I have young kids and recently learned what Roblox actually is. My kids will never be allowed to spend a cent on that. I am happy to buy them suitable games.
„If companies were to do the right thing, they would lose the most valuable customers on earth, preteen kids”
Submitted 6 months ago by boem@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
macrocephalic@lemmy.world 6 months ago
archchan@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
I’m out of the loop. What is Roblox actually?
clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
It’s a platform for playing and creating video games. The stated intent was for kids to make games for kids, but as soon as game creators could make real money from it, professional devs took over. The in game currency is called robux, and it seems like every game is listed with buttons to get a higher jump or faster car or whatever for a few dollars’worth.
Because young kids are not savvy consumers, the platform is chock full of identical games with the same name and logo hoping to steal players stay from whichever game is on trend at the moment.
There are certainly some games in there with playing, but it’s a very small minority.
PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Child labor
TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 6 months ago
There’s two videos from People Make Games about that topic, both very interesting:
youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ?si=g0WlQz5qC3_pmswX youtu.be/vTMF6xEiAaY?si=blVIQv15W7sws6wY
AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 6 months ago
From what I understand, it’s a platform where you can create games and monetize them by doing things like adding subscriptions, item or ability shops, add access fees, etcetera, that require real world money to be exchanged for them. Though, I think it could also be robux, but I wouldn’t know because I avoid that service like the plague.
There’s a whole entire webpage dedicated to this monetization thing that’s out in the open, if you wanna read it.
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The most popular among groomers.
Etterra@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Trash.
Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Trouble is, most of the other games out there for kids are the same thing as the roblox games, and many of them cost money upfront, then sell the kids on skins, and tiny game functions just like roblox games. It’s hard to find suitable games for kids, and takes a ton of energy. I have gotten my kids into satisfactory, raft, and games like that. But my youngest keeps coming back to the grinders which all have pay to win. Good games are just not as profitable.
Senshi@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I was about to say… What does “suitable” mean? I grew up in the 90s, and “suitable games” ranged from SimCity or the settlers to age of empires, crusader Kings, quake, doom, unreal tournament or half life.
There is no need to over protect kids from the “simple” evils: when I was very young, I didn’t want to play violent or scary games, even knowing they exist. Later I got curious and explored them. Depending on your choice a game such as the settlers, age of empires or crusader Kings could well be classified violent and “unsuitable”. But violence is everywhere, and those were some of the games that I fondly remember for instilling a huge curiosity in history and cultures in me. And yes, we were marketing victims as well: everyone spent way too much on Magic, Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards and related toys. But it didn’t infect every part of our lives.
Help your kids reflect on their choices and wants. Help them find out why they really want to pay too much money for that shiny Roblox skin. And offer alternatives with free, open content sharing so they realize they are being swindled. Media literacy is much tougher today because companies got much more insidious marketing vectors to infect kids.
Nowadays there are thousands of games being released per week, in addition to classics such as Minecraft, Terraria, Rimworld, Eco, which still have very strong modding and multiplayer communities.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
worst part is when they have 57 AAA games but all their friends play fucking roblox have become obsessed with making content with roblox so they can join the child labor pool it uses.
fucking worst company in the universe.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 6 months ago
When I was interested in mobile development, one of the big takeaways is to hear your game towards preteens. They have the free time to play, the numbers to add player count, and the opportunity to give you money.
I heard it’s why YouTubers gear their content towards that audience too, even if they aren’t actively admitting to it.
EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 6 months ago
and the opportunity to give you money
What? Remembering myself as a preteen, even if I didn’t consider microtransactions as a no-no, I don’t think I would be able to do it anyway. Preteens don’t have bank cards. If we are talking about begging their parents - I don’t think it would have worked either. Mine, just like average parents, would have probably thought spending money on games was stupid and not allowed it. That is the reason I had pirated Minecraft too - just like most kids around me.
Deebster@programming.dev 6 months ago
Maybe his analysis considered this, but they article doesn’t mention real-world factors like the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, and what feels like the resurgence of fascism and the spectre of World War 3. It’s noted that liberal families seem more susceptible - perhaps it’s because right-wing families are more likely to believe these things aren’t real, or aren’t a problem?
dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
This is what keeps being ignored in these studies, and it seems like the only reason is that copping to the real reasons young people are showing higher rates of mental illness would require admitting that the status quo is unsustainable and frankly evil.
