Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 237 posts

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#101

Post by Mirioron »

okusername wrote: post #98
antpls wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if multiplayer video games actually teach your kids to not blindly trust people ? At first they will be scammed a few time, but they will learn, and with minimal consequences. Isn't it better for your kids to experience the "worst" behaviors in a virtual simulation under your control rather than in real life when they will be adult and possibly alone ? I believe it's fine to have your kids safely experience "une…

Their brain is not developed yet, especially critical thinking and social capabilities. It's not just a question of explaining / learning, they often don't have the mental capabilities to understand whats going on and can be taken advantage of.

I don't believe that there are many kids above the age of 10 that don't understand what scamming is after they are scammed.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#102

Post by Mirioron »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #59
Causality1 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, interesting. That explains the Roblox memes I see from time to time with very odd grammar. "Go commit neck rope", "I will un-alive you", and "Do you are have stupid?"

When I read about companies implementing chat auto-moderation, I'm not sure whether to be disappointed at the utter pointlessness (coupled with invasiveness) of such exercise, or to applaud them for promoting kid creativity.

The companies probably understand that it doesn't really work, but they need to be able to show something. Parents won't accept "it's impossible" as an answer.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#103

Post by koonsolo »

integrii wrote: post #29

Both of my kids played a lot of Roblox until we banned it. They easily became obsessed and were violent when removed, even with a tightly controlled schedule. They would try to connect to offer WiFi networks to get access and would steal our phones to get access. We ended up having to detox them like it was a drug. Beyond that we found that the openly mod-able nature of the game allowed some remarkably disgusting 3D…

My own son had this period where he was obsessed with playing on the XBox. When I tried to limit his time, he became agressive. So I said "Wow, if XBox has this influence on you, maybe you should stop completely. What do you think?". His smart reaction was to show that he could play a limited time, and be good afterwards. Now I don't have any problems with him.

The thing with kids is that you will not be there all the time, especially when they get older. So banning something they like, doesn't seem like a good solution to me. They will have to handle such impulses themselves. So if you can let them handle their own impulses, that is way better.

For example I will never tell my kids that they cannot smoke, because that will be out of my control anyway. But when we walk to a hospital, there are always patients outside smoking (who obviously look sick). Then I tell them "look at those smokers, how sick they are. And it really smells bad too" etc. When I ask them about smoking, they have very negative associations with it.

So if your kids are doing inappropriate things to play, maybe talk to them as if they are adults, and make a reasonable deal. And show them how their decisions will impact them.

Raising kids is not about enforcing rules, it's preparing them for the real world where they need to make their own decisions.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#105

Post by synctext »

kennyadam wrote: post #65
weq wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isnt just games. Lets be frank. We can become addicted to anything given the right physiological triggers. Capitalism has optimised itself to the point where you are nothing more then meta data. Its at the point where a team of accredited people can sit infront of the meta data, and your product, and they can design ways to trigger dopamine responses. Putting "any" kind of "modern product" in your childs hand wi…

Yeah, it's definitely not just video games. I became physically dependant on opiates in much the same way.

Heavy. There is a scientific book discussing these topics. Centered around our 'neanderthal within': "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution", https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465020429/

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#106

Post by Cthulhu_ »

koonsolo wrote: post #99
antpls wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if multiplayer video games actually teach your kids to not blindly trust people ? At first they will be scammed a few time, but they will learn, and with minimal consequences. Isn't it better for your kids to experience the "worst" behaviors in a virtual simulation under your control rather than in real life when they will be adult and possibly alone ? I believe it's fine to have your kids safely experience "une…

From my own experience of my product that is used by teenagers, they are well aware of the risks. In chat, they will not give their email, name, place or even reveal what timezone they are at. Most boys will say they are boys, but girls will not even mention that (it's a gaming related product). It seems they are well educated on this topic, and are very cautious.

I agree, but I think it's one of those ratio things - MOST kids are well educated on the subject, but you know there's going to be a nontrivial amount that isn't, or who despite the education still fall for it (case in point: my GF's son was scammed by a guy in Fortnite who befriended him over the span of over two weeks, an eternity in a child's mind. It was just some stuff he earned playing the game of course but still, his trust in people took a big hit there).

