I had an idea where a repack seller could have a system where there is proof a buyer had a chance to get a super rare card in a repack. This is loosely based on systems I've seen used for lottery type systems online.
I don't buy or sell repacks, but I wanted to share this idea to see what others in the community thought. A variance of this system would assure the buyer that they at least had a chance at a value card.
The following list of repacks is posted publicly when a run of repacks is created:
Pack Number
Code
Themed Code
1
3D0EE1306568E071850C8E887BE81B3F
…
2
024F8F9DC149ABCFAF46351D5D777C72
…
3
D2A27A8BA01CE72A1BA7216F33B09F1F
…
Buyers can chose which pack they want from the above table.
Themed codes give a more friendly aesthetic and follow replacement of A->F 0->9 with mana symbols Plains through Waste and 0 through 9 colorless.
We maintain the following master list:
Pack Number
Card List
Secret
Code
1
Birds of Paradise,Island,Lightning Bolt
Jc$6sGt7W^
3D0EE1306568E071850C8E887BE81B3F
2
Black Lotus,Mox Pearl,Mox Emerald
Z4ztn!4ccN
024F8F9DC149ABCFAF46351D5D777C72
In each pack, the buyer gets their pack's card list along with their Secret value and Code (which can be independently generated to verify).
The code value is generated using a modern hashing function, in the above examples it works as follows:
Md5(Card List,Secret) => Code
Md5(Black Lotus,Mox Pearl,Mox Emerald,Z4ztn!4ccN) = 024F8F9DC149ABCFAF46351D5D777C72
When the packs are sold out, the packs with the rare cards can have their Card List and Secret revealed to provably show that they contained rare cards all along and a buyer had the chance to pick it.
Repacks are a waist of money, you never get the good cards unless you REALLY buy alot (more value then the card is) no one wants to give away stuff for free. Its a dream that never pans out. Their is no fair repack system because the system is inheritly faulty. The only fair one is to say what is IN the repack (the specific repack) you are buying.
I developed this theoretical system after watching some videos of people opening repacks and, oh would you look at that, getting a black lotus. Also this addresses repacks who claim to have those high value cards in them when anyone could claim that falsely. This system can prove that in these lottery type repacks that a few high value packs were actually created and buyers had a chance to get one. Without a system like this, the seller can create exactly 0 packs with high value cards while a youtuber reviews the pack and claim to get some very valuable card. I guess this is sort of a challenge to people who sell repacks. If you don't implement a system like this, you have no way to prove even if someone bought a large number of the repacks that they could get anything good.
Again, I don't buy them and never will, although I don't enjoy seeing other people buy them when the amount of fraud/manipulation seems so high.
I may be missing something but how does this prove that there were valuable cards? Couldn't they just be added to the list but that pack just never actually gets sent out?
If I'm understanding the idea correctly, the repack seller publishes what amounts to a hash of the cards in the repack. The hash is publicly known, but can only be calculated if you know the contents of the pack. When you buy and open the pack, you can calculate the hash yourself, and if it matches the published one, it's proof after-the-fact that the pack contained those cards.
That doesn't really help the individual who bought the repack much, but it could help the seller to build a reputation of credibility that they don't just stuff the repacks with draft chaff.
I would think the best implementation would be private-key encryption. Send all buyers a copy of a single encrypted file containing a plaintext list of the contents of all packs and keep an identical file as part of the original posting (so that all buyers can verify that this file matches the file all other buyers receive and that it won't be changed after the sale is complete). Once the sale is done, post the encryption key so that all buyers can see the full list of pack contents in plaintext.
The one huge weakness here is that the seller would also need to figure out a way to prove that the encrypted card lists don't have hidden data in them - it's entirely possible to encrypt something so that different keys will reveal different data, in this case different card lists. So if you wait until the sale is over before sending out the repacks, you could just pick the most favorable card list and then send out that permutation of packs.
The problem with using a hash system is that there's no good way of proving you didn't pull a fast one by changing the card values at the last second that doesn't also open the door to gaming of the system - if you use pre-published values to represent cards, you run the risk of someone trying to brute force the hash to pick a good pack (MD5, for example, is terrible for actual hashing). If you don't reveal the card values until the packs are sold, however, you'd just need to pick a unique card slot from an unsold pack and claim that one was the Black Lotus in order to rip people off.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I don't buy or sell repacks, but I wanted to share this idea to see what others in the community thought. A variance of this system would assure the buyer that they at least had a chance at a value card.
Again, I don't buy them and never will, although I don't enjoy seeing other people buy them when the amount of fraud/manipulation seems so high.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
That doesn't really help the individual who bought the repack much, but it could help the seller to build a reputation of credibility that they don't just stuff the repacks with draft chaff.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
The one huge weakness here is that the seller would also need to figure out a way to prove that the encrypted card lists don't have hidden data in them - it's entirely possible to encrypt something so that different keys will reveal different data, in this case different card lists. So if you wait until the sale is over before sending out the repacks, you could just pick the most favorable card list and then send out that permutation of packs.
The problem with using a hash system is that there's no good way of proving you didn't pull a fast one by changing the card values at the last second that doesn't also open the door to gaming of the system - if you use pre-published values to represent cards, you run the risk of someone trying to brute force the hash to pick a good pack (MD5, for example, is terrible for actual hashing). If you don't reveal the card values until the packs are sold, however, you'd just need to pick a unique card slot from an unsold pack and claim that one was the Black Lotus in order to rip people off.