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My girlfriend works as data analyst for a mobile gaming company and she found a user that spends between 4000 to 6000 USD every month on items. Who are these pe

by Ftuuky 10y ago

My girlfriend works as data analyst for a mobile gaming company and she found a user that spends between 4000 to 6000 USD every month on items. Who are these people?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Paul_S 10y ago
They are victims. Ask your girlfriend where, if at all, she draws the moral line. I'm not a saint but I wouldn't be able to justify that to myself.
- IanDrake 10y ago
  Hmm, I would draw the line at adults spending their own money however they legally pleased. It's not moral to dictate how another's earnings should be spent. That's the opposite of moral.
  - anc84 10y ago
    Exploiting psychological flaws in humans might be legal but is horrifyingly immoral and unethical.
  - ap22213 10y ago
    With some exceptions, right? Friends and family? Neighbors? I would certainly intervene if my loved ones became addicts. I'd also interven if it indirectly affected me (e.g. higher crime, more homelessness, loss of property value, etc).
  - zelos 10y ago
    Gambling is a pretty highly regulated industry in most jurisdictions because it exploits psychological flaws in humans. We're not perfectly logical decision making machines.
- selckin 10y ago
  There are quite a few people making ungodly amounts of money. Many of these games market specifically to get those whales. That 5K/month could be 0.01% of their income
  - paulddraper 10y ago
    I agree with you, but very, very few people make $600 million/yr.
    - selckin 10y ago
      just made up a number for dramatic effect. 50k a month is plenty to be able to effort this. Heck i know a few twitch.tv streamers that makes that much money
  - the_af 10y ago
    > There are quite a few people making ungodly amounts of money. Many of these games market specifically to get those whales. I remember reading somewhere (maybe even here on HN!) that a lot of the big spenders actually cannot afford it and aren't wealthy. I think it was in a recent article about the shady tactics the developers of these pseudo-games employ. Note: the same can be said about good old-fashioned gambling indeed.
- ronald_raygun 10y ago
  I think that if you hide how much they are actually spending it is very unethical. But if there is a clear price on what you do, then by all means. Back when I used to play LOL alot (3-4 games/day), I spend probably 200-300$ on skins. Not because it made the game better or that I derived that value from the skin, but because I valued the game and wanted to support it.
gadders 10y ago
I think some are taken advantage of, but also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7164862 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7164862
charlesdm 10y ago
If you are wealthy, and you enjoy playing a game, why wouldn't you spend 4-6k a month on items? It is no better or worse than spending hundreds of thousands on cars, yachts, prostitutes, and whatnot. Obviously ripping off your employer to the extent of $4.8m is a bad idea, but if you've earned the money, why not?
- kbart 10y ago
  Exactly. I, personally, find many things people pay huge amounts of money for plain stupid, but it's their money and their life, just let them do it as long as they don't harm others. How is spending thousands of $ on computer games any worse than buying golden iPhones, diamonds, luxury cars, lottery tickets, rare post stamps or coins etc? The only exceptions when intervention is necessary I can think of: a) a person is underage b) a person is mentally ill (by that I mean serious illness, not "gaming addiction"). We shouldn't be moral police and tell adult people how to live their lives and spend their money.
  - candu 10y ago
    One possible counterargument in this particular case: if the game is balanced such that it's effectively pay-to-win (and pay a lot), one person who can afford this level of spending could easily encourage less well-heeled players to spend similar amounts, which in turn could easily harm those players' families. This touches on several related questions, none of which have clear right answers. Who is at "fault" in addiction: the addict, the dealer, or both? If both, in what proportion? Is "gaming addiction" as dangerous / harmful as substance addiction? What constitutes harm to others, and how much harm needs to occur to deserve intervention? (For instance: some argue that the purchase of luxury diamonds causes harm halfway around the world where they're mined, to take one of the "harmless" examples listed above.) In other words: I'd say it's very difficult to make categorical statements about the "rightness" of complete economic freedom to do what you want with your money. We prohibit all kinds of purchases, services, etc. based on prevailing answers to questions like those above, and those prevailing answers inevitably change over time. (They also vary wildly between countries, states, or even cities.)
partycoder 10y ago
I think they initially do not realize that they're spending that much. They instead spend a little bit each time, adding up to those amounts. Now, usually, they build some sort cult around them in forums and that validates their weird spending behavior and makes them feel good. Then, people that spend a lot of money and do not win, get angry and retaliate trying to get refunds. I think that this activity should be regulated more. Allowing this type of excess is a disservice to society.

by Ftuuky 10y ago

My girlfriend works as data analyst for a mobile gaming company and she found a user that spends between 4000 to 6000 USD every month on items. Who are these people?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Paul_S 10y ago

They are victims. Ask your girlfriend where, if at all, she draws the moral line. I'm not a saint but I wouldn't be able to justify that to myself.

