Another way to look at it is that it is similar to people who buy sport card packs such as baseball cards. A lot of people here play games, but there are a group who have that urge to just collect the games even if they never play them. They call it a "backlog" as if they will ever get to play all of them(plan to take them to your grave). That human nature of hunting and collecting something would also drive some people. People who are the "collectors" will never complain while others who gamble to get a wishlisted game will celebrate or complain about what they have.

You seem to not understand what gambling is. According to Wikipedia:

"Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Gambling thus requires three elements be present: consideration, chance and prize."

In other words these three things must exist for something to be considered gambling:

1. A 'wager' is made.
2. The result of the wager (whether one wins or loses) is based on chance.
3. The 'prize' for the winner is money or something else of value.

Now let's look at this more closely. What is a wager?

WAGER, n.
1. Something deposited, laid or hazarded on the event of a contest or some unsettled question; a bet.
2. Subject on which bets are laid.

WAGER, v.t. To lay; to bet; to hazard on the issue of a contest; or on some question that is to be decided, or on some casualty.

BET, n. A wager; that which is laid, staked or pledges in a contest, to be won, either by the victorious party himself, or by another person, in consequence of his victory. At a race, a man lays a bet on his own horse, or on the horse of another man.

BET, v.t. To lay a bet; to lay a wager; to stake or pledge something upon the event of a context.

So, in other words, a wager or bet is where two (or more) parties each place something of value (money, goods, etc.) aside to be won by one of the participating parties based upon an event or contest involving chance. The question then arises - if this Piñata event is a wager who are the parties involved? Well, it would have to be GOG and the customer. The next question is then GOG and the customer engaging in a wager or bet? Well, is GOG or the customer 'risking' anything? GOG has put aside a bunch of games into a 'pool,' and the customer is providing $3, but are both the games and money added into the same pool to be won by only one of the parties? No. Well, then it can't be a wager or bet because neither GOG or the customer is ever truly 'risking' anything because neither one is ever going to win both the game AND the $3 at the expense of the other party. But let's continue. Assuming the game and the $3 are in the same pool and set aside to be won by the victor, what is the event or contest involving chance that will determine who the winner of the pool is? There isn't any.

As we can see there is no possible way that this Piñata event is gambling because 1) there is no wager or bet being made by GOG and the customer, 2) there is no event of chance to determine who will win - whether it be GOG or the customer, and 3) pretending the above two points were true none of the parties can win both the game and the money. Therefore this is not gambling. It is, in fact, a business transaction where goods are mutually exchanged between both parties. GOG is selling a game (however gimmicky they chose to do so) and the customer is buying said game. Plain and simple.

The problem with playing the Mystery sale in the way you prefer (and what I call "unfair", for the reason of refunding games you don't want because of non-technical reasons) is that it worsens the pool (the content/distribution of which is unfortunately undisclosed by GoG, thus being a subject of change) which worsens the experience of the "fair" mystery sale players. Do you think the extreme case of unfair play is OK:
- everybody refund games unless they hit "... games like Pillars of Eternity, Shadow Warrior 2, Heroes of Might and Magic, Victor Vran, and more". You pay $3 for PoE? GoG's business is hurt for sure;
- everybody but few refund the above games. GoG adjusts the pool so that the probability to hit the sweet games is reduced. The chance of the few "fair" players to win the "sweet" deal is reduced.

Not to be a jerk here, but I don't see how you're missing it when you've covered it multiple times. There may be a situation where a consumer wants every single game in the pinata pool, finds every single game to be worth a minimum of $3 USD, and thus isn't really risking anything by buying pinatas. The exact game received will be uncertain at the moment of purchase, but the buyer in this instance would know that there was no risk of losing since every possible outcome (game) is a desirable one.

For just about everyone else here buying pinatas, it is a gamble, and honestly this isn't even debatable. It fits the very definition of gambling which you've cited.

Take me, for example. Let's say there are 15 games that I want in the pinata pool, and ~185 games I do not want (I'm not sure of the total game pool at the moment). Therefore, if I decided to buy a pinata, I'd be wagering $3 (real money), hoping that the 'prize or something else of value' (game) from the pinata is one of the 15 that I do want, versus one of the 185 that I do not want. Receiving a game I do not want is the equalivant of losing my wager, as I would not spend money on a game I do not want.

This is called gambling. Perhaps not in the exact same sense that flopping money down on a craps table is, but it's gambling in the same general sense as gambling has existed for who knows how many thousands of years.

You do know the pinatas wasn't the actual sale? ;)

Not really, that's not what a straw man is. It's a scenario that could exist and there was something like that at some point. If you were going to show a random movie you must make sure it's not a violent or "R"-rated film first of all so that it's family friendly.

Now how do you do this for games? Anything that matches the equivalent criteria of "family friendly" people will likely find boring. Then there's the issue of Mac and Linux games. You'll have to cater for system and genre. The best way would be a choice among some similar known games where the real criteria is price. That's more or less how it works at a carnival where you know more or less what you can get but it's either one of the booby prizes or the high value item. It's just too much trouble so not something I would bother with.

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time, including manipulative dumbasses. A dictionary is more reliable. You don't understand what it means to gamble even when the definition is provided to you, so I think we're done here. I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you. Say what you want but you are wrong. Maybe you'll figure it out, someday. *shrug* Abuse the system, if you want, but don't act surprised or cry if you ever end up being punished for it. You ARE abusing the system. Nothing you say will ever change that. Just like your ability to grasp things intellectually. There could be a Darwin Award in your future.

