this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2025
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Oh, I thought this was going to be about the trading cards they implemented in steam. Those are so lame and cheap I wasn't bothered by this.
For any non-readers-of-articles, this is about a loot box mechanic added to counterstrike (which is fair criticism imho)
Counterstrike has had loot boxes for many years, they weren't recently added. What was recently added was a mechanic that allows 5 lower value items (certain gun skins) to be exchanged for a random higher value item (glove or knife skins). It's acting to level the market. If anything, this change serves to inhibit loot box gambling by cutting the possibility of hitting a real money jackpot.
Oh, I didn't think of that. With the smaller difference betwen the most expensive and least expensive items, gambling gets less random in terms of return.
That's an improvement, though I still think the whole systems should be taken out.
That there is a "counter strike skins investment 'industry'" is utterly insane.
I've bought games just from sitting there for an hour and selling those cards. All these years and i still have no idea why people buy them.
If you complete a set you get xp and level up your profile. I sell the expensive cards I get from my games and buy the cheap ones to get a full set. I'm on level 52 and I never put any money on steam for any reason other than buying games. My profile looks cool because of this and I like it.
I'm not going to knock your good time. I'm glad someone enjoys them.
They are needed to craft badges, which level up your profile. Higher level profile means more customization. So if youre into the social aspect of steam then they are required at least a little bit. Obviously for you they aren't needed so yeah you can just sell them to others and make a buck, and thats a pretty cool system imo.