Don't *****, this is the last post from me for now regarding this story here.
You can see in which direction it is going. and the new resolution pays off.

So here is the Viola Bailey's Collection, also one of my absolute Dreamgirls.
She has an enchanting face and 2 arguments which should not be contradicted :D

And it's damn hard to choose the right picture all the time. But hey, we humans love the ***** of choice :-)
So this is how it should have been for now, I can only recommend it to everyone, it is very satisfying.

The gambling can stay for those not willing to spend a ton of money on Joker cards, I think that is fair. 😕

What I propose for Premium members:
A single Joker card: 300 credits
Bundle of 2 Joker cards: 540 credits (incl. of 10% discount)
Bundle of 3 Joker cards: 720 credits (incl. of 20% discount)
Bundle of 4 Joker cards: 900 credits (incl. of 25% discount) - Buy 3 get 1 free! 😍

I personally feel that iStripper should be like a on-demand service, what I want, I pay, I get. I shouldn't have to contend with long hours of playing the mind-numbing slot machine or scratching an endless supply of scratchcards in an attempt to get what I want. Work life is already depressing enough, but to face such a situation back home during my "quality time" is many times worse. 😱

Imagine for a moment if Netflix was like that, you will have to play a mini-game in order to unlock a special episode of your favourite series - I don't have the time for that! I just want to be fully entertained with all the free time I got. 😖

Ultimately, it is a fair trade-off. 😎
If you have the time, but you cannot bear to go premium and spend so much on a single card, then playing the special games (e.g. Mystery Envelope, Slot Machine, Scratchcards) may be a thing for you. If you do not have the time (due to work and other responsibilities) but you got all the money to throw at Totem, then the option to buy Joker cards should be provided.

If reacting to reports of the problem and releasing the fix for it just one hour after the first report amounts to disdain then you obviously have a different understanding of that word than I do.

And here I thought that was the "Priority response from the Customer Service" which Totem charges extra for. Silly me.

@pumpdude48 @Stanston

Nice work 👍👍 I may do the same thing for my GUI 😎

I don't see these cards or the means that we have to get them going anywhere.

I feel like the vocal few of the forum is not enough to invoke change.

I see the same thing.........the radio silence from @Totem on this issue is telling............
Getting ready for possible SEC's from Belka & Stacy Cruz 😕 (No info...just thinking ahead)

Being treated with borderline disdain, as an inconvenient afterthought when Totem forgets to provide a way to milk your bank account for the latest SEC? No, thank you.

If reacting to reports of the problem and releasing the fix for it just one hour after the first report amounts to disdain then you obviously have a different understanding of that word than I do.

Hi @pumpdude48

first of all i forgot abaout that. Thank you very much for your Inspiration to me and yes now with your Next Tipp
i created two new reference PNG's (1500 x 715 + 1500 x 1600) and i decided to start again from scratch.

Because with the bigger Reference images i get more Bang for the Bug :D And it's totally worth it to Start New.

And yes of course i will keep my work on, then the plan is to Transform my complete Collection for now and also in the Future. These Girls are so incredible Hot, it is a pleasure to work with the Footage.

And of course it is really really relaxing, or i would say it's a small Healing Therapy for your personal Mind ;-)

Best Greetings

Seems like every other week or so, at least.
Last VR Show was 6 days ago. The one before that was 14days ago. The one before that was 22 days ago..
✌

Part of the value of loyal, long-term customers is as living advertisements, examples of why someone who might not otherwise join them should consider doing so (or not).

I was aware of this product back in the Virtuagirl days but avoided it for various reasons. When I finally signed up, it was shortly after Alyssia Kent's SEC (which I wasn't aware of until reading about it in the forum later). If the situation had already degenerated to this point, I would have stayed far away.

As someone who was late to the party, I can't say that the experiences of people with 4000+ card collections leave me wanting to join them. Mind you, I'm not even suggesting more incentives should be offered, but disincentives? Being treated with borderline disdain, as an inconvenient afterthought when Totem forgets to provide a way to milk your bank account for the latest SEC? No, thank you.

Fortunately for Totem, the voices of the dissatisfied are mostly confined to this forum, where their influence on prospective customers is limited.

Not sure if this is the right place for this question. I was wondering how often new girls are added to VR? I am sure making the VR videos is probably very time consuming so not something that is done often? Would be cool to know.

