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> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform I see these as orthogonal issues. Your mathmakin

> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform I see these as orthogonal issues. Your mathmaking gripe sounds legitimate, and is probably driven by Roblox's low 21+ user numbers. That would be expected to change over time. At the same time, I'm not seeing a great argument for why these folks (EDIT: Roblox) should continue to have unfettered access to kids under 14.

tailscaler2026 6mo ago
If communication was proactively filtered to prevent bad actors (which Roblox obviously failed to do for years), why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know?
- JumpCrisscross 6mo ago
  > why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know? My main problem is the kid is playing a game with significant social-media (and gambling) components. That's orthogonal to the question of who is playing with whom, which I agree, is theoretically solvable with better filters.
  - tailscaler2026 6mo ago
    Oh, I misunderstood. When you said "these folks" I assumed you meant older users, as opposed to Roblox corporation. Cool we're in agreement.
- hluska 6mo ago
  Roblox is effectively a casino for kids with more social elements than in adult casinos. The corporation failed to prevent children from rapists for decades. Why would any rational person trust them to implement either proactive communication filters or to even allow something so close to gambling amongst different age groups? Roblox doesn’t deserve to be a business and I hope the lawsuits and equity markets solve that in a hurry.
- sokoloff 6mo ago
  There’s a large risk and hugely adversarial nature/motivation for predators to bypass whatever proactive filtering is put in place.
  - echelon 6mo ago
    The real predators are Roblox for getting kids addicted to gambling and the lawmakers who refuse to protect them. Not that they haven't also abdicated responsibility for keeping sexual predators off the platform. But the societal-level harm is going to be these kids growing up, hardwired to these dopamine-addled gambling pathways. Every single one of those kids has been twisted by Robux. We need regulations to stop targeting kids with this shit. Companies will stop building it when they get regulated.
ryandrake 6mo ago
Roblox is absolutely torching their platform, in many ways besides matchmaking and the age verification. Ask any kid who's grown up with the game. Players are leaving in droves and Roblox has become quite un-cool in the last six or so months.
- xp84 6mo ago
  As someone who dislikes predator havens that are combined with addictive dark patterns honed to maximize children begging parents for Robux (or just stealing parents’ credit cards to get it) I couldn’t be happier to see Roblox collapse. I’m sure what replaces it will be even worse though. :/
  - phatfish 6mo ago
    > I’m sure what replaces it will be even worse though. :/ Hopefully not, it feels like regulation is catching up with the child exploitation. Once the giant platforms are dismantled and can no longer bully governments it will be easier to keep the smaller ones in check. And no, "dark web Roblox" isn't going to be a replacement. Not matter how much the existing exploiters try to make it a scare tactic.
    - subscribed 6mo ago
      No, it doesn't. Not long time ago a microblogginf platform run by a billionaire introduced an easy way to "virtually undress" real kids. Outrage ensued, owner showed the middle finger to everyone, moved the undressing part behind a paywall. Site is still supported by payment processors, still hosts accounts of all the major preas/government/NGO organisations. There are some token actions from some governments but absolutely nothing that would happen of it was someone poorer running this site -- for example 4chan fights CSAM (as I understand), yet British Ofcom tries to issue a fine against them. With Twitter generating CSAM though? Ofcom still have their account there.
      - JSR_FDED 6mo ago
        Poor 4chan

tailscaler2026 6mo ago

If communication was proactively filtered to prevent bad actors (which Roblox obviously failed to do for years), why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know?

JumpCrisscross 6mo ago
> why should it matter if an adult is playing a game with a kid they don't know? My main problem is the kid is playing a game with significant social-media (and gambling) components. That's orthogonal to the question of who is playing with whom, which I agree, is theoretically solvable with better filters.
- tailscaler2026 6mo ago
  Oh, I misunderstood. When you said "these folks" I assumed you meant older users, as opposed to Roblox corporation. Cool we're in agreement.
hluska 6mo ago
Roblox is effectively a casino for kids with more social elements than in adult casinos. The corporation failed to prevent children from rapists for decades. Why would any rational person trust them to implement either proactive communication filters or to even allow something so close to gambling amongst different age groups? Roblox doesn’t deserve to be a business and I hope the lawsuits and equity markets solve that in a hurry.
sokoloff 6mo ago
There’s a large risk and hugely adversarial nature/motivation for predators to bypass whatever proactive filtering is put in place.
- echelon 6mo ago
  The real predators are Roblox for getting kids addicted to gambling and the lawmakers who refuse to protect them. Not that they haven't also abdicated responsibility for keeping sexual predators off the platform. But the societal-level harm is going to be these kids growing up, hardwired to these dopamine-addled gambling pathways. Every single one of those kids has been twisted by Robux. We need regulations to stop targeting kids with this shit. Companies will stop building it when they get regulated.

ryandrake 6mo ago

Roblox is absolutely torching their platform, in many ways besides matchmaking and the age verification. Ask any kid who's grown up with the game. Players are leaving in droves and Roblox has become quite un-cool in the last six or so months.

xp84 6mo ago
As someone who dislikes predator havens that are combined with addictive dark patterns honed to maximize children begging parents for Robux (or just stealing parents’ credit cards to get it) I couldn’t be happier to see Roblox collapse. I’m sure what replaces it will be even worse though. :/
- phatfish 6mo ago
  > I’m sure what replaces it will be even worse though. :/ Hopefully not, it feels like regulation is catching up with the child exploitation. Once the giant platforms are dismantled and can no longer bully governments it will be easier to keep the smaller ones in check. And no, "dark web Roblox" isn't going to be a replacement. Not matter how much the existing exploiters try to make it a scare tactic.
  - subscribed 6mo ago
    No, it doesn't. Not long time ago a microblogginf platform run by a billionaire introduced an easy way to "virtually undress" real kids. Outrage ensued, owner showed the middle finger to everyone, moved the undressing part behind a paywall. Site is still supported by payment processors, still hosts accounts of all the major preas/government/NGO organisations. There are some token actions from some governments but absolutely nothing that would happen of it was someone poorer running this site -- for example 4chan fights CSAM (as I understand), yet British Ofcom tries to issue a fine against them. With Twitter generating CSAM though? Ofcom still have their account there.
    - JSR_FDED 6mo ago
      Poor 4chan