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Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

matthewball.co

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Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#511

Post by watwut »

crim1 wrote: post #507
simpaticoder wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice reference to aphids (which are used like cows by ant colonies). So kids make games which require currency from other kids?! Why would they do that? Do they get a cut?

Yes. Like $105 for every ~43,000 robux (~$350-$490, depending on the tier of robux purchased) players spend in your game. Not including the money you get for free just by retaining players with a Roblox subscription in your game. Top Roblox devs are making millions of dollars. [0] [0] https://okmagazine.com/p/teen-ceo-brandon-millionaire-throug...

Top Roblox devs are adults.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#512

Post by modeless »

samatman wrote: post #505
modeless wrote: post #17

The bigger question about Roblox is how and why they got their special treatment from Apple. The whole concept of Roblox is in blatant violation of Apple's App Store policies. I believe they are significantly shielded from competition because who else can get that kind of ongoing and reliable relief from Apple's famously picky and capricious App Store reviewers? Maybe Roblox is happy to pay Apple their 30% in exchang…

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what an App Store policy is. You're reasoning as though the policy is for Apple to follow. No. It's for developers to follow. Apple can put whatever it wants on the App Store, the policies are guidance for developers to give them a fighting chance that their apps will be accepted. If Apple wants an app, it'll go on the store. If they don't, it won't.

So Apple's decisions are arbitrary and capricious? Tim Cook testified to Congress that Apple's policies "are transparent and applied equally to developers of all sizes and in all categories". Did he commit perjury?

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#513

Post by thomastjeffery »

2cynykyl wrote: post #499
thomastjeffery wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moderation is dead, and copyright is the knife.

I think I will love this quote if I knew what it meant. Care to elaborate?

I should have elaborated more originally.. I suppose part of me wanted to be asked.

Moderation used to work well, because relatively small communities (forums and game servers) included moderators, who were users that also actively participated in discussion. That model is incredibly rare today. Instead, we have a tiny coalition of corporate giants who own (monopolize via copyright) the overwhelming majority of discussion content and interaction platforms. On these platforms, traditional moderation has been replaced with corporate censorship and automation, which in turn are driven by corporate goals (advertising) instead of genuine participation by moderators.

It's my assertion that this is a natural outcome of copyright itself. Copyright demands that content be exclusively owned and profited upon; therefore interaction must be siloed and incentivized accordingly. Even free (as in beer) interaction must bow to this pattern eventually.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#514

Post by johnnyanmac »

isk517 wrote: post #503
johnnyanmac wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats just being a kid. Their $10 digital costume was some $5 cheap batman figure some 30 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the skin lasted longer. Of course the key here is that kids don't always get what they want when asked. I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff.

>I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff. Easy. Step 1: Find where your parents leaves their wallet lying around because they don't expect their child to attempt credit fraud. Step 2: Punch in the numbers on the card into the appropriate boxes in the app because tech companies really don't have a interest in putting up any real barriers to prev…

It's easy when you put it that way. But I suppose that implies a breakdown of a lot of barriers that were setup early for me.

1. My parent was careful with money. every transaction would be tracked, so anything unusual like Robux would show up quick.

2. 99% of the time a CC would be in a purse or bedroom. Both strictly off limits unless permission was granted (or emergency)

3. I was on general pretty much only allowed to use any allowance (which wasn't much) for food or the occasional school supply. Anything else would require permission. Money given was for necessities, not leisure.

It could just be the outliers popping up in news. But I just can't imagine so many social barriers breaking down over a video game.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#515

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

draebek wrote: post #414
mrmetanoia wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've mentioned this in other comments, but I sat in with my nephews on a Roblox session, then stayed after to check things out on my own. There's an astounding number of adults on that platform saying some of the most horrible things. The games are like you say, and there's some that are indeed the model of what I expected: games that kids and amateurs made with their tools. Car jump games. Simple platforming. Basic…

I struggle to understand why people are so toxic with chat in video games. I don't go to the supermarket, or even the bar and hear people just casually chatting about "who hates [racial slur]?" There's John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, which says that if you give normal people anonymity and an audience then they become (let's call them) assholes. I feel that, in order to buy this, you must accept that t…

Faux-anonymity/lack of consequences.

The same reason that many on the internet are toxic.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#516

Post by evanmoran »

cityofdelusion wrote: post #382
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because something that sucks is popular doesn’t invalidate the claim that it sucks (and Roblox does suck hard). Junk food is terrible for your health and is also very popular.