A report that said “gen z is profoundly distressed by the reality of global warming” means admitting we need to fix the climate or see our kids suffers deaths of despair in unprecedented numbers. The same is true if we admit that the economy won’t provide most of them a job that allows basic survival, much less a comfortable fulfilling life; or that these factors have combined to cause a turn to fascism.
filister@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yes, I am predicting that at some point society will reach a tipping point when certain parts of the society will start to revolt against the status quo. Because younger generations are really screwed.
I don’t think they can even afford paying their rents and buying their own food by simply working. And this is pushing more and more young people to stay with their parents as long as possible, which ultimately is responsible for lowering birthrate in developed economies.
Social media is creating this social stigma, where everyone pretends to be a better selves and you have a lot of comparing and this of course is unlocking mental diseases. It doesn’t help that now we are living in a looming climate crisis, extreme data collection, and exploitation that benefits very few, creating an even bigger social divide.
And call me sceptical but I think a lot of things will change in the future and probably not for the better. We see what is happening in Gaza and this is just like a sneak peek of a bleak dystopia, where the working class will be controlled by the upper echelon with buzzing drones monitoring their every step, and everything monitoring for even the slightest signs of decent and violently crushing them in order to preserve the status quo.
Either this or we will experience a big financial crisis when a lot of people will lose huge chunks of their savings and their livelihoods destroyed. And this will be followed by perhaps full restart or the dystopian future, where we won’t own anything and everything will be loaned to us by huge corpos.
filister@lemmy.world 6 months ago
My good deed for the day: archive.is/fxufa
moon@lemmy.cafe 6 months ago
This makes skibidi toilet mad
taanegl@lemmy.world 6 months ago
…well, is he wrong? Exploiting kids is the most lucrative endeavour. In fact, if we’re going by piece meal and not lump sum, young people are a fat wad of cash.
So of course you knew we need to take every musical art form and turn it into sensory overload on stilts, because money.
Your little crotchgoblins are a path to your wallet.
RBWells@lemmy.world 6 months ago
2 of my kids are young enough that they were targeted by the micro transactions, but the total lifetime spend on gaming stuff is under $1k, mostly spent on a PS4 and a PC for gaming, bought some Steam games, some PS games and both spent a little in Genshin. But not ever from my money, except for the equipment, I split that cost with them. $0 before they were 15. And they both UNDERSTAND money, both got part time jobs in high school, they make money. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to throw a little cash at a game you enjoy but it needs to be a decision not an impulse, turn off the game and think about it.
rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
If I ever go as far in the relationship area as to have kids, they are not going to have anything Apple\Android until they can think for themselves.
That would be 12 years old or so at least, and before that they’d have to pass an exam (with me evaluating) on how to write simple Unix shell scripts, set up a web server, write simple SQL queries and, well, install and set up the system on which they are going to do this first. Non-computer parts would probably involve some media literacy and symbolic logic. And I think control theory would be required.
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 6 months ago
That’s actually not unreasonable.
What does any of that have to do with media literacy or using those devices? You are just being a curmudgeon, not everyone needs to be a systems administrator. Unix isn’t even used anymore. Linux and the BSDs are Unix-like, not actual Unix. What if your kids are physicists, chemists, or mathematicians? Are you going to say they aren’t good enough to use a fucking smartphone just because they don’t know specific things about a certain specific area of tech? How do you know SQL specifically will even be relevant then? NoSQL is already making headway.
letsgo@lemm.ee 6 months ago
That’s a great plan! Do be sure to let us all know how it goes.
BigPotato@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Shoot man, you gotta think about it the other way. Show them a mobile game, show them the prices, then turn around and show them purchasing power.
For instance, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. Cute, aimed at kids, horrible leaf ticket practices. Broke down the pricing of one set and for the cost of ACNL and a 2DSXL - you’ve got something like a 0.8% chance of getting the whole set.
So, show that to a kid, do you want a 0.8% chance of having this set or a whole Game and System?
Granted, this was a while back - the price of those two together probably gets you a 2% chance these days.