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I’m the parent of a teenager who has struggled with an unhealthy obsession with features like this. A kid who is 14 or 15 is able to intellectually understand h
by kgilpin 8y ago
I’m the parent of a teenager who has struggled with an unhealthy obsession with features like this. A kid who is 14 or 15 is able to intellectually understand how to use these game systems, but at the same time he or she is often lacking the type of sophisticated understanding that an adult would have (e.g. that gambling can be addictive and therefore restraint and self-observation is required). They greatly overestimate their ability to participate in a safe and healthy way.
I would like to see loot boxes out of games for players under 18. Loot boxes are not a real part of the game anyway, they are a way for the publisher add the types of subconscious psychological rewards to “increase engagement” that are now rightfully criticized in platforms like Facebook.
- village-idiot 8y agoThis is another area where the arbitrariness of the 18 year majority limit is exposed: 18 year olds are not neurologically adults. That doesn’t happen until like 25-29.
- molf 8y agoAgreed; this should be made illegal entirely – this mechanic benefits no one except the game publisher.
- kgilpin 8y agoThat totally works for me as well :-)
- cloakandswagger 8y agoAnd also the grown adults who enjoy gambling responsibly?
- pitaj 8y agoExcept that it lowers game cost for everyone else when whales buy a bunch of cosmetic items.
- larrik 8y agoThese games aren't lower in price. Freemium games may have that aspect, but the games in the article are all AAA $60+ games with deluxe editions for $80 or over $100, and still have loot boxes.
- pitaj 8y agoGames have been $60 for decades despite growing scope and inflation. Why do you think that is? It's because of alternative monetization strategies.
- larrik 8y agoThe market size been growing too, while distribution costs have dropped to next to nothing. Games used to be physical cartridges, after all.
- watwut 8y agoThat is when brain cease to develop. That does not mean people are not mature enough for us to treat them as responsible for themselves sooner.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoMeh. Self discipline is very much a learned skill. I've seen plenty of high school age who have as much self discipline as your average middle age adult and vise versa. I think whether or not you have good personal responsibility at 18 depends a lot on whether you're given chances to build that skill from age 10-18 or so. People tend to mostly try to meet the expectations of society and society doesn't expect much from 18yos.
- menacingly 8y agoAs I understand it, it's 25-29 for men specifically, and women reach maturity much faster.
- village-idiot 8y agoI’d heard 25-27 for women, 27-29 for men, hence the wide spread I quoted. But the general idea still stands.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoThe old milestone for coming of age, of 21, seems like it was the better overall compromise.
- ensignavenger 8y agoIs there a commonly accepted definition for "neurologically adult"?
- ionised 8y agoI believe the poster you are replying to is referring to the brain continuing to develop until your mid-to-late twenties.