Gambling term is just as complex as it get many definition and thats the whole thing here that MA and many rpg use in a manner or another to avoid the "gambling" tag while having "RNG" loot.
Comparing a slot machine to a RNG loot.
The sad comparison btween HUMAN LIFE, SLOT MACHINE and RNG LOOT:
A system that cannot be predicted ahead of time
The result that come from oppotunities you have expectation of but will never know the result before the task is complete at your own expense. Work for all 3...
(applying for a job or making a new friend is more than just having the qualification, having a mini game or a favorable results is more than putting a $ in the slot, getting a rare item in EU is more then just shooting.)
Reward system with a diminishing return
I think anyone with a job and the increased cost in living that always happen will agree that the 3 are the same. The more you spend time doing something, the more you make but the more you spend.
What else is there ? So life, slot machines and RNG loot share have a lot in common. Depending on the 2 people involved into a alley. It could turn into avoidance, nothing, friendship, relationship, !!!!, death, or whatever. Is that RNG on each even?(Not really seeking an answer there.)
So what did gaming do to avoid "Casino" branding. Diablo II* had to redo their whole loot system to achieve that.
*I like Diablo II because lot of people that played RPG can relate to that and the info on loot system is easy to find should one use "google"
Diablo II achieved non casino like loot status with pregeneration. In the end from the rarest to the most common loot. They have a "key" that can open it up. When you kill a mob, you release a key that try to unlock all chest until it find the correct one and open it. It could be empty, garbage or the rarest loot. It all depend on the key you unlocked on the mob. This is where it's not the same as slot machines. A slot machine will react at each press of the button to randomizers. Be it elements, pressure change and so on.(At a super tiny level of changes) It generate each time a totaly random hash each possible combinations have a presumed overtime return of X%. In a slot machine world it mean that on 12 machines there will be some that will always be on the winning side and some always on losing side while others at a decent average while running on the same programming and that during their whole lifetime(some bars with very few machines lost their shirts over this while others got rich). This doesnt happen in EU because no one can say "I rolled a bad avatar and been getting 50% for last 5 years and never got at least expected return once" or "I hunted berycled for 5 years and I know that no one ever profited from them". That just doesnt happen in EU because it's pregenerated and you are generating a key to pregenerated loot chest pool be it with DPP, Kill cost vs hp, item choice or who care what mix or not of factors....(I really dont wanna jump into exact loot theory as proof. I dont feel we really have any proof aside that eventualy something obviously has to happen.)
In the end, whatever way you get the loot. It has to be pregenerated to not be gambling.
Lastly, what is GAMBLING. That is not everywhere the same.
Some area say "If it feel like gambling, then it is gambling".
While I do agree to an extent, that is broad. I feel like Im taking a gamble when I pick a job over searching for another possibly paying more because doing that activity prevent me to an extent from the opportunity of looking for better. Same thing happen in EU when you pick an activity to focus more than another.
Some area say "Gambling is pure RNG from unpredictable sources that give statistical results which even the owner cannot predict the outcome"
As soon as this get pregenerated, the user may still feel the gamble effect but the law has been satisfied. This is where Sweden is at on gambling regulation.
I know... Wave system kinda exist and more nexus hof happen before migration but is it really 100% a wave or it's just more miner target nexus knowing the coming event ? I know that so many try to run with the pyrite before mayhems and with current the auction house is being emptied in nutrio stuff just for reselling given current mayhem reward. IS the wave really that much of a wave or is it way more player influence than we think? I do know that it happen often where people say "Im gonna leave for work 1 hour earlier to avoid traffic today!" <--- Too many end up doing it and somehow the traffic is earlier. Was it pregenerated human behaviors or just nature of human to create something to think way more to it than it is?