4 ms·

Hmm this is a tough one. Firstly I should make it clear that my wife works in the games industry. She works on PC, Console and Mobile titles. She has mentioned

Hmm this is a tough one. Firstly I should make it clear that my wife works in the games industry. She works on PC, Console and Mobile titles. She has mentioned several times how there is a lot of pressure put on developers and publishers to "catch the whales". They employ psychologists and gambling specialists to make games, mostly mobile but it is also creeping into PC and Console, super addictive. Personally I am of the opinion that people should be able to do what they want* but my wife is genuinely concerned about just how they go after certain types of people. They do want to get the gambling types. They are the people who spend money. Lots of money. I have seen numbers where people who obviously have more money than we can imagine spending $50-100k on IAPs. Some games even have "limited" IAPs that were designed for just one player as they spend so damn much. However I can't help but feel there is something else behind this post than what the author seems to spin it as. What I am not too sure but it seems quite the ramble and he doesn't actually have any solid sources or data to back up his claim. Of course neither do I outside of what my wife tells me :) * Okay so there has to be some limits. Edit: I would like to make the point clear that while I think people should be able to do whatever they want, I do find this kind of predatory game design unethical. As does my wife. Thankfully nothing she has had to do so far has been totally deplorable.

skybrian 11y ago
I think you've defined the problem better than the original post: what to do about whales? Most people would guess that these are people with psychological problems who need help. But do we know that? Maybe they're billionaires and they're okay with it. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to work for anyone who is targeting whales, though.
- bduerst 11y ago
  Classify micro-purchase games as gambling. The whales aren't much different from the gambling addicts who are drawn in by the blinking lights, noise, and adrenaline shots from winning at chance. The only difference with these Skinner-box games is that people are conditioned to repeatedly put money into a machine that isn't giving any monetary payout.
triangleman 11y ago
The original article is bad. It can be summed up in a key phrase the author used 3 times: Governments need to "save us from ourselves". I'm sorry but that's not the role of government. "Protect us from each other" as well as "provide us necessary public services" is closer to the actual design of government. I wish that instead of running around screaming "think of the children", the author actually respected his audience and their very real free will, rather than just wave his hands, claiming that free will does not exist, except when we use our political will to save people from themselves, or something. I wish the author addressed people like your wife, who is dealing with an ethical dilemma at work. These are the people who have the choice to stay or to leave their jobs--an incredibly hard choice for someone who has a family to think about. Let me offer my respect to your wife who is dealing with this issue first-hand. Whatever choice she makes, it will not be without much anxiety and it will not take a small amount of courage. There are other jobs out there, and I'm thankful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to choose where to work. Such a freedom--the expansion of my free will to include the needs of my conscience--was enabled by the work of men who came before me, men who used their free wills to establish a system that protects this freedom. I am grateful for this system, and I reject any attempts to pervert this system towards poorly conceived ends in the name of "saving me from myself".
- ino 11y ago
  Regarding "think of the children", there's a reason casinos have minimum age requirements. Gambling is an addiction and many of these games exploit the same principle that makes us addicted. At an early age it can mess you up for good.
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  > I'm sorry but that's not the role of government. That is a very american point of view. The author of the article is british.
- kozukumi 11y ago
  Thanks. It is a problem for her but thankfully not to the point where she feels she should leave on principle. The games industry is small though and it is all going in a similar direction. Ideally she would change industry but after more than 10 years doing games and now in her early 40s she is anxious about making such a change.
norea-armozel 11y ago
That's the rub isn't it? If we let Congress decide then we'll likelier get what we have with gambling where the biggest players are still getting people hooked on the high of winning but the smaller folks are the ones who get tossed out. Then you got genres and approaches which shouldn't even be considered equivalent (like DLCs and expansions to single player games and the like) being regulated the same way. Frankly, at this point I'm going to say let the suckers get hung out to dry and let some class action suit form to deal with this problem. At least then the question of liability will be settled by case law w/o the concern of Congressional overreach. I hate saying that too since I do genuinely believe this matter should be under regulatory review, but Congress is too ham fisted and idiotic when it comes to technology (their current nonsense regarding encryption proves that right all too well).

skybrian 11y ago

I think you've defined the problem better than the original post: what to do about whales? Most people would guess that these are people with psychological problems who need help. But do we know that? Maybe they're billionaires and they're okay with it. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to work for anyone who is targeting whales, though.

bduerst 11y ago
Classify micro-purchase games as gambling. The whales aren't much different from the gambling addicts who are drawn in by the blinking lights, noise, and adrenaline shots from winning at chance. The only difference with these Skinner-box games is that people are conditioned to repeatedly put money into a machine that isn't giving any monetary payout.

triangleman 11y ago

The original article is bad. It can be summed up in a key phrase the author used 3 times: Governments need to "save us from ourselves". I'm sorry but that's not the role of government. "Protect us from each other" as well as "provide us necessary public services" is closer to the actual design of government. I wish that instead of running around screaming "think of the children", the author actually respected his audience and their very real free will, rather than just wave his hands, claiming that free will does not exist, except when we use our political will to save people from themselves, or something. I wish the author addressed people like your wife, who is dealing with an ethical dilemma at work. These are the people who have the choice to stay or to leave their jobs--an incredibly hard choice for someone who has a family to think about. Let me offer my respect to your wife who is dealing with this issue first-hand. Whatever choice she makes, it will not be without much anxiety and it will not take a small amount of courage. There are other jobs out there, and I'm thankful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to choose where to work. Such a freedom--the expansion of my free will to include the needs of my conscience--was enabled by the work of men who came before me, men who used their free wills to establish a system that protects this freedom. I am grateful for this system, and I reject any attempts to pervert this system towards poorly conceived ends in the name of "saving me from myself".

ino 11y ago
Regarding "think of the children", there's a reason casinos have minimum age requirements. Gambling is an addiction and many of these games exploit the same principle that makes us addicted. At an early age it can mess you up for good.
Mithaldu 11y ago
> I'm sorry but that's not the role of government. That is a very american point of view. The author of the article is british.
kozukumi 11y ago
Thanks. It is a problem for her but thankfully not to the point where she feels she should leave on principle. The games industry is small though and it is all going in a similar direction. Ideally she would change industry but after more than 10 years doing games and now in her early 40s she is anxious about making such a change.

norea-armozel 11y ago

That's the rub isn't it? If we let Congress decide then we'll likelier get what we have with gambling where the biggest players are still getting people hooked on the high of winning but the smaller folks are the ones who get tossed out. Then you got genres and approaches which shouldn't even be considered equivalent (like DLCs and expansions to single player games and the like) being regulated the same way. Frankly, at this point I'm going to say let the suckers get hung out to dry and let some class action suit form to deal with this problem. At least then the question of liability will be settled by case law w/o the concern of Congressional overreach. I hate saying that too since I do genuinely believe this matter should be under regulatory review, but Congress is too ham fisted and idiotic when it comes to technology (their current nonsense regarding encryption proves that right all too well).