Has the definition of “sucks” drifted? When it came up as slang in my childhood, it basically meant “not cool / unpopular to associate with”. Roblox seems the exact opposite.

Yes, I’d say “sucks” means “bad” more than uncool. Clearly using stuff that your friends think is bad is immediately uncool so I can see how these can seem to mean the same thing :)

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#517

Post by johnnyanmac »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #347
ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #88

My kids have started playing Roblox recently and they have started asking for some Robux so they can buy crap... I really don't get how so many people are into spending dollars on this stuff. Everything they wanted was ~$10-20 NZD and it was just throw away stuff, like a costume, etc. And then it's only useful in that one game you have brought it for. It blows my mind that it ever got this popular.

it's popular because it's addicting

Like most games? Mario Bro's. was addicting.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#518

Post by Viliam1234 »

GNOMES wrote: post #312

My kiddo has easily spent 500+ on Roblox across birthday/Xmas gift cards/chores. I can't stand that almost all of the games seem to have a pay to win aspect, or are heavily advertising every chance they get. As a gamer dad, I try to show my kid better games to play, but because they aren't free, his friends can't play. Just drives him to keep playing and wanting more Robux. It's compounded when his favorite Youtubers…

> I can't stand that almost all of the games seem to have a pay to win aspect, or are heavily advertising every chance they get.

That started at a certain moment in history, when paying online became trivial, so everyone who didn't produce pay-to-win was leaving a lot of money on the table. You need to find games that are older than that.

Some of the good old games are free, for example Starcraft or Wesnoth. There are many cheap games on Steam, but you need to review them first, or maybe find a review on YouTube. If the game is sufficiently cheap, for example up to $5, you could simply buy 5 copies and tell your kid to give donate 4 of them to his best friends.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#519

Post by wkat4242 »

draebek wrote: post #414
mrmetanoia wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've mentioned this in other comments, but I sat in with my nephews on a Roblox session, then stayed after to check things out on my own. There's an astounding number of adults on that platform saying some of the most horrible things. The games are like you say, and there's some that are indeed the model of what I expected: games that kids and amateurs made with their tools. Car jump games. Simple platforming. Basic…

I struggle to understand why people are so toxic with chat in video games. I don't go to the supermarket, or even the bar and hear people just casually chatting about "who hates [racial slur]?" There's John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, which says that if you give normal people anonymity and an audience then they become (let's call them) assholes. I feel that, in order to buy this, you must accept that t…

> There's John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, which says that if you give normal people anonymity and an audience then they become (let's call them) assholes.

I don't agree. HN is one of the best examples. We're as anonymous as we can be here and still this is one of the most friendly online environments I know. Clearly community culture plays a big role too. And it keeps offering refreshing content, I learn new stuff here daily, unlike in the commercial bubbles.

Same on Libera chat. Didn't turn into a cesspool. In fact the former freenode suddenly did but the community immediately turned their back on it en masse. It was beautiful to see.

Also, the early internet.

Re: Roblox is the biggest game in the world, but is unprofitable

#520

Post by johnnyanmac »

itomato wrote: post #221
low_tech_love wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get you perfectly (I play Roblox with my kid almost everyday) but I have another opinion. When I think about what it accomplished, I think Roblox is pretty amazing; actually one of the most amazing software ever made. It accomplished in practice basically what lots of people have been trying to do for decades, since the MUDs from the 70s, and what Zuckerberg wasted billions of dollars with. Sure, most of its conten…

"...is total crap" Why are people OK with this? Because there's a place to spend "money" inside this virtual space? The paradigm could be replaced with literally anything, yet the prevailing mode of "play" in these spaces is convert meatspace credits to in-game "virtual property"; costumes, weaponry, etc. These kids arent' making anything, they're aphids.

>Why are people OK with this?

Because like it or not, this space has basically become a "third place" for many kids. In that regard it has to compete with console games about as much as a lonely arcade machine in some old bar does. They aren't coming for the games alone.

>The paradigm could be replaced with literally anything, yet the prevailing mode of "play" in these spaces is convert meatspace credits to in-game "virtual property"; costumes, weaponry, etc.

Yup, but as we know from growing up and seeing the rise of social media: the best, sleekest solution isn't always thr Victor. It's all about network effects.

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