Anyway point is, it only takes one case for the media to pounce on e.g. Roblox and drive it into the ground. And there will be a lot.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#107

Post by sky_rw »

koonsolo wrote: post #103
integrii wrote: post #29

Both of my kids played a lot of Roblox until we banned it. They easily became obsessed and were violent when removed, even with a tightly controlled schedule. They would try to connect to offer WiFi networks to get access and would steal our phones to get access. We ended up having to detox them like it was a drug. Beyond that we found that the openly mod-able nature of the game allowed some remarkably disgusting 3D…

My own son had this period where he was obsessed with playing on the XBox. When I tried to limit his time, he became agressive. So I said "Wow, if XBox has this influence on you, maybe you should stop completely. What do you think?". His smart reaction was to show that he could play a limited time, and be good afterwards. Now I don't have any problems with him. The thing with kids is that you will not be there all th…

I was only allowed 2 hours of Sega Genesis play, which was just enough to get to the final boss in Sonic and die. Never beat it.

In hindsight this prepared me for the 2 constants in the real world: Never having enough time, and constant disappointment.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#108

Post by Cthulhu_ »

weq wrote: post #60
kimberlythomp99 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Video games can have a very similar reaction on the brain as drugs in the release of dopamine. This is my biggest fear raising my kids in this technology driven age.

This isnt just games. Lets be frank. We can become addicted to anything given the right physiological triggers. Capitalism has optimised itself to the point where you are nothing more then meta data. Its at the point where a team of accredited people can sit infront of the meta data, and your product, and they can design ways to trigger dopamine responses. Putting "any" kind of "modern product" in your childs hand wi…

For sure; I'm addicted to distractions, in a way, in that I get restless from just sitting on the couch for a while. It's too easy to whip out my phone and go on Reddit /all until it gets weird, and my daily rituals include spending an hour at least browsing HN. I don't think it's that problematic yet, but it is definitely a thing. I'll have vacation in a couple weeks, I'll try and disconnect and go through some books again.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#109

Post by watwut »

koonsolo wrote: post #103
integrii wrote: post #29

Both of my kids played a lot of Roblox until we banned it. They easily became obsessed and were violent when removed, even with a tightly controlled schedule. They would try to connect to offer WiFi networks to get access and would steal our phones to get access. We ended up having to detox them like it was a drug. Beyond that we found that the openly mod-able nature of the game allowed some remarkably disgusting 3D…

My own son had this period where he was obsessed with playing on the XBox. When I tried to limit his time, he became agressive. So I said "Wow, if XBox has this influence on you, maybe you should stop completely. What do you think?". His smart reaction was to show that he could play a limited time, and be good afterwards. Now I don't have any problems with him. The thing with kids is that you will not be there all th…

Not every kids is like your son. Some have more addictive tendencies and wont self regulate that easily and wont stick to agreements - even as they had an intention to follow up in advance.

Re: Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft

#110

Post by Cthulhu_ »

kimberlythomp99 wrote: post #34
integrii wrote: post #29

Both of my kids played a lot of Roblox until we banned it. They easily became obsessed and were violent when removed, even with a tightly controlled schedule. They would try to connect to offer WiFi networks to get access and would steal our phones to get access. We ended up having to detox them like it was a drug. Beyond that we found that the openly mod-able nature of the game allowed some remarkably disgusting 3D…

Video games can have a very similar reaction on the brain as drugs in the release of dopamine. This is my biggest fear raising my kids in this technology driven age.

You should be afraid for yourself as well. I mean I'm not going to poo-pooh my kids for getting engrossed in video games, I was just like him and if I had my way I'd be in there all the time. And you know this would go for you as well. I'd argue it's even worse today, with e.g. mobile phones being always within reach and games and media being always-on, infinite in content (Roblox has millions of user-generated games, youtube gets more videos a day than anyone could watch in a lifetime, Reddit / Twitter / etc are infinite, etc).

I mean our games back when were singleplayer and story-driven, but they were still super engrossing. It came to a point with me when after obsessively playing Pokemon for a few weeks (getting super red in the face and everything) I went sick for a week. Probably not related since my dad got the same bug but still, it felt related. Didn't enjoy Pokemon after that.

eve online and other MMOs on the other hand <_<

Post reply on HN