I didn't get it yet i'm assuming like last year we will have to play the "gotta catch'em all" 10star roundup for Black Friday and i think i know what the SEC will be, if i'm right that card looks a little more appealing.

I gotta invest in one cash grab at a time, not to mention for me Xmas cards don't get played too often through the year.

Yes because I ***** buying decisions. Same reason I went Premium. 11 creds per card ......plus saves creds to use for VR since they don't get released very often. Sorry for the long response. Hope this makes sense.

Plus It's Christmas. nice to unwrap things in more ways than one

If you buy a majority of the cards released in the past month or so more than likely your going to be purchasing the remaining cards released in December. Some new faces will be released that you may or may not like but most will be series of models being finished out. Then there the matter of the SEC card. If you want it with out any gambling or games of chance this is one of the easiest ways to acquire a SEC card. And also the cheapest.

"Advent Calendar Purchase Yes/No Why?"

Yes, Because

• 1) I'm a collector and want all the cards.
• 2) Because it's fun to Look each day and open the window to see who the Suprise Girl of the Day is.
• 3) You get the card a day early
• 4) Because it's Fun
• 5) Because there is a Free bonus Card at the end.
• 6) Because it's fun
• 7) Because I can Pay once, and not have to buy a card each day.
• 8) Did I mention it's a bit of Fun entertainment !

Yes I agree it's fun and no need to purchase one by one :-)

But will we have the pleasure to open the windows one by one like kids do ? ;-)

Yes Indeed, all good fun and have paid, look forward to opening my windows and the 2 "Special Event" cards, Jia Lissa already appers as an unabtainable card in my "Girls Store". Skye Blue "Bend To My Will" is still there too, are we going to be given some way of obtaining this card too I wonder?

I saw my best friend ruin his life by gambling. Paid a loan shark $20k to get off his back. His life's back on track. But I won't support randomized rewards in any way at all. It's morally repugnant. Even though I have more than enough money to do so I won't buy the calendar due to the randomized joker rewards.

@PascalsWager - there is no random element in the Advent calendar, no gambling is involved. The Black Friday special is something different and does involve gambling.

I know I could "buy" it now. What about later? How do I get Nemiera's 'Tis the Season today? I'd like it. Can I buy that? I think I'd need a joker. Isn't that what Jia Lissa will be next year?

@PascalsWager - I do not understand. What has the possible existence of a future gambling game got to do with choosing whether or not to partake in a non-gambling option now (or at any time between now and Christmas)?

You seem to be saying "I won't buy now because I might be able to gamble for part of it latter".

@TheEmu Because Totem connected the two with Joker cards. I'm saying I'm not buying it now because Totem has made these cards a gambling reward for later. I want them to see as few purchases of "special events cards" as possible with my money or that of others.

Special events cards are gated behind two things: a time window, and the purchase of a month's worth of cards you may or may not want. If you missed it, for whatever reason, the only way you can access that card is by winning a Joker in gambling. Some people on this forum have spent way too much money doing just that. I'm not doing either. Nobody should. It's psychological ***** due to scarcity value and punctuated rewards.

Same thing people are mad at EA for with loot boxes for years. Tiny subset pays a lot, making it a financially viable decision for the company. Rest of the people watch, annoyed.

@PascalsWager - OK, that I can sort of understand (just) but it is not what you first said. If it is the possibility that part of what you buy will somehow in future be connected with some gambling game then this applies to all of the cards, not just the SECs or the Jokers - they can all be won via various gambles and all can be obtained using a Joker.

@TheEmu Yes, all things could be bought with the Joker but why? There's only one thing with scarcity value, the SE cards. That value is artificial, and it's designed that way on purpose to incentivize purchases, either of 30 cards you were unsure of, or gambling. This can easily be seen in the conversations on the boards about the process, where nobody says "I'm so lucky to have won a Melissa card." If they're excited enough to write aboout it, it's because they won an SE card or a Joker. Those have rarity. Just like good loot in a loot box.

You get that, right? I'm not talking about a hypothetical future where a month from now I really wish I'd bought the advent calendar. I'm talking about the actual present where people are gambling for past and present SE cards and Jokers. It's very obvious that while some people are enjoying the endorphin rush of the game, others are with the hope /disappointment of getting/not-getting those cards.

@PascalsWager - I am sure that you do indeed have a valid argument, but I still do not see it. You still seem to be objecting to the existance of a non-gambling alternative as if having this alternative was worse, or at least no better, than just having the gambling version. I quite understand the objection to SEC cards in general, and to having them as rewards for gambling - but I can see no reason why any of this affects the morality of buying the Advent Calendar (other than an imagined connection that seems to exist only in your head).

@TheEmu You're correct.My logic isn't perfectly transitive, though I could point out that buying 24 cards sight unseen to get one I want is tantamount to gambling. Both the gambling and the Advent calendar are completely transparent psychological *****, and the SECs are at the core. The SECs are the lure to incentivize purchases of things less desirable than the SEC. And a large piece of the SEC's desirability is precisely because it's been made (more) difficult/expensive to acquire, by design.

I'm not participating, not out of some logically inconsistent "morality" but simply because the only vote I have is my money. I've spent 0 credits trying to attain an SEC card and never will. It's a collective action problem. A prisoners dilemma. No subscriber would prefer a situation that makes it more difficult to buy a card than not. But as long as people continue to buy gated cards, the situation won't change.

though I could point out that buying 24 cards sight unseen to get one I want is tantamount to gambling

That is correct, but as the description of the Advent Calendar says (and has been pointed out in a few posts) you do not have to buy the cards "sight unseen" as you can wait until the last day to buy it, at which time you will know exactly what cards you are buying.

@TheEmu Thanks for listening to me. Real questions, though I think I'm catching the answer subtextually: Do you think the Special Events Cards contribute to the iStripper experience or to the community? Has there been an Advent Calendar you bought on the last day of the window where you felt like you were getting a "good" deal?

@PascalsWager - No, for me the Special Event cards add little or nothing to the iStripper experience - they end up being just a very small number of very ordinary cards. I would have prefered it if they gad never exusted and I would prefer it if their were no explicit gambling games. As far as the advent calendar is concerned your question does not apply to me as I have always bought them as soon as they are offered because I currently buy all of the cards each month therefore the extra card is just one more that I get "for free" and, having cost me nothing, is has always been "worth it". For those that do not normally buy all of a month's cards the situation will be very different ranging from it being a cheap card to a very expensive card if they do decide to go for it.