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The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

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Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#11

Post by tomjen3 »

gojomo wrote: post #7

A casino or other social-gaming company is often A/B testing variants to 'increase engagement'. However, such engagement is arguably against the mental/physical health interests of the test subjects. Is A/B optimization in such a case thus an illegal/unethical experiment on human subjects without their informed consent? (Can Zynga 'Whales', that minority of their users contributing most of their revenues via payments…

That seems unlikely. It is kinda hard to know what people have put in your cigarets. It is easy to know what they show you on a screen.

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#12

Post by gojomo »

tomjen3 wrote: post #11
gojomo wrote: post #7

A casino or other social-gaming company is often A/B testing variants to 'increase engagement'. However, such engagement is arguably against the mental/physical health interests of the test subjects. Is A/B optimization in such a case thus an illegal/unethical experiment on human subjects without their informed consent? (Can Zynga 'Whales', that minority of their users contributing most of their revenues via payments…

That seems unlikely. It is kinda hard to know what people have put in your cigarets. It is easy to know what they show you on a screen.

I don't think the secrecy of the manufacturing formula was a big factor in the tobacco judgements. Everyone knew cigarettes had tobacco, flavorings, and preservatives, and delivered a bunch of nicotine/tar/smoke to the lungs.

You can see what's on the screen in Farmville, but do the players understand the effects of periodicity and random reinforcement on the dopaminergic motivational system? The power of well-crafted images and sounds or emotionally manipulative language? Viral loops?

We in the industry know these things; for a layperson it's as obscure as the chemistry of physical addiction.

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#14

Post by toadi »

Still looks a sleasy way to make money. Don't make it feel like gambling and before you know it your broke.

Also They fly under regulation radar. Most casino's online/real life have to give back a fixed percentage in winnings. Just looks to me it's a hidden form of gambling and because it's a game they don't have to follow regulations...

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#15

Post by forrestthewoods »

The article is written by someone in marketing for a company that provides real-money gambling services to video game companies. That their conclusion is "This is why real-money play is such a great fit for social games." is hardly a surprise.

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#16

Post by hello_moto »

wisty wrote: post #13

I wonder if social gaming will kill casinos and slot machines? If so, I might think it's a little less evil.

Wouldn't that just change the form factor of gambling? just... with cuter animals to prey on younger targets?

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#17

Post by burgerbrain »

tomjen3 wrote: post #11
gojomo wrote: post #7

A casino or other social-gaming company is often A/B testing variants to 'increase engagement'. However, such engagement is arguably against the mental/physical health interests of the test subjects. Is A/B optimization in such a case thus an illegal/unethical experiment on human subjects without their informed consent? (Can Zynga 'Whales', that minority of their users contributing most of their revenues via payments…

That seems unlikely. It is kinda hard to know what people have put in your cigarets. It is easy to know what they show you on a screen.

Lacking a psychology degree or something similar, I don't think that it is easy to fully understand what you are being shown on your screen.

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#18

Post by justinhj »

I'm surprised the article states "Before social gaming, older women were an entirely untapped gaming market, and one that had both time and money to spend on games that could capture their interest." This is patently false. Anyone familiar with the casual gaming industry would know that. For example Big Fish Games and Popcap both had mostly women players. I say had, because social gaming has greatly reduced that market.

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#19

Post by davidtyleryork »

hello_moto wrote: post #16
wisty wrote: post #13

I wonder if social gaming will kill casinos and slot machines? If so, I might think it's a little less evil.

Wouldn't that just change the form factor of gambling? just... with cuter animals to prey on younger targets?

Yes but it will also pull gambling out of the "Sin City" mentality, which is a good thing for both the industry and players

Re: The demographics of social gamers are closer to gambling than gaming

#20

Post by davidtyleryork »

justinhj wrote: post #18

I'm surprised the article states "Before social gaming, older women were an entirely untapped gaming market, and one that had both time and money to spend on games that could capture their interest." This is patently false. Anyone familiar with the casual gaming industry would know that. For example Big Fish Games and Popcap both had mostly women players. I say had, because social gaming has greatly reduced that mark…

Ah, well I definitely missed that when doing my research, but I did build my assumptions into my language (ie using the word "untapped" versus "untouched", implying that it existed but wasn't fully utilized). That said, I think the word "entirely" is misplaced. I'm going to take it out and use "mostly" instead, if that helps :)

Also, if you can shoot me an article about the demographics of those games that you mentioned, I will include it in my article. Thanks for pointing that out.

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