotting, that's just being smart and spending less amount of money as you would at launch, you're still giving the company you hate money.
I hope you guys read this good, cause it can potentially help you understand that microtransactions won't give you the edge in winning a team based game. tl;dr Skill > MicrotransactionsInjustice 2 a popular fighting game, also has microtransactions, and you turn on gear stats in matchmaking you got all the best gear, incl. damage, health, defense and super recharges faster. But you're not very good online, and you get matched up with the number 1 person in the world(you guys know who i am talking about) with very low level gear. Who will win that match? Not you; trust me. To get a sense of what I am saying is, it doesn't matter who has the best character, gear, higher level, if you are better than the person you will always be better than them. Give your little sibling the controller with the best gear and high level character vs you with barely nothing on, I bet you would win, cause your sibling is not skillful at games. In my personal experience I have beat people with the best characters(nba2k, fifa), best gear(Dark souls) and higher level(runescape) just by out playing them and having more skill than them. One thing i can say that is a popular saying is "Git Gud". I like this community, you guys are vocal and had the developers flipping around changing things. But also you guys have been getting toxic, from death threats, boycotting and just getting mad at people who have a different opinion from you. You don't have to cancel your pre-order because of microtransactions cause if that was the case you wouldn't be playing any multiplayer game from this console gen. If one player chooses to buy microtransactions cause he barely plays games as is and want to be caught up to everyone then so be it. It's their money and they can do what they want with it, most of them don't even buy it for advantage over someone, they do it cause they want to be caught up. "But but the time it takes to actually unlock an epic card is 24hours of gameplay, that's too long". Okay so tell me this, on average how long do you end up playing a video game for? 10hrs, 20hrs maybe even 100 hours. If you're in this category those epic cards will be unlocked sooner than you know it. The whole point of a video game is to keep you on it, not to keep you off it. It is possible to pack extra credits and crafting parts in one pack, or even a whole bunch of rare cards. You can't really determine hours of play to craft an epic, its like for example FUT you can pack Ibrahimovic and Benzema in one pack, it all depends on luck and how the computer randomize it. "I'm still cancelling my preorder cause that's too long" so be it, but if i see you with 200+ hours on Destiny, CoD and even Battlefield One I don't want to see you be talking.
I wish you guys had the same energy for other games that released within the past year that have microtransactions. But I noticed when people complain about one thing in a game before it releases, then eventually playing the game that one thing they were complaining about is not even a thing no more. There is a lot more things to be vocal about in this game other than microtransactions, such as, No Rogue One content, Star Wars 2/3 content, no Jango Fett, Grevious, Dooku, Windu, Ahsoka, Young Anakin, Young Obiwan, Old Obiwan, no Droideka, Lack of Clone wars/rebels content, More weapons, More ability cards, No mode like Operations mode like in Battlefield One, more modes in general and etc. There is a LONG LONG list of things to complain about that is more Major than microtransactions. Remember this is a team based game, play the objective and you can win the game. Someone buying some crates and unlocking an Epic Star card that gives you increase blast radius (lol) is not gonna hurt you and your team from winning the whole match.
To conclude this off microtransactions are never going to leave multiplayer based games whatever you like it or not, over the recent years there has been increase sales in microtransactions in video games, hell GTA V made $500M from selling shark cards, but you guys are not vocal about that. FUT got little kids stealing their parents credit cards and make $1000 purchases of packs, but nobody wants to talk about that. 2K has a VC problem and nobody says nothing about that. But if its pertaining to Star Wars it's a huge problem. DICE most likely added microtransactions due to the fact they are giving the community free maps, yes you heard that right FREE maps. DLC Maps separate the community cause you have to buy them to play with majority of the community. Every company does it, if its a single player game they will push DLC content, if its multiplayer they have a choice free maps or microtransactions. I know Gears of War 4 has both but they offer free 2 maps a month in rotation a month I think. Fighting games are the worse cause not only some of them have microtransactions, they have it where certain characters are locked cause you got to buy them. Companies do this to gain more revenue after a game releases. It's sad but there is nothing you can really do. "Vote with your wallet" well thats the thing, not everybody is going to do that. Just cause you didn't buy the game doesn't mean everybody else did, especially faithful Star Wars fans this game will sell millions regardless, just cause the title "Star Wars". "Well i'm going to keep boycotting this game till its cheap". That's not boycotting, that's just being smart and spending less amount of money as you would at launch, you're still giving the company you hate money. I hope you guys read this good, cause it can potentially help you understand that microtransactions won't give you the edge in winning a team based game. tl;dr Skill > Microtransactions
Sorry for the wall of text, i did post this in the main sub but that place is getting toxic.