The Roblox Microverse • Hacker News Board

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#131

Post by mwcampbell » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:48 PM UTC

antiterra wrote: post #122

mwcampbell wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Disney+, arguably the finest destination for 8 year olds Do we really want another generation addicted to consuming big-budget media? Especially now that most of that media is encumbered by DRM that makes free computing platforms much less attractive? Mind you, I'm not sure that Roblox is the answer. But it might be better, since it at least puts more focus on creating rather than consuming.

My kids astound me by having little to no awareness of what toys there are to buy, and I'm convinced this is because of commercial-free streaming (and perhaps the dearth of print catalogs.) Maybe it's a devil's bargain, but a bit of DRM feels worth being free from a materialist/consumerist monkey on your back.

Interesting. I don't have any kids myself, but I know that my nieces (6 years old and under) really like the whole Frozen franchise. Their parents and grandparents have bought them Elsa dresses, toy microphones that let you sing along with one of the songs from Frozen 2, and I don't know what else. So the consumerism is definitely still there. Then again, my nieces and nephew watch a lot of YouTube in addition to paid streaming, and I've been told that when they watch YouTube, the adults in the room have to be careful that the kids don't watch lots of videos that are just promotions for products. I guess what I would prefer is that the kids spent more time creating or at least playing rather than watching. But then, they're not my kids.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#132

Post by throwaway744678 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:48 PM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #95

> In short, Roblox isn’t a game at all: it is world in which one of the things you can do is play games, with a persistent identity, persistent set of friends, persistent money, all disconnected from the device that you use to access the world. That is the transformational change. Second Life, The Sims Online. We’ve been here before. Those platforms didn’t nail it like Roblox, but Roblox did not transform anything.

Remember that sweet time when marketing departments of (aspiring to be) trendy companies where rushing to create their "digital presence" in Second Life... Yes, we will interview candidates, meet our business partners, talk to our customers in there, etc. We had a good laugh.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#133

Post by dylan604 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:51 PM UTC

jonheller wrote: post #75

I used to push back had on my kids wanting to buy hats, pets, etc in Roblox. Seemed like a waste of money and I hate microtransactions. Then I realized that this is literally the only game they play, and it's free. Compare that to me at that age, buying Nintendo games for $50 a pop, why am I hesitant to support these creators with a $2 hat? I still limit purchases just for general personal finance lessons, but otherw…

Because it starts with a $2 hat, but quickly escalates into $2 hats 3x a day or even more expensive perks. Once you give into a kid about making purchases, it's a much harder fight to say no the next time.

These games are designed on emotional responses in kid's brains just as much as FB's algo for its feed is.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#134

Post by EamonnMR » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:54 PM UTC

throwaway744678 wrote: post #132

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #95

> In short, Roblox isn’t a game at all: it is world in which one of the things you can do is play games, with a persistent identity, persistent set of friends, persistent money, all disconnected from the device that you use to access the world. That is the transformational change. Second Life, The Sims Online. We’ve been here before. Those platforms didn’t nail it like Roblox, but Roblox did not transform anything.

Remember that sweet time when marketing departments of (aspiring to be) trendy companies where rushing to create their "digital presence" in Second Life... Yes, we will interview candidates, meet our business partners, talk to our customers in there, etc. We had a good laugh.

We had a professor who held office hours in second life.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#135

Post by TedDoesntTalk » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:56 PM UTC

EamonnMR wrote: post #134

throwaway744678 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember that sweet time when marketing departments of (aspiring to be) trendy companies where rushing to create their "digital presence" in Second Life... Yes, we will interview candidates, meet our business partners, talk to our customers in there, etc. We had a good laugh.

We had a professor who held office hours in second life.

I almost worked for a startup whose goal was to offer MS PowerPoint and Excel in Second Life ... for presentations

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#136

Post by throwaway744678 » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:56 PM UTC

remoquete wrote: post #123

I struggle to differentiate Roblox from Second Life by reading Ben’s description of it. But then again, being the earliest doesn’t equate to being the best.

Didn't use Roblox, nor Second Life, but my understanding is that Roblox is much more oriented towards gaming.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#137

Post by kongcode » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 10:57 PM UTC

First off, I consider myself pretty liberal in my views and open to online gaming in general. However, as a parent and grandparent, I think Roblox is HIGHLY dangerous for kids. I've watched my granddaughter play some games that were completely ripe with players looking to exploit her. Music playing with Rated-XXX lyrics - referring to varied sexual acts. Games based on pets (wolves) wanting to "ride" each other and playing what seemed like a pornographic soundtrack in the background. I'm talking about true porn, moaning, foul language, you name it.

She is no longer allowed to play the game at our home. I would have to spend all my time policing her online play and dealing with her disappointment at not being able to play specific games.

I don't see how parents can allow their kids to play Roblox. It is wide open to exploitation - there is no restriction, control or protection offered for children. And to top it off, 99% of gameplay requires purchasing virtual items.

Just bleh, shock and a big nope for my family. Roblox should be ashamed at the platform they have created.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#138

Post by mbesto » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 11:00 PM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #95

> In short, Roblox isn’t a game at all: it is world in which one of the things you can do is play games, with a persistent identity, persistent set of friends, persistent money, all disconnected from the device that you use to access the world. That is the transformational change. Second Life, The Sims Online. We’ve been here before. Those platforms didn’t nail it like Roblox, but Roblox did not transform anything.

Wasn't this the same rhetoric as Fortnite too?

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#139

Post by guidoism » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 11:09 PM UTC

djaychela wrote: post #49

guidoism wrote: post #13

Roblox pisses me off so so much as a parent. There are some good games but it's mostly wading through an ocean of shit. And the vast majority of games that are popular are clickers that incentivize children to pay money to get more for each of their clicks. And it's full of scams. Kids spend $10 for a hat or something in the game and it doesn't end up working in all the games and there's no recourse. It's a true free…

I disagree that the games are mostly crap... I have 4 step kids who game, and 3 do on roblox a lot. Some of the games may be objectively poor, but they enjoy playing in them anyway, and some of them are spectacular. I spent quite a few hours playing with them during the original UK lockdown,which was doubly good as I don't live with them so didn't see them for 3 months. In that time we "did" many things,including "go…

Yeah, like I said, there are some decent games, and the stuff that bubbles up to the top of the list are fine I guess, but if you ever try actually searching for a game you will find a cesspool of crap that doesn't work or barely works or is just stupid and all of these games have exactly the same name because there's no QC. 99.9% of the "games" in Roblox are unplayable.

Re: The Roblox Microverse

#140

Post by Jarwain » Tue, Mar 09, 2021, 11:09 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #133

jonheller wrote: post #75

I used to push back had on my kids wanting to buy hats, pets, etc in Roblox. Seemed like a waste of money and I hate microtransactions. Then I realized that this is literally the only game they play, and it's free. Compare that to me at that age, buying Nintendo games for $50 a pop, why am I hesitant to support these creators with a $2 hat? I still limit purchases just for general personal finance lessons, but otherw…

Because it starts with a $2 hat, but quickly escalates into $2 hats 3x a day or even more expensive perks. Once you give into a kid about making purchases, it's a much harder fight to say no the next time. These games are designed on emotional responses in kid's brains just as much as FB's algo for its feed is.

Thus his comment on "limiting purchases for finance lessons". Give them a budget, let them do what they want with it, teach them that impulses are controllable and that there are tradeoffs, etc.