I don’t blame them. Raffles and drama get more stream viewers than playing the game itself.
This is a positive step in the right direction. Things like this are just hindering the actual growth of the community. If you want to get paid for playing a video game i suggest you get good enough at it that you get all the money you need via MM’s or tournament placings.
Wow. Perhaps the original post should be amended with that.
Putting Broken Windows Theory to good use. In a sense, anyway. Thank you.
kind of want someone to break the rule, so i can see the punishment.
don’t hate the player, hate the game. and the gullible fools who support it.
and what about evo venue fee being 70, and 40 shirts, and a constant barrage of ads on srk… people are gonna milk that money from you one way or another
this whole raffle business is just sad though.
money ruins everything.
Something directly related to this year’s Evo get raffled off and now this is a big deal? Shit’s been happening for over a year now.
I’m mostly annoyed by the fact that sponsored players are the ones getting raffle money. Let’s be honest, it’s a pure and simple example of the rich getting richer. Pot monsters happily hand over their money so top players can have more to travel to their tournaments. Then they give them more money when they lose.
I wont lie when I say I’m jealous of the money they’re getting. I wish I was able to be given money to travel for doing really nothing at all.
I agree the raffles are getting out of hand.
Quick question: Is it legal to hold a “subscribers-only giveaway” event?
For example, if you subscribe to levelup live on twitch for $2.99, you get entries into subscriber-only giveaways and contests. Is that also illegal?
I feel like it’s essentially the same thing as a raffle, though you cannot “buy” more than one entry. If it is legal to do subscriber-only giveaways, then I imagine people holding raffles now could just set up something like this.
On the other hand, if it is illegal to do giveaways to subscribers, then it might make it harder for a lot of streams to entice people to support.
how could you say such a thing freddy? :’(
How about, oh I don’t know, giving out a quality stream with top notch high level play?
When did that become out of the question for gaining viewership?
this
Probably depends upon the statutory definitions of raffle in each state, but in California the answer is probably yes if the statute is strictly construed. Essentially the situation is similar to a clearly prohibited action which is raffling off only to people who make “Donations” (this is why the JWong raffles don’t work). An argument could be made that this isn’t a raffle only if you argue the subscription money is entirely going toward the benefits of a subscriber (Icons). And unless a stream gives say a higher quality stream instead of just icons, I doubt you could argue that successfully in court.
So, yes, I suspect that under the California statute (320.5), Levelup’s raffles are nogo.
EDIT: It’s tricky to note that CA’s raffle law seems to only refer to Raffles using tickets, but the online section seems to incorporate the idea of not using a paper ticket and really raffling online is forbidden.
RIP raffle sports
Yeah, I should rephrase what I meant. Giving out a quality stream certainly is the main reason why people subscribe, but having additional incentives also helps too.
MegaIsaac: I know a few Raffleholics Anonymous meetings. You should go to some of them. 
down with raffles
donation drive, rise from your grave
What gets me is that people were actually donating to these guys. Like…wtf man?
Yeah, I noticed that most giveaways IRL always have a fine print that says “no purchase necessary.” However, they make it so that, if you want to enter without buying the product, you have to mail in a form or go through some circuitous bureaucracy.
I really don’t know. If anyone is planning something like this, I suggest consulting a lawyer. We happen to have at least one in the FGC who’s intimately familiar with the streaming community. =)
Everyone wins in raffles. Pro players get money and the community gets chances at great prizes!