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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

#811

Post by quacker »

namelessoracle wrote: post #7

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…

I guess I'm curious: What are you expecting minors who currently enjoy video games to do instead in their free time?

If they pick up reading and decide they like those endless fantasy series, is that better than playing a video game for the same amount of time? Why?

If they decide to watch TV or movies instead of video games, is that better? Why?

Should they spend that all that free time studying and doing homework instead? Why?

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

#812

Post by fomine3 »

agentwiggles wrote: post #653
bennysomething wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Struggling to come up with a logical counter argument but learning a musical instrument is deeply satisfy as is listening to someone live who is good. Also maybe just in terms of being attractive to other people saying you are a level 122 mage in world of ever crack does not quite have the same allure as being able to captivate a room with your piano playing. Edit when I was about 12 I started playing the guitar non…

The difference, for me, is consumption vs production. If you spend tons of time learning an instrument, you will probably find yourself interesting in creating music. Maybe it's not going to be playing in a band, or recording albums. It might just be playing music around the campfire. But that is an activity in which you are producing something, bringing music into the world. I feel the same about any of "the arts".…

Totally agreed. Paradox is that most sports are basically same as non-exceptional games you said, but it treated very well from society.

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

#813

Post by mlindner »

3 hours a week is nothing... When I was a kid I was restricted to 2 hours a day for a certain period of time and I thought it was insufferable. A friend had restrictions of 30 minutes a day and I couldn't believe they lived with that.

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

#815

Post by cenophor »

lhorie wrote: post #687

China thinks that video games (specifically, the online variety) are harmful enough to children that it needs to be regulated at a federal level and children's exposure to games should be restricted. But here's the thing: We on the west do exactly the same thing for things like cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. The motivations behind all those restrictions are even similar (largely related to children's health/well-b…

> I've heard from various Mainland Chinese people: that many of them thinks western media brainwashes us (think the thing about Olympic photo coverage of Chinese medalists) and many condemn westerner take on social matters (the US' handling of [COVID], for example, is seen as a "proof" that the our infatuation with freedom has severe failings).

That's clearly anecdotal because I worked and lived there for a year recently and what you said is only what *some* of them think.

I have spoken to many people, particularly those who are yonung and educated, who don't think like what you have said. Many people are also very eager to speak to foreigners about their governments and, in some extreme cases, they openly criticize their own for exactly the same reasons that much of the HN crowd probably would. Also, I was just a regular worker who wasn't anyone's boss, and I spoke to them in Chinese.

I'm not interested in debating against anecdotes with more anecdotes, but I think what you said is not the whole story of "their side" and is potentially manipulative even if it wasn't your intention to be.

I also don't think "authoritarian" is a loaded word, it's just an indication of how likely or unlikely someone is willing to work with others openly. The important thing is what to do to fix it, hopefully, together, after realizing what the issues could be, not toning in down and making everyone comfortable with some illusions in the first place.

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

#816

Post by mlindner »

danudey wrote: post #713
namelessoracle wrote: post #7

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 6yo son really, really wanted to play Breath of the Wild. He loves Zelda, my wife loves Zelda, my best friend's girlfriend is over the moon with Zelda, etc. I always played Link in Mario Kart, to the point where, when he was 2 or 3, he was in Best Buy with my wife and saw a Breath of the Wild Switch case and said "is daddy!" Of course, after a few requests a year and a bit ago, my wife had to give him an ultimatum…

Identical thing happened between me and my younger brother. He'd use me to read game text to him for a while until I got fed up with it. I had learned to read from the game text myself. (The game was an old space RPG-like game called Escape Velocity.)

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

#817

Post by trompetenaccoun »

theintern wrote: post #675
AustinDev wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I were actually considering moving there. We even started some of the paperwork but after seeing the absurdity of their covid measures We have decided against it for now.

What about their covid measures put you off? When for so much of the pandemic they were seen as absolute world leaders and were living as normal when the rest of us were in lockdowns?

World leader in fining people thousands of dollars for the most benign reasons. Australians also can't leave their own country anymore.

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

#818

Post by danrocks »

mrobot wrote: post #751
bogwog wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a big double standard to call their flavor of restrictions "authoritarian", while being ok with (or even strongly in favor of) our flavor of restrictions, even though the two are objectively similar in nature. Our restrictions came about through a democratic process (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_... ), not because our supreme leader decided he knows what's best for us. N…

What do you actually know about China's governance and democracy? How do you know your flavor of democracy is really better than everyone elses? Chinese people actually like their government, and no they are not brainwashed.

I live in China, and really the US/European flavor of democracy is much better than what we have here.

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

#819

Post by ksec »

namelessoracle wrote: post #7

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…

This. Old Games had lots of work from History, Mythology, Science and all sort other details in it. I mean even old Diablo I and II had a whole story book that came with it. Was it Lord of the Rings quality? No. But it is so much better than not reading a story book.

All the history lessons from games like Civilisation, Sim City helping you imagining a whole new world. RPG had lots of story telling.

Heck even MMORPG like World of Warcraft, you have to learn team building before any shit could get done. I often thought it as the ultimate leadership testing. Motivating people without any usual tools like promotion or salary rise.

Modern Mobile Games are bad. VERY bad. I would even argue it is worst than Social Media for kids. Some of them are designed to cause rage so your kids would rage spend to win. There is a reason why Nintendo thought it was wrong to do Mobile Games. It is simply not the type of games they want to be in.

I could go on, I have been ranting about Mobile Games for more than half a decade. Wishing Apple would do something about it. But 80% of all App Store Revenue coming from Games were too lucrative for them.

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

#820

Post by danrocks »

lhorie wrote: post #760
bogwog wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a big double standard to call their flavor of restrictions "authoritarian", while being ok with (or even strongly in favor of) our flavor of restrictions, even though the two are objectively similar in nature. Our restrictions came about through a democratic process (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_... ), not because our supreme leader decided he knows what's best for us. N…

I don't want to start a us-vs-commies flame war but I'm finding it ironic that not a week ago someone was trying to tell me that american democracy is more of a plutocracy... Something that people don't seem to realize about China is that CCP values are supported by a majority of Chinese people. > What other word would you use to describe the Chinese government? I strongly suggest getting out of your comfort zone and…

Half-truth here. Younger people, recently more influenced by Xi Jinping's heavier hand in dispersing Marxist indoctrination, are indeed very supportive of the CCP ("generation N"). Other demographics, specially in southern China, aren't, but they can't speak up or they'll get prosecuted with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
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