Lost control gambling with fake $. WTF?

I play an online role playing game. We use Orbs as currency.

These Orbs are used to roll new random attributes to your gear (armor/weapons).
or you can trade orb(s) to another player to buy the gear with the stats you want.

The higher lvl the gear, the higher the attributes on the gear.
Lvl 65 is the highest lvl gear in the game and most players wait till they get that lvl gear to use orbs on. (Your character must be at least the same lvl as the gear to use it.)

well, i have lvl 30 gear and accidently used an orb on my helm.
it completely screwed up the stats and made my weapon useless. i needed the stats on the helm to wield my weapon.

i looked online to see if someone was trading a helm with similiar stats to the one i screwed up.
Nope.

Now these orbs are rare. they are found randomly by killing monsters and opening treasure chests.
in the month i've been playing the game, i've only found 7 of them.

i figured i'd use ONE orb to see if i can get back to similiar stats i lost. if not, then i'll just trade for a new weapon. (i liked my weapon.)

well, it didnt help. But instead of stopping, i kept on using them. after going thru all 7, i still couldnt use my weapon.
I just blew all my hard earned game currency gambling on low level gear.

it's not the Orbs that i lost that concerns me. It's my behavior.
I couldnt help myself and couldnt stop gambling to hit the jackpot on the stats i need.
WTF? Why did I lose control???

And more importantly does this mean i should stop gambling in casinos with real $?

Quote: 100xOdds

And more importantly does this mean i should stop gambling in casinos with real $?

If you generally don't act this way in casinos, then your probably okay. If you do generally act this way in the casino, then yeah, you probably should consider quitting.

I was pretty ticked when I lost over half of my bankroll on MyVegas during a "promo" day where they offered 2X experience points on select slot machines. But after the day was over, I went back to my steady playing pattern.

Quote: tringlomane

If you generally don't act this way in casinos, then your probably okay. If you do generally act this way in the casino, then yeah, you probably should consider quitting.

I was pretty ticked when I lost over half of my bankroll on MyVegas during a "promo" day where they offered 2X experience points on select slot machines. But after the day was over, I went back to my steady playing pattern.

no i dont act this way at the casino nor did i think i would ever lose control gambling, till this event in my online game.

and it scares me...

Quote: 100xOdds

no i dont act this way at the casino nor did i think i would ever lose control gambling, till this event in my online game.

and it scares me...

In that case, learn your lesson from this and don't do things like this in the future...losing ~half of a $9500 online poker roll in one weekend in early 2011...doh!

I would consider it a warning. Take it that way and think about it. What can you do to keep control?

For example, you might want to make sure you don't drink while gambling.

Gambling/spending fake $ is totally different than the real thing. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens for real $.

Quote: 1arrowheaddr

Gambling/spending fake $ is totally different than the real thing. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens for real $.

It's different, but I think it's not totally disconnected. Especially since it's possible that he can fund that game for real money to advance in it easier; many online games are like that now. I obviously don't recommend that though. But it should be considered a warning at the least, imo.

I have done the same thing on MyVegas. I wasted a month's worth of hard earned, well saved coin by trying to "double up" at the blackjack table. While it was frustrating, Im proud to say I have never lost money I couldnt afford to lose in a real life situation.

Quote: 100xOdds

WTF? Why did I lose control???

We weren't in your head, at least I wasn't, so it's hard to say. Introspect and see what you can find out.

As to the casino, it's not exactly the same. You may want to watch yourself, though.

I would suggest that in the future you only make mental bets. That way all you can lose is your mind.

I routinely lose all my money on the Wizard's craps and pai gow games. Luckily he has never tried to collect.

Quote: Buzzard

I would suggest that in the future you only make mental bets. That way all you can lose is your mind.

Post of the month. Nice.

I did that once in the online game MMORPG Asherons call trying to make a bow better. I had 9 shots at making the bow the best it could be with each "success" making the next level harder to get.

I did the first 7 attempts with success. The 7th try had a 20% chance of success. I could have stopped there and had an amazing bow. My next chance had a 10% chance of success and the bow would have been the second best bow in the game. I waited a day and finally tried it. I made it.