SEC may be Super Expensive Card if purchasing with bad luck. Methinks, SEC becomes Speculative Exchange Commodity to members, and Secure Earnings Cause for Totem. Maximize profit is understandable, but it feels not good that buyers' passion for collecting favorites seems to be used as a way or means of getting extra money.

Here are a couple shots of the carousels with current custom png's

@Stanston

I like your work!

I do two versions of my custom png's from when Totem went from a 900 pixel height to 1500 pixel height for their 'fullhd.png' in the newer versions of the app.

I still do the 900 pixel height versions since some of the users here who d/l my customs want the smaller resolutions for their smaller/older displays.

One thing you may find with the shorter but wider photos you are using is that they cause problems with the lower resolution monitors. The png either causes a loss of visibility of some of the card information or the photo itself doesn't display properly. I had some problems along that line when I had a 720p display. I solved that by adding a hundred or more blank pixels to the tops of the shorter/wider photos and the app was able to scale and display them properly after that. Generally, as long as substance of the photo you are using is somewhat taller than it is wide then the app can display them properly but if not then there can be problems.

Another problem I have is that I prefer a standing full frontal nude pose with the model looking at the camera for my customs. This is for personal taste and also because they fit the carousels properly.

Since the photo sets don't always have that particular shot included I have had to add legs or eyes to the girls to get the look I want. I always use that girl's legs or eyes or even other more intimate parts and then try to blend them in together. Sometimes there is just no way to get the standing pose regardless of how I modify one so I end up with other less desirable poses (for me anyway) just to keep having a nude png for each card I have.

I am still learning the photo editing so my custom custom's don't always come out perfect but they are good enough for my needs. I have included a couple that I had to modify a little. If you look at the finished png and then look in the photo sets you won't find the photo I ended up with in the selection from Totem.

I have several hundred of them done and do more every week. I am doing older cards now from the 'a' series just to keep in practice since the new cards only come on per day for me anymore.

I enjoy it and it helps me relax a little after a long day.

I hope you keep on doing it and continue to get some fun out of it!

PD48

This is unbearable here ... really now? 😖

@orclover - full agree 👍

@robbanzjo

I don't like the SECs any more than you do, but nobody is ***** us to buy them either via this latest TGIF or any other means. We have the choice of whether to particpate or not, and if we choose to participate and pay a lot for them we signal that we are willing to pay a great deal for these cards.

The gambling is the issue...why don't they just sell the special cards for 200 credits each...and make them really special? Then only a small portion of the base would have these really special cards. Instead they use mind ***** to trap people into spending an amount that isn't specified...this is illegal in many places. I find it moral degenerative in two ways: It manipulates the most loyal customers willfully, and it exploits the human mind in ways that is hard for the human to combat...akin to putting a syringe in front of an *****. There is free will, there is determinism, and there is a middle ground where free will is willfully weakened by a exploitative system. I mean...why can't they just give the special event cards to full collectors to encourage the rest of us to buy every card?

@robbanzjo - I do get your point, but it is surely far better to use words that actually express your point - e.g. that you don't like the choices or that you find the idea of gambling distasteful - rather than using words that say something entirely different and and which is actually false.

As far as letting the reactions of the community speak for itself - the reaction of the community (as opposed to the reactions of a small part of it posting here) last year was to participate in the various TGIFs to the extent that more than 20,000 SEC cards were won. Distasteful as it may be it is that reaction, and the extra profit it gave, that Totem will take more notice of rather than the relatively few of us that post about it here.

@TheEmu

You dont have to explain it to me, i know full well how it works. I know im not literally ***** if thats what you think. "If i want X then i need to gamble to get Y" the gamble part is whats ***** me off!! and AGAIN... i know im not literally ***** but you dont seem to get my point.

Anyway im not gonna explain my feeling of this any further, i think the reactions of the community speaks for itself.

@robbanzjo

No you are not ***** to do anything, you have the choice to play for the card, with the potential loss that may entail, or you can choose not to play. You may not like the choices, but whichever one of the two possibility you make it is your choice and nobody elses.

To make it clearer "If you want X then you must do Y" is not the same as "You must do Y". It would only be reasonable to call the first of these as ***** Y if X was something like "to continue living" but that is not the case here.

What I mostly have against SEC is the time it take to click through all lottery tickets.

This time I had to buy 79 envelope to get the latest SEC, and after all credit win I was down 10 credit. So totem did get any larger amount of credit than a ordinary card from me. All was that I did lost lot of time to get it.en I got the SEC.

