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> Seriously don't understand how Roblox isn't being investigated for predatory practices. Because if you held game companies responsible for deliberately foste

> Seriously don't understand how Roblox isn't being investigated for predatory practices. Because if you held game companies responsible for deliberately fostering addiction in their customers to earn a profit, we'd have scores of industries behind them in line to be brought to heel the same way and the stocks for tech companies, game companies, tobacco companies, casino companies, alcohol companies, etc. etc. would all implode. There's no danger of that of course because we long ago decided as a society that we're fine with vulnerable populations being put through an economic woodchipper to fuel our retirement funds, and that's been status quo for so long that I sincerely doubt there's any way to actually change it.

GNOMES 2y ago
Understand your point, but Epic (Fortnite) and games like Fifa have gotten sued or major slap on the wrists for the same practices
- latexr 2y ago
  > major slap on the wrists That doesn’t make sense as a concept. The point of the slap on the wrist is that it’s ineffective/insufficient punishment to change behaviour. You’re essentially saying they got a big small penalty.
  - GNOMES 2y ago
    Paying fines while still racking in cash. Basically the cost of doing business.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    It's a big enough penalty to be noticed and course correct. but not a big enough one to fundamentally hit their bottom line. I think it fits.
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  They're still doing it though. They stopped whatever specific part got them in trouble but in the broad strokes they're still exploiting customers because the law says they can. Everything that a business of that size does is legal because if the authorities actually wanted it stopped, it would be stopped.
riwsky 2y ago
We did that for tobacco, though? It was a huge public health win?
- xhkkffbf 2y ago
  Actually, it's mixed. The states now get such a huge chunk of tobacco money that they're incentivized to keep people smoking. The more they smoke, the more the state gets.
  - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
    Also, the companies are doing gangbusters in developing countries where people aren't as informed of the dangers of smoking. This is not judgement, to be clear. I enjoy the occasional smokable like anyone else, but I do that with full understanding of the health risks associated with it.
  - danans 2y ago
    > The more they smoke, the more the state gets. The state "gets" tobacco tax revenue to help pay for the burden of medical treatment for those with smoking related illnesses. Lung cancer isn't free to treat.
    - ChadNauseam 2y ago
      I've read that smoking related illnesses cost less money overall to treat than average. As an extreme example, if someone went around disintegrating people with an orbital laser, this would clearly reduce overall heathcare spending. So in this analogy, smoking is the equivalent of an orbital laser that (plausibly) causes people to die before they develop an even more expensive-to-treat healthcare situation.
      - itsgabriel 2y ago
        I don't think this analogy works, the space laser is instant and does not spread to non-targets. Smoking does reduce the average life span, but not to zero. In the remaining time, healthcare costs are increased on top of anything expensive they'd develop naturally. Smoking also causes serious diseases in non-smokers and kills 1.3 million non-smokers per year. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
drewcoo 2y ago
> we'd have scores of industries behind them Not if they have good lobbyists. In the US we still have beer ads on TV though tobacco commercials have been gone long enough to barely be remembered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUY0w2cVAUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUY0w2cVAUQ
johnnyanmac 2y ago
You forgot the most important industry: the food industry. But they settled that battle long ago. And on some level I agree. We shouldn't hold companies accountable for raising our children. Simply mitigate their ways to target them And exploit their data (something Fortnite got dinged hard for).
throw10920 2y ago
> There's no danger of that of course because we long ago decided as a society that we're fine with vulnerable populations being put through an economic woodchipper to fuel our retirement funds "We" did? Who's "we"? I certainly never agreed to this. Citation needed.

GNOMES 2y ago

Understand your point, but Epic (Fortnite) and games like Fifa have gotten sued or major slap on the wrists for the same practices

latexr 2y ago
> major slap on the wrists That doesn’t make sense as a concept. The point of the slap on the wrist is that it’s ineffective/insufficient punishment to change behaviour. You’re essentially saying they got a big small penalty.
- GNOMES 2y ago
  Paying fines while still racking in cash. Basically the cost of doing business.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  It's a big enough penalty to be noticed and course correct. but not a big enough one to fundamentally hit their bottom line. I think it fits.
ToucanLoucan 2y ago
They're still doing it though. They stopped whatever specific part got them in trouble but in the broad strokes they're still exploiting customers because the law says they can. Everything that a business of that size does is legal because if the authorities actually wanted it stopped, it would be stopped.

riwsky 2y ago

We did that for tobacco, though? It was a huge public health win?

xhkkffbf 2y ago
Actually, it's mixed. The states now get such a huge chunk of tobacco money that they're incentivized to keep people smoking. The more they smoke, the more the state gets.
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  Also, the companies are doing gangbusters in developing countries where people aren't as informed of the dangers of smoking. This is not judgement, to be clear. I enjoy the occasional smokable like anyone else, but I do that with full understanding of the health risks associated with it.
- danans 2y ago
  > The more they smoke, the more the state gets. The state "gets" tobacco tax revenue to help pay for the burden of medical treatment for those with smoking related illnesses. Lung cancer isn't free to treat.
  - ChadNauseam 2y ago
    I've read that smoking related illnesses cost less money overall to treat than average. As an extreme example, if someone went around disintegrating people with an orbital laser, this would clearly reduce overall heathcare spending. So in this analogy, smoking is the equivalent of an orbital laser that (plausibly) causes people to die before they develop an even more expensive-to-treat healthcare situation.
    - itsgabriel 2y ago
      I don't think this analogy works, the space laser is instant and does not spread to non-targets. Smoking does reduce the average life span, but not to zero. In the remaining time, healthcare costs are increased on top of anything expensive they'd develop naturally. Smoking also causes serious diseases in non-smokers and kills 1.3 million non-smokers per year. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco

drewcoo 2y ago

> we'd have scores of industries behind them Not if they have good lobbyists. In the US we still have beer ads on TV though tobacco commercials have been gone long enough to barely be remembered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUY0w2cVAUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUY0w2cVAUQ

johnnyanmac 2y ago

You forgot the most important industry: the food industry. But they settled that battle long ago. And on some level I agree. We shouldn't hold companies accountable for raising our children. Simply mitigate their ways to target them And exploit their data (something Fortnite got dinged hard for).

throw10920 2y ago

> There's no danger of that of course because we long ago decided as a society that we're fine with vulnerable populations being put through an economic woodchipper to fuel our retirement funds "We" did? Who's "we"? I certainly never agreed to this. Citation needed.