IanDrake 10y ago
Hmm, I would draw the line at adults spending their own money however they legally pleased. It's not moral to dictate how another's earnings should be spent. That's the opposite of moral.
- anc84 10y ago
  Exploiting psychological flaws in humans might be legal but is horrifyingly immoral and unethical.
- ap22213 10y ago
  With some exceptions, right? Friends and family? Neighbors? I would certainly intervene if my loved ones became addicts. I'd also interven if it indirectly affected me (e.g. higher crime, more homelessness, loss of property value, etc).
- zelos 10y ago
  Gambling is a pretty highly regulated industry in most jurisdictions because it exploits psychological flaws in humans. We're not perfectly logical decision making machines.
selckin 10y ago
There are quite a few people making ungodly amounts of money. Many of these games market specifically to get those whales. That 5K/month could be 0.01% of their income
- paulddraper 10y ago
  I agree with you, but very, very few people make $600 million/yr.
  - selckin 10y ago
    just made up a number for dramatic effect. 50k a month is plenty to be able to effort this. Heck i know a few twitch.tv streamers that makes that much money
- the_af 10y ago
  > There are quite a few people making ungodly amounts of money. Many of these games market specifically to get those whales. I remember reading somewhere (maybe even here on HN!) that a lot of the big spenders actually cannot afford it and aren't wealthy. I think it was in a recent article about the shady tactics the developers of these pseudo-games employ. Note: the same can be said about good old-fashioned gambling indeed.
ronald_raygun 10y ago
I think that if you hide how much they are actually spending it is very unethical. But if there is a clear price on what you do, then by all means. Back when I used to play LOL alot (3-4 games/day), I spend probably 200-300$ on skins. Not because it made the game better or that I derived that value from the skin, but because I valued the game and wanted to support it.

gadders 10y ago

I think some are taken advantage of, but also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7164862 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7164862

charlesdm 10y ago

If you are wealthy, and you enjoy playing a game, why wouldn't you spend 4-6k a month on items? It is no better or worse than spending hundreds of thousands on cars, yachts, prostitutes, and whatnot. Obviously ripping off your employer to the extent of $4.8m is a bad idea, but if you've earned the money, why not?

kbart 10y ago
Exactly. I, personally, find many things people pay huge amounts of money for plain stupid, but it's their money and their life, just let them do it as long as they don't harm others. How is spending thousands of $ on computer games any worse than buying golden iPhones, diamonds, luxury cars, lottery tickets, rare post stamps or coins etc? The only exceptions when intervention is necessary I can think of: a) a person is underage b) a person is mentally ill (by that I mean serious illness, not "gaming addiction"). We shouldn't be moral police and tell adult people how to live their lives and spend their money.
- candu 10y ago
  One possible counterargument in this particular case: if the game is balanced such that it's effectively pay-to-win (and pay a lot), one person who can afford this level of spending could easily encourage less well-heeled players to spend similar amounts, which in turn could easily harm those players' families. This touches on several related questions, none of which have clear right answers. Who is at "fault" in addiction: the addict, the dealer, or both? If both, in what proportion? Is "gaming addiction" as dangerous / harmful as substance addiction? What constitutes harm to others, and how much harm needs to occur to deserve intervention? (For instance: some argue that the purchase of luxury diamonds causes harm halfway around the world where they're mined, to take one of the "harmless" examples listed above.) In other words: I'd say it's very difficult to make categorical statements about the "rightness" of complete economic freedom to do what you want with your money. We prohibit all kinds of purchases, services, etc. based on prevailing answers to questions like those above, and those prevailing answers inevitably change over time. (They also vary wildly between countries, states, or even cities.)

partycoder 10y ago

I think they initially do not realize that they're spending that much. They instead spend a little bit each time, adding up to those amounts. Now, usually, they build some sort cult around them in forums and that validates their weird spending behavior and makes them feel good. Then, people that spend a lot of money and do not win, get angry and retaliate trying to get refunds. I think that this activity should be regulated more. Allowing this type of excess is a disservice to society.