In total for 79 mystery envelope
1 Eva Elfies SEC
1 - 50 credit win
4 - 25 credit win
11 - 10 credit win
25 - 5 credit win

Set a new membership level for exempel us that own 3000+ cards that allow us to buy the SEC as any other cards.

I was looking here in the forum as I wanted to report the envelope broken. I found this suggestion and think that's the guy we can partner ship together. I played a lot. (Sure you can check) The slot machine where you could win a joker card, but after few hunderd tickets not even a letter in the slot. Now I have the same with mystery envelopes. 200 credits further and not even a card symbol or special event card. Legally the win rate is fine as you win 5 credits , sometimes even 25. I know Totem does not like comments like this but I'm a member since 12 years and this makes me so frustrated, feeling sad and awefull. I'm a premium member, dedicated customer. Please let me just buy them.I think after trying out all the games it's gone to far. A goose game can be fun, played the last one as well. But this is way to customer unfriendly. Seriously guys - this SEC stuff has gone too far. I'm a PREMIUM member with a FULL set, and I have NO way to obtain an SEC? Did you even consider that scenario?Here's a remedy: Make gambling OPTIONAL. Let those of us with credits to ***** BUY the SECs (or buy Joker packs) so we can skip this crap.I'd happily pay 250 credits for a pack of 10 JOKER cards any day of the week. Make that option only available to PREMIUM members.Problem solved.VERY disappointed in your poor behaviour.

With credits spent BTW is minus the credits won in between. So netto credits.
Sorry couldn't edit post.

Have you guys stopped and thought about how much money and credits goes towards obtaining 10 SECs?

Because that's the number of cards that were available by the end of 2019 and over 20,000 were won.

I don't see these cards or the means that we have to get them going anywhere.

I feel like the vocal few of the forum is not enough to invoke change.

I was looking here in the forum as I wanted to report the envelope broken.

I found this suggestion and think that's the guy we can partner ship together.

I played a lot. (Sure you can check)
The slot machine where you could win a joker card, but after few hunderd tickets not even a letter in the slot.

Now I have the same with mystery envelopes. 200 credits further and not even a card symbol or special event card.
Legally the win rate is fine as you win 5 credits , sometimes even 25.
I know Totem does not like comments like this but I'm a member since 12 years and this makes me so frustrated, feeling sad and awefull.

I'm a premium member, dedicated customer. Please let me just buy them.

I think after trying out all the games it's gone to far.
A goose game can be fun, played the last one as well. But this is way to customer unfriendly.

Seriously guys - this SEC stuff has gone too far. I'm a PREMIUM member with a FULL set, and I have NO way to obtain an SEC? Did you even consider that scenario?

Here's a remedy: Make gambling OPTIONAL. Let those of us with credits to ***** BUY the SECs (or buy Joker packs) so we can skip this crap.

I'd happily pay 250 credits for a pack of 10 JOKER cards any day of the week. Make that option only available to PREMIUM members.

Problem solved.

VERY disappointed in your poor behaviour.

@TheEmu

Well i just don't agree with the "We have the choice" talk either... thats not what this is about. Im okay with if i have to pay an extra or specific price to get a special event card but the fact that they ***** me to pay a certain amount of credits to get 5 random cards (most likely 720p or classic cards) that im 100% sure i dont want and will never even play to get one shot of the scratch game in which i then get 0 credits times two and even if i get a special event card i might very well get the one im NOT looking for.

Even if i had to pay 200 credits for a 100% chance of getting the SEC card im looking for i would without a doubt, atleast instead if this crap.

So don't start with that they are not ***** you because thats exactly what they are doing, im ***** into gambling if i want to complete the Eva collection....

bullshit is what it is!

@robbanzjo

I don't like the SECs any more than you do, but nobody is ***** us to buy them either via this latest TGIF or any other means. We have the choice of whether to particpate or not, and if we choose to participate and pay a lot for them we signal that we are willing to pay a great deal for these cards.

Im just so tired of this SEC crap... ive been here since 2012 and i dont know how much money i have put into this, also im a premium member. Dont get me wrong i love the site and content but ***** me to buy an envelope of random cards + a scratch game in wich i once again have to gamble for a special event card is just THE WORST.

PLEASE think this through Totem.....

Hi there,

inspired by the Posts from @pumpdude48 i started to Create individual Pictures for the Main Model Site, here are some Examples.

