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Roblox is minting teen millionaires

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Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#181

Post by g947o »

socalgal2 wrote: post #120
2001zhaozhao wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made a roblox game years ago with no more than like 2 concurrent players at a time. The game's ideas were immediately copied by a much bigger game (this turned me off the Roblox platform for good). I still got enough robux to DevEx just from premium roblox subscribers playing the game. (If I cash it out i would get a few hundred dollars. Which is nothing for me today but absolutely a lot of money for an aspiring te…

Is there some other platform where ideas aren't copied?

Depending on what is copied.

If we are talking about game mechanics, they get copied all the time, of course. If it's about superficially reproducing a game including the assets, I don't think any big players on PC or consoles steal ideas from indie/smaller developers. That is despised and likely not allowed by the platform, if not challenged in court.

(I have no idea about what happens on mobile platforms)

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#182

Post by casey2 »

amiga386 wrote: post #38

Roblox turns a blind eye to child exploitation (whether being creeped on by adults, or being exploited by teens/adults to make games) and makes a fortune out of it. If it weren't online, it'd be illegal and people would be in jail. Also, Roblox's favourite thing - other than sitting back and rolling in the cash that their playerbase generated for them - is puff pieces in the news talking about how people who make gam…

Yup, so many people focused on sexual exploitation that they ignore the traditional exploitation. Doesn't look any better when you realize ALL sexual exploitation is downwind of this financial one.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#183

Post by loloquwowndueo »

Aeolun wrote: post #92
jameson wrote: post #91

Roblox is slot machines for kids Games are filled with loot boxes that drop exquisite items on chance. It's a repeated cycle of charging robux only to spend on another slot machine. US regulation is far behind protecting children from such scheme. Japan disallows many forms of such loot boxes due to addictive nature.

It’s not that bad. Sure, all the games allow you to spend money to rapidly get better, but the core gameplay loops work just fine without it.

Dunno man, when the “core gameplay loop” gets interrupted every 2 minutes with “do you want to pay to win?” Banners and 50% of the screen is covered in ads and trap buttons that pop up a purchase dialog when you press them accidentally (a given on mobile with touch controls), it’s fairly obvious the gameplay loop is the last thing in the developers mind.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#184

Post by mhitza »

g947o wrote: post #179
sys32768 wrote: post #39

My youngest has played Roblox half her life, but is very angry about recent decisions like requiring ID to chat in-game. Still, if she's anything like other players, she's spent countless hours playing some of the most mindless Roblox games, and we've spent a few $100 on Robux gift cards over the years.

You know, just as a thought, if you have engaged with her like taking her outdoors or other activities, she wouldn't spend so much time or money on a stupid online video game.

Telling parents how to raise their children, while also making baseless assumptions of their life as well, is an approach with which you'll only antagonize people.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#185

Post by amelius »

amiga386 wrote: post #38

Roblox turns a blind eye to child exploitation (whether being creeped on by adults, or being exploited by teens/adults to make games) and makes a fortune out of it. If it weren't online, it'd be illegal and people would be in jail. Also, Roblox's favourite thing - other than sitting back and rolling in the cash that their playerbase generated for them - is puff pieces in the news talking about how people who make gam…

> (...) puff pieces in the news talking about how people who make games for them strike it rich!!!! They don't mention that to do so, you first have to become popular amongst millions of competing titles, and the easiest way to do it is to pay them so they'll advertise it for you.

Sounds an awful lot like the AppStore, to be honest.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#186

Post by Lutger »

anileated wrote: post #119
amiga386 wrote: post #38

Roblox turns a blind eye to child exploitation (whether being creeped on by adults, or being exploited by teens/adults to make games) and makes a fortune out of it. If it weren't online, it'd be illegal and people would be in jail. Also, Roblox's favourite thing - other than sitting back and rolling in the cash that their playerbase generated for them - is puff pieces in the news talking about how people who make gam…

CEO of Roblox was once asked whether he would ever put prediction markets inside Roblox, he gave a straight face answer: https://youtu.be/XpIXRgMlPo4?t=2122

Brilliant conversation.

"Would you let kids gamble?" - "It sounds very fun and obvious." "To be clear, we think it's a horrible idea!"

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#187

Post by grvdrm »

microtonal wrote: post #165
Brybry wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a fair number of us here got into computers because of playing computer games as kids. The issue is setting limits. Now obviously banning is easier and lower friction but limiting to an X time per day routine can also help with self-discipline. Depends on the person. Kids can have the same issue with TV. I had an issue as a kid with books . My parents had to limit my reading time because I would stay up all n…

There is a big difference between games now and games then. E.g. an SNES game was made to be fun, but not to be intentionally addictive, you would never buy a new game if it was. Many online games are designed to be as addictive as crack to extract as much revenue as possible. Our kid is in the typical video gaming age, almost every kid of her age is stuck in Roblox and some in Fortnite. Setting limits helps, but mor…

I’m a parent. Girls 7 and 4. I think you’re right about a number of parent habits.

Hard to impose a device limit on a kid if that kid watches you use your device constantly. I’m not some hero here - constantly reminding myself to be aware.

Now, I think imposing limits in the open world is a specific challenge. To your point, you’ll see kids at restaurants on iPads. Well, now your kid wants iPad. You don’t give it? They start a shitstorm.

I don’t think an outright device ban is so critical. But limits are important, and even more important is sticking to what you said you would do as a parent. With mine, they sense that moment of giving and almost instinctually rush to exploit. That said, flexibility is important too - knowing when you use it.

As for game, I set a rule on an iPad. No games with ads. Those seem to be the worst of them, and there are tons.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#188

Post by grvdrm »

CrzyLngPwd wrote: post #159
otherme123 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard a number of parents saying their kids are "good behaved" when they are silently glued to a screen, while roaming outside, making noise and playing are bad behaviours, specially when they break things or get a bruise.

Worse still, they are so well-behaved, with their tablet and headphones on, watching YouTube or playing games.

My nephew (8) has a VR headset. Doh.

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#189

Post by grvdrm »

jameson wrote: post #109
Aeolun wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not that bad. Sure, all the games allow you to spend money to rapidly get better, but the core gameplay loops work just fine without it.

> games allow you to spend money to rapidly get better Audience is the problem here. It's obviously not a big deal if the platform is targeted for adults, but majority of users are underage. The platform can certainly implement guardrails for the vulnerable users if they wish to

Interesting. You don’t think adults have the same problem?

Re: Roblox is minting teen millionaires

#190

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

anileated wrote: post #119
amiga386 wrote: post #38

Roblox turns a blind eye to child exploitation (whether being creeped on by adults, or being exploited by teens/adults to make games) and makes a fortune out of it. If it weren't online, it'd be illegal and people would be in jail. Also, Roblox's favourite thing - other than sitting back and rolling in the cash that their playerbase generated for them - is puff pieces in the news talking about how people who make gam…

CEO of Roblox was once asked whether he would ever put prediction markets inside Roblox, he gave a straight face answer: https://youtu.be/XpIXRgMlPo4?t=2122

In case you don’t want to watch the video: his answer is yes BUT he needs to figure out how to do it legally in the different jurisdictions that control kids gambling.
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