1) I never said that I prefer it this way. All I said is that both ways are legal nothing more nothing less.
2) Although I do agree that people who play against the intended way will always have an advantage you don't have to forget that nobody is forbidden to do the same which again would lead to the same chances.
3) Regarding the "GOG is hurt" theory: GOG is offering a limited pool of $3 PoE and they EXPECT that they will all be sold during the sale so giving all of them away is not hurting them at all it's just calculated. If GOG really would just hope that nobody or as few people as possible would get PoE at all there would be easier ways to achieve that. In fact I don't believe that GOG cares at all. What they do care is that people because of some mystery games will try games from genres they did not know before and maybe therefore buying more of them in the future.

But this discussion won't change anything the way this sale has gone and will be held again. GOG is making the rules and we follow them. As long as this is the case the only people you could blame are the ones making the rules.

I actually do get it. I already discussed this in post #627.

With all due respect, you have a gambler's mentality. I can see and understand how you feel that you are engaging in gambling because you've artificially and arbitrarily limited this sale to being nothing more than a gamble. You're fine with accepting your self-imposed criteria of risks/rewards. For you the $3 is what you're wagering, the randomness of which game you receive substitutes for the game of chance, and the 'prize' for 'winning' is what you would consider as a 'great' game while 'losing' your bet is accepting a 'bad' game that you'll never ever play. That is your choice to view this event with your gambler's perspective. GOG isn't compelling you to view it that way. GOG is treating this, as it should be, as a business transaction because that's what it is. Just like any other legitimate business in the real world they are selling a product to you the customer, and they have a system in place to allow you the customer to return/refund the product if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase. Just because some people, like myself, treat this sale as it was intended - a business contract (exchanging goods we want for goods GOG wants) - and use the system GOG established to ensure that both parties are happy with the products they are receiving, does not make us any less of a person than you or any of the other gambler types.

If people (and I'm certain there are some) started abusing the refund system to the point that it became a problem for GOG then they would take quick and certain measures to address it because they are after all a business and they wouldn't last long if they didn't. Like I said before, I personally think it's wrong for people to intentionally abuse the system trying to get exactly what they want. But that doesn't make the system itself bad. There are reasons why consumer protection laws exist, and they are there to protect and enforce contracts between businesses and their customers. Again, this Piñata sale is, in the end, just another business transaction between GOG and the customer. It is not gambling because there are no wagers made, no games of chance to determine which of the parties is a winner or loser, and no prize for the winner. Regardless of whether or not you feel you have won/lost you have still exchanged your goods ($3) for the goods GOG has offered (a random game in their pool). GOG set the terms and conditions of the sale, including their refund policy, and you decided that it was worth your business. How you choose to act afterwards (such as keeping that game you think is bad and won't ever play, even though GOG has provided a refund policy) is completely up to you, but don't spite others who are using the system appropriately and as intended.

Abusuing the system by playing by its rules? How is this even possible? Using the rules of the system to get an advantage would be more accurate imo - but how could this be abuse? I also don't think that "gambling" is the right term as long as you can get your money back whenever you "lost". I am not a gambler but afaik if you lose the verdict is final here. Don't know if this is part of the definition but for me it would be.

And that's why I provided dictionary definitions to help support my argument instead of just relying upon Wikipedia - a fact you conveniently ignored and purposefully removed from the quote.

I think I understand better than you do. I demonstrated that my understanding is in fact perfectly in harmony with the dictionary definitions both you and I provided. You, on the other hand, continue to ignore the definitions and assign your own interpretations to it, falsely claiming that participating in this Piñata sell is gambling when in fact it is not in the strictest and legal sense of the term.

How am I abusing the system? In case you missed it GOG staff have explained openly and clearly in this very thread that the system is in place and can be used by people in this sale (or for any transaction on GOG for that matter) to refund purchases they are not satisfied with. These are their words, their system, and their terms and conditions for refunds - not mine. When you start your own business you can start defining and dictating your own terms, conditions, contracts, etc. But until then please don't pretend to claim to know what the owners did or didn't intend with their own business.

And finally, thank you for your comment on my intelligence. I prefer to always speak in plain and simple truths. It gets my message across better. Perhaps when you are done insulting others then we can continue to have a civil and engaging discussion?

Ah, that's where the misunderstanding was then. When you include the ability to refund, then I would agree with you that it ceases to be a gamble if you can always get your money back.

I have my opinions, but I'm going to stay out of the ethical debate about whether consumers should be refunding games from pinatas which they simply don't want, or whether gog should be required to issue refunds in such an event. There isn't anything I could add to that discussion that hasn't already been posted in this thread by both sides.

"... GOG is offering a limited pool of $3 PoE" not correct; *pool not depletable* as per https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_pinata_madness_sale_starts_now_98cd1/post298
<blue>I can confirm that all games in the Piñata pool will be available during the whole period of the sale - we're distributing all available games in Piñatas throughout the whole week so it doesn't matter if you come the first day or the last.</blue>
-> unfair play is not fair to fair players. <sad>But 'tis GoG's decision, not mine</sad>.

Edit: Unfair play is not fair to fair players *and understandably not fair to GoG*

O.K. that I did not know of and it changes the ethical point a bit.

Still their decision so even though I am not playing this game I would not care tbh.

WHat exactly did you wrote to get refund? Or just asked for it without any details?