And here is my overall Workflow. I created 2 PNG Files in Gimp (430 width x900 height and 1000 width x 900 height) for the different Formats from the original Pictures.

I Choose my favourite Pics from the Camera Tab, Copy the Files in to the correct Folder for each Model, Load it in Gimp and Scale it to the proper Size.

Here you have to individually Look for the Scale and the right Picture, to not loose too much Quality, in this case it is all based from your personal Choice.

Then i put the Picture (Copy and Paste) in my self created PNG Files and Cut out the white Background.

Sometimes, because i use the Choose from Colour Tool in Gimp to delete the white Background, other white Details (Underwear, Stockings, Shoes etc.) will also deleted.

But the Istripper Software Recover this Information, I think from the original File, and at the end all is fine,
regardless which Colourinformation from the Picture was Lost.

At the end i save the new created Picture with the New Name extension _custom.png without deleting the Original File, of Course ;-)

And that is it, relatively easy because it is only a Copy and Paste Action with a little bit of Knowledge in Gimp.

This is so enjoyable and relaxing Work, i Love all these Woman and with the possibility to Modify some Parts
of the Istripper Software Wow, absolutely Amazing. Thank you so much Totem to give us more or less easy Acces for this Possibility.

@ward666999

For you, myself and others with full or nearly full collections repeatly playing this game until we won the SEC was not very expensive but for those that still had plenty of unbought cards in the store would have won fewer cash prizes on the scratch cards. This is because for most players most of the prizes for a scratch card take the form of normal cards but if none are available then they are replaced by 5 credit prizes.

As a result for us chasing a SEC this way is likely to be quite cheap (though as it is a gamble it could be expensive if you are unlucky) while for other users it is likely to be more expensive (though, again, they may be lucky and get off lightly).

I spent the 100 or so credits i had at the start of the event, recharged juts now for 500 credits, and now after winnign the SEC card im let with 372 credits: i have a full collection (besides the 480p cards) This has been pretty expensive.

These games are also opportunities for people to buy cards/shows in a different way. As annoying these games are, I would bet there are customers who enjoy the games and find them relaxing and rewarding. I am not one of those customers, but I would not be surpised if they are there and just have money they dont mind spending. Having SEC cards in there is just an incentive.

I would hope that one day when there are many SECs that there would be an opportunity to directly buy one or two. Because then it becomes impossible to get the one card you actually want at some point.

which girls are that slutty

Something to bear in mind is that in this case the "whales" are not likely to be the most profitable customers in the future. Because you already own most / all of the cards, your expenditure is going to be on just new releases (at high levels of discount) and potentially the SECs - Totem already have most of your money.

However, there is one very important difference, We are the ones who have SPENT stupid amounts of money but because we have full or almost full collections, or have all the cards we want, we no longer SPEND the most even if we want to. We are not whales, we are ex-whales (possibly ex Norwegian Blue Whales).

Both @pickle1 and @TheEmu made the same argument at roughly the same time.

And I have to admit, you are both 100% correct. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but you're right. Other than the relatively insignificant income they get from our continuing to buy new cards as they come out, Totem has no real reason to do anything to try to keep us (people with full collections) as paying customers.

I'll just go back to my corner now, and quietly continue to scratch off cards for another 4 hours trying to get that last SEC.

@iPseudo

It matters not one little bit whether we like the practices in question - as I have stated previously I do not like them at all. What matters is what Totem think - if they think, rightly or wrongly, that SECs and gambling are good ideas then they will use them. If they think that offering SEC at a fixed price of 50 credits is of negative value to them (because of its impact on other revenue streams) then they will not make such an offer. They may be wrong in their estimates, but it is only their estimates that that will matter in making decisions, not ours - our estimates of cards values will only affect the result of those decisions. Totem have data on which to base their decisions, we do not have access to that data, hence they are more likely to be right than we are.

Totem has made the "moral choice" to ignore mountains of research that point to the fact that humans are vulnerable to games of chance. The act itself releases dopamine and becomes addictive to a substantial cross-section of society. Totem is not providing any service other than trapping some customers in an addictive cycle that inevitably results in totem gaining and the customer losing. One must reflect on the fact that istripper is pornography, which in itself is addictive, and then must reflect that the company itself nor its customers are moral or bound by any promises of morality. And therefore the customer should not expect to be treated with any sort of respect or morality. We take pleasure in girls being paid to strip naked, and totem reaps the benefit as do the girls. The long discussions about what is right or wrong or good or bad are non-sequitur.

