Will the Raffle count as Gambling?

Actually, it's a two-step process that involves NPCs only, without involving any secondary in-game player market or third-party out-of-game RMT.

Add-On Store Gold Crowns -> Convert to Bronze (or other color) Crown -> Sell Bronze Crown to NPC vendor for 200 gold (currently).

While no sane person would use that method due to its low conversion rate, technically there is a direct method without involving anyone else.

 

Useless? Why should not everyone know whats going on? I think many people are interested if they plan to do anything

 

agreed, kinda tired of others deeming what is and what is not useless for me.

 

Oh... so two 100% Industry controlled groups that literally exist PURELY to keep REAL regulations from being pushed onto the industry think it's not gambling... then it's cool?

The video game industry has been hiring in as consultants, slot machine designers to better tweak "Free2Play" systems into generating a solid cash flow. This has been used to great effect by companies like Arc Games with Star Trek Online and their master unlock keys that have random chances of unlocking items from lock boxes that everyone ends up with hundreds of. These lock boxes could be unlocked using no real world cash via trading on the exchange with dilithium crystals for the money store credits, but... the reality is that it is easier to buy dozens of keys with cash and then try to open up hundreds of those boxes.

It's more of a gambling situation, because if anyone on the server opens up something REALLY cool, like an ultra-limited edition starship, the whole server is flooded with a message that so and so opened up a loot box and got something incredibly rare. Something that he/she could sell for millions upon millions of in game credits or hundreds of real world dollars. Just like if one is at a casino and you hear someone hit the jackpot just a few slots away from you.

As a lifetime subscriber, I receive a stipend of those cash shop credits and I have used them to open up hundreds of those boxes. I never once received anything of "value" I even found myself on the treadmill of spending a handful of dollars to buy additional keys, because... damnit, I was going to win on my next unlock!

Nope. Never did.

It's one of the reasons why I do not play that game as much as I used to. There's no way to disable those system wide messages and nearly everything I beat, drops another limited time loot box that must be unlocked.

It taps into the reward/risk psychology and attacks the brain, like a casino slot machine does. These things chance brain chemistry, which is why a gambling addiction is no different than alcohol or drugs in the minds of the government.

 

You are mixing two things here. Facts and our feelings/opinions about those facts.

Please note that in my post that you quote I said nothing about what my feelings/opinions are about PEGI nor ESBR so I don't really understand why you would aim that at me?

This topic was about if Shroud would be affected by gambling regulations and what Port thought about that.

I explained why there is zero chance that Shroud would ever be affected and thus implied there is nothing Port needs to do.

My stance on the usefulness of Self Regulating Industry Organuzations in general or those two specifically is completely apart from that discussion and has nothing to do with the OP topic and similarly with my post.
Where if you are really interested my generic stance on all such self policing would be: bah humbug. Since I think they are rather industry lobby organizations and usually a detriment to the public they are supposed to help.