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Morality issue
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Ceifeirot:
I wasn't going to charge for playing games on my cabinet when I bring it to college (despite many people telling me I should) because I don't feel right about making a profit off games I don't "own".  However, my dad said that I should have the machine use quarters and charge people to use it, but use the money as a "party fund" that I wouldn't use for myself but rather for parties or possibly maintaining the machine. Would this be ethical? Is including the machine's maintainance in the fund less ethical?

Any ideas appreciated

Thanks
Alex
AmericanDemon:
Legally you cannot charge and make profit from people playing the games.  However, in a high maintenance area there are ways around charging to play the games.

Simply do this....

Replace the coin mechs with Token mechs and then sell tokens.  Legally you have gotten around having people pay to play.  They are only paying for tokens which are then good to play games.

You can of course buy BYOAC tokens!
SeanFu:
Ethics aside:

I think your dad doesn't want you to have friends or parties.  Wait until you go over to a friend's house for a little X-box action and they ask you for a quarter...

Trust me, people aren't going to be lining up at your Mame cab to put a quarter in.  It will sit there unplayed and they'll think you're a bit of a jerk.
Ceifeirot:
I guess the idea would be that if there was a party going on I could then take the machine out of "free play" mode and people would be paying for what they consume and getting some fun out of it.

It isn't such a serious idea, it's not like I'm planning a business around it.

I'll consider the token method.
Wienerdog:
Forget about the "token method", it doesn't get around anything.  You're talking about ethics, are you trying to fool yourself into thinking you aren't making money, lol!!!  There isn't a MAME police officer that is going to stop by your apartment and check to see if your machine takes quarters or tokens.  The "ethics" has nothing to do with how you are making the money, just the act of making money.  You could also charge admission to your apartment and leave the machine on free play.  In the end, you are still accepting money for the right to play a game.  

Don't get me wrong, we are all stealing the games when we play them on our own machines without owning the ROM/chip.  I agree with SeanFu, the perception of charging to play a game will be really bad.  Would you give refunds if the front end crashes?  Do you spend all night showing people how to choose a game and what controls to use?  Do you charge if somebody wants something to drink?  If they want water, do you give it to them but charge 5 cents for the cup?  Of course I'm just joking, I know you aren't talking about doing that.  In the end, you won't take in enough money for it justify the perception that you're a jerk.

 
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