From you site. By mail. I pay for 1 cd disk. But nothing's at all.

VALERIA underrated in flexibility

@TheEmu
That is the best answer I have seen yet on this topic.
Thank you.

That should be Kristina, Niemira, Gloria and Luna Corazon. 😘

Copy/Paste the following line into the search box top right of the girls store
Kristina|Niemira|Gloria|Luna Corazon

Oh thank you very much, you are so kind😘💜

People like me are what the gambling and gaming industry refer to as "whales". We're the ones who spend STUPID amounts of money on stuff that most people wouldn't, and the ones that managers in those other industries tend to cater to.

However, there is one very important difference, We are the ones who have SPENT stupid amounts of money but because we have full or almost full collections, or have all the cards we want, we no longer SPEND the most even if we want to. We are not whales, we are ex-whales (possibly ex Norwegian Blue Whales).

Quite often I see here claims that we are the best customers and Totem should do things to please us because of that - but this simply is not true. We have been good, indeed very good, customers in the past but we currently buy rather little. Each month the Hall Of Fame shows three customers who have purchased between 1000 and 2000 (occasionally more) shows in a single month as opposed to the 30 or 31 that we can manage. Each of those three customers is worth about forty or more customers like me (more if they continue to buy profligately next month). They are the best customers.

Furthermore those three, and I don't know how many other similar "live whale" customers, will have almost certainly been paying more per card than I do. There is little or nothing Totem can do to encourage me to be a better customer, their time and effort is better spent encouraging others.

@nm76

And they need to reconsider their strategyu, because judging by the feedbck I am seeing, they are ***** off long-standing customers with their recent shenanigans... driving away their most loyal customer base. In the long run, it will backfire for them.
This is also true. I don't expect Totem to want to do anything that will cut into their profits, but there is a fine line to be walked between maximizing profits, and drastically ticking off your most loyal and longstanding customers. At some point, trying to maximize profits is going to meet with very diminishing returns, if you push things so far that you start to lose the very people that spend the most money on your product.

People like me are what the gambling and gaming industry refer to as "whales". We're the ones who spend STUPID amounts of money on stuff that most people wouldn't, and the ones that managers in those other industries tend to cater to.

Totem did throw us a nice bone by at least making the game playable for basically no cost (by pricing the scratch-offs at 5 credits -- basically break even with the win rate), but it is still costing us a lot of TIME. It would have been win-win for both Totem and the "whales" (at least in this case) to just give us the OPTION to buy the SECs directly.

Something to bear in mind is that in this case the "whales" are not likely to be the most profitable customers in the future. Because you already own most / all of the cards, your expenditure is going to be on just new releases (at high levels of discount) and potentially the SECs - Totem already have most of your money. Their profits are more likely to lie in new customers who will be building collections and hence will be buying more cards at lower discount rates.

Look at the current game. Let's say (hypothetically) it took you a net 20 plays to win the SEC at 5 credits a play - that's 100 credits used. For a new customer, if they had to buy the same number of plays for the SEC they would have had to spend 20 times 60+ credits - i.e. 1200 credits to win the same card. Granted, they would have acquired 80+ cards but not necessarily cards that they want.

So - Totem's future profits are likely to rely more on the new customers than the old and that will be where they focus.

@iPseudo - amongst the insights I think Totem get from their sales data is that the SEC cards and gambling games have been ways of increasing their profits. Nothing very profound - it should be bleedingly obvious - but it continuously surprises me that some people think that Totem should ignore what they see in the data and follow some suggestion that has no data to support it.

I'm not sure what profound insights you believe Totem are gleaning from their sales data, when it's taken them this many years to figure out that nothing is more profitable than taking someone's money without giving anything in return.

@iPseudo

It matters not one little bit whether we like the practices in question - as I have stated previously I do not like them at all. What matters is what Totem think - if they think, rightly or wrongly, that SECs and gambling are good ideas then they will use them. If they think that offering SEC at a fixed price of 50 credits is of negative value to them (because of its impact on other revenue streams) then they will not make such an offer. They may be wrong in their estimates, but it is only their estimates that that will matter in making decisions, not ours - our estimates of cards values will only affect the result of those decisions. Totem have data on which to base their decisions, we do not have access to that data, hence they are more likely to be right than we are.

''Friends'' don't continually try to pick your pockets.

And a Professors internet needs to go out right about now.

@TheEmu

Yes there are two sides to every business transaction - but we are not talking about individual transactions...

