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If kids pay 5-10 bucks every once in a while to support their entertainment and pay engineering salaries… is that the worst thing in the world? I’d rather my ki
by pkulak 1y ago
If kids pay 5-10 bucks every once in a while to support their entertainment and pay engineering salaries… is that the worst thing in the world? I’d rather my kids play Roblox than scroll Instagram. One of those is “free”.
- jmyeet 1y agoRoblox engages the exact same psychological manipulation that gambling does. Would you let your children go nuts at a casino? Or online with sports betting or crypto slots? The problem isn't the $5-10. It's the psychological manipulation.
- ryandrake 1y agoAs a parent, if you sit down with your kid and curate (or at least actively check/approve) what they are playing on Roblox, it’s fine. Mine just uses it to socialize with her real life friends, who are also all there. She sticks to the wholesome stuff, it might as well be Minecraft.
- krapht 1y agoSure, but at that point, why not just Minecraft then?
- ryandrake 1y agoShe does! A lot of her friends left Minecraft though, but we still play together.
- loloquwowndueo 1y agoThe problem is, most parents don’t.
- gehwartzen 1y agoIt sounds more like the same psychological manipulation that underpins the IRL world (at least the US) in the form of capitalism. Engineered towards adults to buy as much useless crap as possible. Teach kids that it’s the same kind of manipulation as in their games (and how to spot it) and perhaps they will be better equipped to not get fucked by adult life.
- Dilettante_ 1y agoI actually don't know very much about Roblox. I was under the impression that it was more like a storefront sort of thing, with 3rd party games being hosted there? Kind of like one of those 'old' flash game portals, except you buy the games and ingame items. Where do the gambling tricks come in?
- op00to 1y agoI recently attended a class with my kid on internet safety taught by an attorney specializing in defending children accused of crimes, especially those involving computers. Roblox is like the #1 cesspool for bad shit going down with kids on the internet. Social media is bad as well, and my kids do neither. No, Roblox is not the end of the world, but there’s no real compelling reason to open up to it. They play with their friends on XBox Live, with voice chat limited to friends we personally add.
- UnlockedSecrets 1y agoAs someone with no experience of roblox but has heard this a few times, what exactly about it makes it 'such' a bad thing??
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago[flagged]
- charcircuit 1y ago13 years old and above can talk and dm with any other account also 13 years old and above. Unless a parent account disables it.
- ocdtrekkie 1y agoI once overheard our nine year old explaining to a friend how to lie about their birthdate to create a YouTube account. Age checks are not meaningfully a working thing.
- charcircuit 1y agoParent account can be used for any age and can disable chat.
- superb_dev 1y agoThe YouTube channel “People Make Games” had a really great video on the exploitation going on
- Aurornis 1y ago> If kids pay 5-10 bucks every once in a while to support their entertainment and pay engineering salaries If this was a game that had a subscription fee or where you had to buy the new version every year, that might be true. These games don’t work like that, though. They rely on maximizing the take from each individual player. They’re designed so that the sky is the limit. You pay 5-10 bucks here, then you’re enticed to pay 5-10 bucks there, then you’re scrounging or begging for another 5-10 bucks for the next thing.
- moregrist 1y agoThe amount a child can spend on Roblox is entirely up to the parents. Children, especially pre-teens, don’t have access to credit or money without their parents consent, and a pretty easy way to limit the amount of money your child can spent on Roblox is to just make them have to ask you to buy the in-game currency. There are problems with the game but the amount of money going into it is something a parent can and should 100% control.
- ocdtrekkie 1y agoClearly you aren't aware how many kids steal their parents' credit cards to buy Robux. It's a very common thing.
- Dilettante_ 1y agoHow common is it, and how specific to Roblox purchases? What about 19$ Fortnite cards, or whatever currency those "Tiktok NPCs" that make noises at children are paid in?
- landl0rd 1y agoIf toy stores had a subscription fee or where you had to buy a new access pass every year, that would be fine. They don't work like that, though. They rely on maximizing the take from each individual child. They're designed so that the sky is the limit. You pay 5-10 bucks here, then you're enticed to pay 5-10 bucks for another toy, then you're scrounging or begging for another 5-10 bucks for the next toy.
- Spooky23 1y agoRoblox is awful with lots of weird crap and opportunity for abuse. Fortnite is way better and safer.
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago[flagged]
- bowsamic 1y agoThere are better alternatives to both of those that we should guide our children towards rather than just throwing up our hands and giving them their screens