The last attempt had a 5% chance to succeed but I would have one of 2 bows in the whole game that had such power. I did not even hesitate and tried the last imbue and promptly failed and broke the bow. Something just came over me....

I was pissed at myself for days.

Quote: Aztek

I did that once in the online game MMORPG Asherons call trying to make a bow better. I had 9 shots at making the bow the best it could be with each "success" making the next level harder to get.

I did the first 7 attempts with success. The 7th try had a 20% chance of success. I could have stopped there and had an amazing bow. My next chance had a 10% chance of success and the bow would have been the second best bow in the game. I waited a day and finally tried it. I made it.

The last attempt had a 5% chance to succeed but I would have one of 2 bows in the whole game that had such power. I did not even hesitate and tried the last imbue and promptly failed and broke the bow. Something just came over me....

I was pissed at myself for days.

well it is the next morning and i'm still pissed at myself for gambling away ALL of my game currency on non-top lvl armor.

maybe like you i'll cool down after a few days and play again.

my character was an archer.
thx to this gambling failure, i now link mental pain with the archer character.

if i do play again (and i probably will), i'll play as a different class. maybe a barbarian.

One thing about illegal gambling as I see it, it doesn't have to be fair but appear to be fair. Most of these games on facebook etc are not random like people think but an illusion of randomness.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

One thing about illegal gambling as I see it, it doesn't have to be fair but appear to be fair. Most of these games on facebook etc are not random like people think but an illusion of randomness.

Illegal?!

unregulated yes, but cetainly not illegal

I'm not a psychologist (though my wife is)....I'd postulate you lost control exactly because it wasn't real money. Example: I have a Bjack game on my home computer and often use it for counting practice. Then sometimes after carefully running up millions in fake winnings, I will bet it all on one or two hands. Why?...cause it's not real money, who cares.
So even if you weren't consciously thinking "this isn't real money"....you probably felt that way in your heart. So you got a little careless. As long as you don't go on tilt in a real casino I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Quote: 1arrowheaddr

Gambling/spending fake $ is totally different than the real thing. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens for real $.

Completely incorrect. Even if these orbs don't have the ability to be made into real money, which many online items do, it took him a significant amount of time to gather them. Pissing them away, like he did, is the same as him getting a part time job and throwing his entire wage on midnight at a craps table. Even if he had fun earning his money, there's a huge loss from the opportunity cost.

I have had issues with online game forms of gambling too, don't worry it doesn't lead to anything. Aside from what I just said, there's a serious disconnect between gambling real money and online, it's how these pay for items games work. Don't stop playing, but just invest less of yourself emotionally into it.

Quote: 100xOdds

I play an online role playing game. We use Orbs as currency....

it's not the Orbs that i lost that concerns me. It's my behavior.
I couldnt help myself and couldnt stop gambling to hit the jackpot on the stats i need....

And more importantly does this mean i should stop gambling in casinos with real $?

Just my two cents, I think it's worth comment here 100xOdds that you are concerned about this translating to real world behavior. Reading the thread, people have done this before and found it to be no big deal. Probably other people have done this before and found it to translate in some way to a real money gambling problem. You know yourself best though, and you are concerned, so I'd say it merits your close attention. Keep an eye on yourself, if you notice the same type of thing happening with real money, if you have the same kind of behavior and feel the same way about using up your hard-earned resources, then you'll be aware that this fits a pattern. If you watch for a while with this mindset and find that your money-gambling hasn't changed and doesn't exhibit any warning signs, then there's probably no connection for you. Good luck!

I think I am with the majority here as well, as long as you can separate fantasy $ from real $ and not do the same thing with real $ I think you should be okay. I sometimes have trouble looking at money in a video game as real $ as oftentimes it isn't, but if you notice a behavioral change while at the tables I would take heed of it, but as long as your behavior with real $ in a casino I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Quote: 100xOdds

Illegal?!

unregulated yes, but cetainly not illegal

Perhaps not illegal, but bastardized. It just depends how you look at it. Someone somewhere in America is spending money they can't afford to play a zero percent payback slot machine on facebook. Congress can't pass a budget, but they can pass a law legalizing drones in American skies for public and private uses. I'm sure if someone wasn't getting paid off these things would be investigated. In the mean time, I'll just be eating this yummy horseburger thinking it's a hamburger.