Do Bonus rounds encourage people to gamble more?

JuicyFruit

Non-Gambler
Joined
Dec 23, 2010
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Homeward Bound
I've always been curious about this.

When there were just the older slots in existence, the only way of winning was on the spin. Admittedly there will always be the mentality of 'the next spin will win', but after a while, it was relatively easy to accept that this particular slot was dry, so time to move on. Or even, time to log out.

Because, let's be honest, these games were boring to play after a while.

Then along came games with relatively straight-forward bonus rounds/free spins, still on a spin and win basis, but with the promise of greater riches than ordinary slots.

I often wonder if this was the beginning of many gambling problems, due to that 'promise'.

However, now there are so many slots around with such sophisticated bonuses/features, such as:
Robin Hood - collect the money bags.
Untamed Panda - collect the wilds
IR - Wild Desire + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked.
TS2 - Wild Storm + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked.
Tomb Raider 2 - passport collection.

etc. etc.

And the riches promised now are quite astonishing - 80,000 coins, 120,000 coins etc.

Also these games come with equally sophisticated graphics, etc. that they are a work of art in themselves, and fun to play.

So the question is - do people stay longer and play longer with a game than they used to? In fact, are these "new, improved" slots a possible breeding ground for future gambling addiction?

Any thoughts?
 
Sure..I'll use my mother as an example. To her slots are essentially video games that sometimes pay you money. For her, it's the bells, whistles and cutesy bonuses. And well, me too to be honest. I want to have fun playing. After all slots are a poor way to make money save for the rare exceptions out there. And casinos knows this. Gamblers know this. The money is in the cards for the player. Slots are money for the casinos. So of course they have to make them fun and dynamic and exciting
 
That's a very good question and the answer is yes, and it's done by design. The higher payouts are almost always hidden in the bonus rounds, so players naturally chase these bonus rounds, making them play more.

I certainly can't count the number of times that I've been glued to a slot just to get the "Goddamn feature" (for some reasons, IR comes instantly to mind!)
 
IR - Wild Desire + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked.
TS2 - Wild Storm + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked

I just have to ask you about this. I have always only seen four difference choices. Where is the fifth one hiding?
AFAIK you don't get anything by unlocking all features so it's really no point chasing them.
 
That's a very good question and the answer is yes, and it's done by design. The higher payouts are almost always hidden in the bonus rounds, so players naturally chase these bonus rounds, making them play more.

I certainly can't count the number of times that I've been glued to a slot just to get the "Goddamn feature" (for some reasons, IR comes instantly to mind!)

Ditto....even when the base game is paying very poorly, I keep spinning and spinning, chasing the wretched feature, only to have it pay poorly as well. But on the older games, I leave well enough alone once it becomes obvious I am having a dry spell.
 
IR - Wild Desire + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked.
TS2 - Wild Storm + 5 choices in the bonus round once features are unlocked

I just have to ask you about this. I have always only seen four difference choices. Where is the fifth one hiding?
AFAIK you don't get anything by unlocking all features so it's really no point chasing them.

5 choices - A simple typo....

I thought that unlocking the features led to another of the FOUR bonus choices being unlocked and unavailable?

If not, my bad.

TBH, I am more interested in what drives people's compulsion to continue playing these slots, trying to achieve those elusive bonus rounds.

Greed?

Obsession?

Addiction?

The next spin will win?

The law of averages?

All or none of the above?
 
TBH, I am more interested in what drives people's compulsion to continue playing these slots, trying to achieve those elusive bonus rounds.
Yes, it's all about the bonus rounds for me - no doubt.
Depending on the variance of the slot, the bonus rounds can account for anything from about 10% to 50% of the total RTP - without hitting the bonuses you are pretty much destined to lose IMHO.

KK
 
Yeah definately, very clever how it works, psychologically once you experience a bonus round, it takes a strong will to stop playing, or a power cut.
 

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