You may not be talking about individual transactions, but many who take issue with Totem's business practices are. Your choice of which perspective to take is an arbitrary one. You also chose not to respond to the remainder of my post.

What I have problems with and criticise are those that claim, with no access to Totem's sales records, that the SECs have a negative effect on Totem's profits or who suggest ways that will decrease those profits

People choose to believe all sorts of things, unsupported by evidence. Even businesspeople are not free of that defect. As evidence, I would point to Totem's own history, the fact that they have not experienced more growth over the past 20+ years, and now resort to inflicting questionable sales tactics on what they no doubt view as a captive customer base.

@iPseudo

Yes there are two sides to every business transaction - but we are not talking about individual transactions but about the aggregate result of several thousand transactions and how introducing thousands of other transactions (e.g. by selling SECs at a fixed price) will affect the take up of the offers leading to the first set. Offering SEC cards at a low price, such as 50 credits, will reduce the number of transactions from the gambling games and hence likely to reduce profits. What matters to Totem is what price should they set for a SEC in order to maximise their overall profit.

@SetFuego

The mere existence of these damn SEC's already pisses off a lot of people.

Strange as it may seem to others, despite my saying so several times, the existance of the SECs also annoys me, as do the gambling games and particularly the combination of the two - but that has no relevance to my recognising that they are an effective business practice.

As long as this damned deal with the SEC's exists, I will also express my opinion on it.

That I have no problem with, and indeed encourage others to express their opinions. What I have problems with and criticise are those that claim, with no access to Totem's sales records, that the SECs have a negative effect on Totem's profits or who suggest ways that will decrease those profits,

Unlike us Totem can see what effect SECs have and how they affect the participation in the various TGIFs. Do those that advocate not using them as prizes, or reduce their attractiveness as prizes, really think that Totem have increased the frequency of SECs because they, Totem, lose money on them relative to that which they would make if they released them as normal cards?

OUt of curiosity, what are the odds of getting a speical card? I have a full collection minus 2 special cards and a bunch of classics. I don't know the exact count, but I have bought give or take a hundred scratch cards in the last few days, am down over that time somewhere between 70 and 100 credits, and I have yet to see a special event card. I have won 25 credits 3 times, and betond that not much. Is this a waste a time, or is there a chance I can actually get those special cards?

Making them available for sale to a small group, such as @nm76 suggests, would have a lesser effect and possibly even be profitble - but might piss off even more people.

The mere existence of these damn SEC's already pisses off a lot of people.

If a company only maximizes its profit by exploiting the gambling addiction of customers or by deliberately attempting to surprise people (remember, the pre-checked boxes), then something is going very wrong in our society. And I'm definitely not going to join the mainstream just because that's so common these days.
As long as this damned deal with the SEC's exists, I will also express my opinion on it.

Of course I will also play here and there if I feel like it, that's what the games of chance are for and maybe get an SEC. But I don't let myself be compelled to bait, I can wait until I can redeem a SEC by joker at some point.

@TheEmu

Totem's point of view - which is the only one that really matters.

This is nonsense. There are two sides to every business transaction.

If, hypothetically, someone were able to pirate the same content as an alternative to being exploited by Totem, would you encourage or discourage them from doing so?

Is unrestrained greed only defensible when it's exercised professionally and not by amateurs?

@boan000

No, 50 credits isn't far too low. That is $5 per card at the best credit price. Just because Totem is preying on people with gambling weaknesses, it does not mean these cards are worth more;

Yes, 50 credits is far too low from Totem's point of view - which is the only one that really matters. We have plenty of evidence that people are willing to pay, albeit reluctantly, much more than that via the gambling games. Why they do so I do not understand, but they do. Providing a way to reliably get the cards for 50 credits would reduce the income from the games.

It does not matter how much you or I think a card is worth, what matters is how much its sale is worth to Totem - not its selling price but its effect on profits. I would expect selling these cards at 50 credits would reduce profits.

I don't like it any more than you - and I wish Totem would change the way these things are handled, but I am realistic about the efficacity of asking a business to abandon a profitable practice.

Making them available for sale to a small group, such as @nm76 suggests, would have a lesser effect and possibly even be profitble - but might piss off even more people.

If you have all the cards, it's almost impossible to run out of credits, but I'm starting to believe those special events cards are extremely rare, I spent over 3 hours (adding the time) and I haven't got an event card also my credits won't diminish nor will increase.