Pay to Play Gumball Style Machines Kick Out In-Game Magic!?!

Red is fireball spell, pink is a healing potion, white is a light spell...

From an article at ICv2:

"A number of stores have also adopted a pay-to-roleplay program with participants paying for a seat in a RPG game offering an upscale experience. One store runs two sessions on a Saturday with six spots in each game, charging players $15 each for a seat at the table. Other stores with successful pay-to-play programs further monetize the sessions by stocking gumball style machines with plastic capsules containing in-game bonuses such as a +1 to hit, a potion of healing, or a certificate giving the player a rare pet. Sometimes these machines clear $50 to $200 per day with huge profit margins."
(Emphasis mine)

WTF is the world of tabletop gaming coming to?

What DM/GM is going to allow in-game bonuses from an in-store gumball machine?

Where the fuck are the stores with these machines?

ICv2 - Top 5 RPGs Fall 2017 - Starfinder Surpasses Pathfinder - D&D 5e Remains #1

Starfinder got the huge bump of a Gen Con release. 5e holds strong to the first position.

Star Wars traditionally holds a top 5 spot and Star Trek Adventures is a new release.

While I find the ICv2 rankings interesting, "the charts are based on interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers." I prefer hard numbers. I need to find the latest ORR (Roll20) report.

And found it:

If 5e has twice the players as Pathfinder, I can see why they are rebooting to reclaim their share of the market.

Starfinder is much further down the list here...

ICv2 Lists Top Five RPGs for Spring '17 - D&D 5e Leads the Way

ICv2 released their Top Five RPGs list this week and Dungeons & Dragons finds itself out in front. What does this mean for those of us entrenched in the OSR?

I see D&D 5e is a spiritual ally to the OSR as it certainly borrowed from the game's past to find a balance that appeals to the masses. Which really is awesome, as a rising tide lifts all ships and D&D 5e is certainly raising that tide.

My son's fiancee plays 5e (her first RPG) and has found herself interested in exploring the depths of the OSR. She can't be the only 5e player to do so ;)

Interesting that two of the top five are licensed properties with ties to blockbuster movie franchises. Sure, Adventures in Middle-Earth is licensed from the fiction books and not the movies, but the movies are definitely selling the RPG.