I have never been a computer gamer. Its just not been my thing. With an 11-year-old boy, I struggle daily with time limits on gaming and the arguments it’s caused have now turned me off it. Whereas it didn’t bother me in the past.

Getting my head around an 11 year old boy spending hours gaming instead of playing outside and having fun with real people is one thing. But lately I have found my-self challenged with another side of gaming. A side of gaming that has me wondering ‘since when did gaming become an investment’ and ‘how can it even be considered an investment for players’?

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To me a game is something you do for fun, to pass the time, to enhance skills and abilities. But now all of a sudden, I am seeing talk of investments. Is it just me or were games an investment before blockchain?

Poker is a game. I can play any time and it doesn’t have to cost me anything (bar a pack of cards cos im a tight ass). But I know some Poker players that play for money. Is that a gamble or an investment?

There are clear differences between gambling and investing

• Gambling is generally a short-lived activity which is time bound. whereas investing tends to be longer term

• You can not add a stop loss to a gamble, you either win or lose.

• You can’t hold a lost best until it turns in your favour and claim then.

• Investment generally transfers ownership in terms of shares or stocks

• Investment often pay dividends

To me a game of poker is a gamble. If you put money into a game with the expectation of some sort of return it’s a gamble, not an investment.

I read a post last week which kicked off these thoughts on 'how can a game be an investment’. The post was written by @samotonakatoshi and is titled DrugWars – A Ponzi Scheme Mafia Game (DO NOT INVEST)

https://steemit.com/drugwars/@samotonakatoshi/drugwars-ponzi-scheme-mafia-game-do-not-play-it

I would invite you to take a read and to read the comments. I think the title is very explanatory of the content and no need for me to expand further. But look, there is that word “Invest”!

Then last night I read a post by @davemccoy which I would also invite you to take a read of.

https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@davemccoy/good-bye-steemmonsters-i-ve-had-enough-with-this-last-tourney-twist

The title is not so explanatory but to sum it up quickly there are changes to steemmonsters to the extent that @davemccoy no longer sees it as an investment.

There’s that word again “investment”. I’d really like to understand the thinking behind the idea that a game on STEEM = investment and not a gamble. Can you explain it to me because I don’t understand?

To me Steemmonsters and Drugwars are games played for fun. The have added value because you can play using STEEM earned elsewhere. You might be lucky enough to earn a few of the steem you spend playing, back, a major plus of the blockchain that over and above other gaming platforms.

The add value to STEEM the blockchain because they use STEEM as a currency giving people more options on how the can use their STEEM. They also add value to the blockchain because the have the ability to reach their own unique audience and bring new users to the block. For these reasons alone they make games on STEEM an investible, and profitable business. But not an investment for the players. It’s an investment for the game developers and business behind the game. They are in it to make money, and so they should be. You are in it to play and have fun, or so you should be. Blockchain has not changed that, or am I missing something??