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China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

reuters.com

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Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#161
post #87
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably having a hard time thinking straight with all the piles of money around them?

they've lost 50% of their users in 4 years and this was before the recent PR disaster

Probably has little to do with China.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#162

I have mixed feelings about this. Younger me learned a lot of problem solving skills and most importantly spent a lot of time learning how to read by playing RPGs and games that required lots of reading. My reading skills would not have been as advanced if i wasn't playing text heavy games that had a lot of plot like Square Enix games and the CRPGs of the time. Modern games though are clearly designed to get you as a…

Goodness. If this was the US, I would be losing my mind over such legislation. We must not convince the law makers that video games can be beneficial. That puts the wrong emphasis on the conversation. The emphasis must be, you have no jurisdiction when it comes to raising children. Your laws are invalid. Even if video games are detrimental, you do not decide what is the best interest for a child, the parents do.

I disagree. Children deserve a lot of protection, and anybody can become a parent. A lot of people are far too bad at parenting to leave the decisions to them completely. Some intervention is needed.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#163
post #134

I have mixed feelings about this. Younger me learned a lot of problem solving skills and most importantly spent a lot of time learning how to read by playing RPGs and games that required lots of reading. My reading skills would not have been as advanced if i wasn't playing text heavy games that had a lot of plot like Square Enix games and the CRPGs of the time. Modern games though are clearly designed to get you as a…

You shouldn't have mixed feelings. This is an attack on human free will. UK lets children drink.

In UK you can't buy alcohol if you're below 18. You can drink alcohol in a public place if you're 16 and there is an accompanying adult buying it for you.

It's not quite a "free for all", but anyway, I doubt it relates to the issue at hand.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age#Europe

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#164
post #106

I have mixed feelings about this. Younger me learned a lot of problem solving skills and most importantly spent a lot of time learning how to read by playing RPGs and games that required lots of reading. My reading skills would not have been as advanced if i wasn't playing text heavy games that had a lot of plot like Square Enix games and the CRPGs of the time. Modern games though are clearly designed to get you as a…

There's no denying that Dark Souls is hard. It's also fair. It's 100% your fault every time you die, and you know what you did wrong.

[deleted]

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The time I spent in virtual worlds as a child remains one of the most cherished experiences of my life. They brought me happiness at times when nothing else did. They stoked my imagination and gave me a sense of wonder. They were one of the few avenues I had for connecting with my peers. It wasn't some waste of time that I regret when I look back as an adult.

I spent a lot of time hiding away in my room - up late on the internet, playing video games, reading books, listening to music - often the kind aimed at the alienated. I felt alone, like i didn't belong. Some of it was my personality, some of it was how my parents raised me. Some was how that was juxtaposed against the culture/environment i was raised into. My parents pushed a lot of sports and i grew out of it - fav…

Honestly, it sounds like your current attitude is as extreme as your former one.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#166
When I was a kid, I learned a tremendous amount from playing complex games like SimCity, Civilization, and Ultima. I feel like they opened my horizons to feel empowered to do interesting and meaningful things in the world, and they basically substituted for time I would've spent with GI Joe.

Now, as an adult, when I do game, it substitutes for time I would've spent exercising, working on coding/ML side projects, or hanging out with the family. Hence, I'd like to flip this policy - please cap me at 3 hours a week but allow my kids to play!

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#167

I have mixed feelings about this. Younger me learned a lot of problem solving skills and most importantly spent a lot of time learning how to read by playing RPGs and games that required lots of reading. My reading skills would not have been as advanced if i wasn't playing text heavy games that had a lot of plot like Square Enix games and the CRPGs of the time. Modern games though are clearly designed to get you as a…

My reading skills were nurtured by books. My history interest was nurtured by video games. My tech interest was nurtured by finagling with goddamn interrupt priorities and boot disks to get games to run.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#168
The restriction is specifically "online games". Not offline games. Which is interesting because it implies that offline games are somehow less addictive - but in my experience, offline games can be very engaging, too. But perhaps it's in a more wholesome, problem-solving way?

It's kinda impressive that the CCP can make decisions that affect 1B+ humans like this, overnight. I hope it's the right thing to do, for the kids' sake.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#169

Wouldn't those kids grow up resenting the CCP? If the CCP keeps doing this long enough, they're going to have millions of sullen people and then all it takes is just one spark.

They try to create a very tight net to control people. This works quite „well“ in North Korea, China is trying to create a „better“ version of that, by using technology. Creating a social scoring system, rating every move you make and everything you say.

If people can’t express their resent at all, at some point they even stop thinking about it.

Re: China has forbidden under-18s from playing games for more than three hours/week

#170
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The time I spent in virtual worlds as a child remains one of the most cherished experiences of my life. They brought me happiness at times when nothing else did. They stoked my imagination and gave me a sense of wonder. They were one of the few avenues I had for connecting with my peers. It wasn't some waste of time that I regret when I look back as an adult.

Reading did that for me. > They were one of the few avenues I had for connecting with my peers Three hours a week isn't much, but it doesn't have to be gaming to connect with people of your age, isn't it? > It wasn't some waste of time that I regret when I look back as an adult. I don't think it's what worries the Chinese government. Or me. I'm quite sure that e.g. a 1 hr/day limit would be a good thing. You can say…

Reading books is not all that different from gaming from the point of view of value to a child's development. It's escapism, it's a much more solo activity than many online games today, and the primary skills it encourages - reading and imagination - is available in most games to one degree or another.

To put another way, they could limit reading to 3 hours a week for mostly the same reasons.

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