3 ms·

It's effectively the same, except people volunteer or are paid to play test. This whole industry really needs a lesson on consent.

by wat10000 10mo ago

adventured 10mo ago
So long as personal information is not collected, consent is not morally necessary. If I collect information on how often a coin-op Street Fighter II game is played in an arcade, while collecting no personal information, consent is not needed.
- wat10000 10mo ago
  Because using someone else's hardware in a public space is clearly equivalent to using your own hardware in the privacy of your own home.
  - crazygringo 10mo ago
    This is software coming from a server, not hardware. It doesn't matter which device it's run on, or whether it's in your home or not.
  - Zetaphor 10mo ago
    You are not entitled to play the game, which is hosted on their server which requires bandwidth and other resources. In the same way that you are free to make demands about how software runs on your machine, the author is free to make demands about the use of their software.
  - Sardtok 10mo ago
    If the data gathered is only on gameplay, and not something that can be used as PII like IP addresses or device information, then it should be fine. Gathering things like the score and time spent completing the level, isn't a problem. This could be used to rank the levels, without gathering any user information.
    - wat10000 10mo ago
      If gathering the data should be fine, then asking for permission should also be fine.
BloodyIron 10mo ago
There are games that let you opt-out, hell even ones that ask you when you first open the game. There are bad apples, but there are plenty of good ones too.
- jader201 10mo ago
  I think the argument is that they shouldn't be opt-out, but opt-in. If I want to play a game and provide my feedback, the default should be that that doesn't happen unless I explicitly say it should. Opt-out means that, by default, you're collecting metrics from my plays, until I find the means to opt-out.
  - llmslave2 10mo ago
    If the game asks you when you first open it, does it matter if the question is to "opt out" or "opt in"?
    - wat10000 10mo ago
      If it asks you then it's neither opt-in nor opt-out. Then it depends on how it asks you. If it's a simple yes/no, it's fine. If it's typical tech bullshit where your options are a big "I want to make the world a better place and save the whales by sending my data" or a tiny button in the corner labeled "maybe later" that takes you to another screen saying "please confirm you want to opt out of data collection and kill a bunch of kittens" then not so good.
jelder 10mo ago
Indie games don’t have a budget for playtesting, but they can probably swing a GA account.

It's effectively the same, except people volunteer or are paid to play test. This whole industry really needs a lesson on consent.

adventured 10mo ago

So long as personal information is not collected, consent is not morally necessary. If I collect information on how often a coin-op Street Fighter II game is played in an arcade, while collecting no personal information, consent is not needed.

wat10000 10mo ago
Because using someone else's hardware in a public space is clearly equivalent to using your own hardware in the privacy of your own home.
- crazygringo 10mo ago
  This is software coming from a server, not hardware. It doesn't matter which device it's run on, or whether it's in your home or not.
- Zetaphor 10mo ago
  You are not entitled to play the game, which is hosted on their server which requires bandwidth and other resources. In the same way that you are free to make demands about how software runs on your machine, the author is free to make demands about the use of their software.
- Sardtok 10mo ago
  If the data gathered is only on gameplay, and not something that can be used as PII like IP addresses or device information, then it should be fine. Gathering things like the score and time spent completing the level, isn't a problem. This could be used to rank the levels, without gathering any user information.
  - wat10000 10mo ago
    If gathering the data should be fine, then asking for permission should also be fine.

BloodyIron 10mo ago

There are games that let you opt-out, hell even ones that ask you when you first open the game. There are bad apples, but there are plenty of good ones too.

jader201 10mo ago
I think the argument is that they shouldn't be opt-out, but opt-in. If I want to play a game and provide my feedback, the default should be that that doesn't happen unless I explicitly say it should. Opt-out means that, by default, you're collecting metrics from my plays, until I find the means to opt-out.
- llmslave2 10mo ago
  If the game asks you when you first open it, does it matter if the question is to "opt out" or "opt in"?
  - wat10000 10mo ago
    If it asks you then it's neither opt-in nor opt-out. Then it depends on how it asks you. If it's a simple yes/no, it's fine. If it's typical tech bullshit where your options are a big "I want to make the world a better place and save the whales by sending my data" or a tiny button in the corner labeled "maybe later" that takes you to another screen saying "please confirm you want to opt out of data collection and kill a bunch of kittens" then not so good.

jelder 10mo ago

Indie games don’t have a budget for playtesting, but they can probably swing a GA account.