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For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids and they haven't got the life experience to see these problems coming or deal with them appropriately.

For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids and they haven't got the life experience to see these problems coming or deal with them appropriately. If it were aimed at adults, but kids wanted to try, too, like Youtube... I don't have as much problem with that. But the target audience of Roblox ads is kids and always has been. It doesn't seem at all fair to trap kids into this ecosystem, sell them the things they need to get rich and famous, and then also give them a worse cut on their games than Steam, Apple, Google, etc.

duxup 5y ago
What then? Just don't let them make money on the platform?
- trs8080 5y ago
  uh, yes? if your business model relies on exploiting children, you shouldn't be allowed to operate as a business. or maybe don't pay kids whose work attracts people to your platform in your in-game digital currency. pay them, like, actual money that they've earned.
  - duxup 5y ago
    I feel like we'd then have the same article: "Adults can make money but they don't let kids who create content make any money!"
    - trs8080 5y ago
      kids can still make money from their creations. just pay them with real money instead of roblox digital currency (and remove the ridiculous minimum of $1k).
    - gbl08ma 5y ago
      One could argue that this would fall into child labor laws, which exist for a reason.
- MichaelGroves 5y ago
  That's how it works in minecraft right? Kids can design and build a minigame within the context of minecraft, but minecraft doesn't provide provide some minecraft diamonds to USD conversion service that allows players to bring real money into the game, or to cash out game money for real money. (Some third party servers might provide this, in violation of the Terms of Use.) This seems like a fine state of affairs to me.
- wccrawford 5y ago
  If you make money from the work of kids, you must be 100% fair with them. Giving them a worse cut than the parts of the game industry that are already under fire for not giving a big enough cut is not fair. Setting false expectations for them is not fair. And forcing them to earn $1000 before they can pull money out is not fair. Someone else mentioned that Second Life only requires $10 as their minimum. But even if you're sure you're being 100% fair, you have to be incredibly clear with those kids about what's going on and how it works, and you should probably also make their parents very clear on it, too. If you can't commit to that kind of fairness towards someone who can't legally sign contracts because the law recognizes that they don't have the life experience to do it fairly on their own, you shouldn't do it, and you definitely shouldn't base your business on it.
  - duxup 5y ago
    >Giving them a worse cut than the parts of the game industry What does the industry give indie devs whose games aren't popular? Most of these kids are just sharing games with fiends on a platform. If they want to go pro... welcome to the world / every platform where scale / getting attention is hard? Better they have a learning experience now because they made a roblox game.
- mike_d 5y ago
  Sure. I also don't think 11 year olds should be working in coal mines or farm fields either.
  - kook_throwaway 5y ago
    Although I can't prove it, I suspect there wouldn't be a lot of kids that would stop making games on roblox for an enjoyable day in the coal mine with their friends.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Honestly the only thing I find really disingenuous about this is the implication that it's realistic to get rich and famous on it, which is a quality shared by a lot of "creator" platforms. Also college.
inetknght 5y ago
> For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids If it's manipulative of kids then it's manipulative of adults too.
- only_as_i_fall 5y ago
  Eh, I think it's reasonable to have different expectations of children vs adults. After all, isn't there a reason why children can't sign legally binding contracts?
  - inetknght 5y ago
    > I think it's reasonable to have different expectations of children vs adults. Given the current state of stupidity in the US, I think there are a lot of children in adult bodies. No, I don't think it's reasonable to have different expectations for users.
alex_munroe 5y ago
> For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids and they haven't got the life experience to see these problems coming or deal with them appropriately. That's what parents are for.

duxup 5y ago

What then? Just don't let them make money on the platform?

trs8080 5y ago
uh, yes? if your business model relies on exploiting children, you shouldn't be allowed to operate as a business. or maybe don't pay kids whose work attracts people to your platform in your in-game digital currency. pay them, like, actual money that they've earned.
- duxup 5y ago
  I feel like we'd then have the same article: "Adults can make money but they don't let kids who create content make any money!"
  - trs8080 5y ago
    kids can still make money from their creations. just pay them with real money instead of roblox digital currency (and remove the ridiculous minimum of $1k).
  - gbl08ma 5y ago
    One could argue that this would fall into child labor laws, which exist for a reason.
MichaelGroves 5y ago
That's how it works in minecraft right? Kids can design and build a minigame within the context of minecraft, but minecraft doesn't provide provide some minecraft diamonds to USD conversion service that allows players to bring real money into the game, or to cash out game money for real money. (Some third party servers might provide this, in violation of the Terms of Use.) This seems like a fine state of affairs to me.
wccrawford 5y ago
If you make money from the work of kids, you must be 100% fair with them. Giving them a worse cut than the parts of the game industry that are already under fire for not giving a big enough cut is not fair. Setting false expectations for them is not fair. And forcing them to earn $1000 before they can pull money out is not fair. Someone else mentioned that Second Life only requires $10 as their minimum. But even if you're sure you're being 100% fair, you have to be incredibly clear with those kids about what's going on and how it works, and you should probably also make their parents very clear on it, too. If you can't commit to that kind of fairness towards someone who can't legally sign contracts because the law recognizes that they don't have the life experience to do it fairly on their own, you shouldn't do it, and you definitely shouldn't base your business on it.
- duxup 5y ago
  >Giving them a worse cut than the parts of the game industry What does the industry give indie devs whose games aren't popular? Most of these kids are just sharing games with fiends on a platform. If they want to go pro... welcome to the world / every platform where scale / getting attention is hard? Better they have a learning experience now because they made a roblox game.
mike_d 5y ago
Sure. I also don't think 11 year olds should be working in coal mines or farm fields either.
- kook_throwaway 5y ago
  Although I can't prove it, I suspect there wouldn't be a lot of kids that would stop making games on roblox for an enjoyable day in the coal mine with their friends.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Honestly the only thing I find really disingenuous about this is the implication that it's realistic to get rich and famous on it, which is a quality shared by a lot of "creator" platforms. Also college.

inetknght 5y ago

> For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids If it's manipulative of kids then it's manipulative of adults too.

only_as_i_fall 5y ago
Eh, I think it's reasonable to have different expectations of children vs adults. After all, isn't there a reason why children can't sign legally binding contracts?
- inetknght 5y ago
  > I think it's reasonable to have different expectations of children vs adults. Given the current state of stupidity in the US, I think there are a lot of children in adult bodies. No, I don't think it's reasonable to have different expectations for users.

alex_munroe 5y ago

> For adults, I agree. But this is squarely aimed at kids and they haven't got the life experience to see these problems coming or deal with them appropriately. That's what parents are for.