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Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

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Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#11

Post by wslh »

I want to share a small story a close friend told me.

His son is eleven. Every Saturday he goes to tennis class. He's good at it, sure, but the important part is that he loves it.

One Saturday, though, he refused to go.

Why? Because there was a special Roblox event happening at the same time.

His father tried reasoning with him, the kid, agrees, a bit reluctantly.

But when the father walks into the bar, he sees a dozen kids all locked to their screens, playing the same Roblox event.

Roblox is an obvious form of manipulation, but honestly, we're not much better. Adults scroll under the influence of algorithmic dopamine loops. If the tobacco class action was once the benchmark for corporate harm, it may someday look tiny compared to what's coming (I hope).

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#12

Post by andsoitis »

zzzeek wrote: post #4
crazydoggers wrote: post #2

We need to pass laws that can make these executives serve jail time. You’d quickly see these “impossible to moderate” platforms quickly clean up.

Agree, in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it. The world does not need to have a Roblox app (my 11 year old would disagree very much)

> Agree, in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it

This is patently untrue. We are exposed to risk, incl. death, from products and services every day. Nothing can be 100% safe, nor would it be wise to aim for it. The benefits, as they say, often outweigh the cost.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#13

Post by iamnothere »

wslh wrote: post #11

I want to share a small story a close friend told me. His son is eleven. Every Saturday he goes to tennis class. He's good at it, sure, but the important part is that he loves it. One Saturday, though, he refused to go. Why? Because there was a special Roblox event happening at the same time. His father tried reasoning with him, the kid, agrees, a bit reluctantly. But when the father walks into the bar, he sees a doz…

How is this different from a LAN party? I spent countless hours engrossed in DOOM deathmatches and Starcraft games as a kid. I don’t really see the difference.

The problem outlined in the article is about moderation of spaces where kids are present. You seem to be trying to draw some broader conclusion that video games are harmful.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#14

Post by GuinansEyebrows »

andsoitis wrote: post #12
zzzeek wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree, in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it. The world does not need to have a Roblox app (my 11 year old would disagree very much)

> Agree, in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it This is patently untrue. We are exposed to risk, incl. death, from products and services every day. Nothing can be 100% safe, nor would it be wise to aim for it. The benefits, as they say, often outweigh the cost.

the benefits of roblox?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#15

Post by tjungblut »

I'll probably get DV to oblivion for this, but I have to constantly wonder where those parents come from that need to forbid their children to roam freely on the internet.

Didn't they grow up in an age unrestricted web either? By now we must have two generations of unhinged children grown up with unsafe World of Warcraft, MSN, Whatsapp and ICQ. Oh and the p0rn... I mean, seriously, do you guys have nothing else to do than to moderate your kids Minecraft servers?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#16

Post by Analemma_ »

tyleo wrote: post #7
crazydoggers wrote: post #2

We need to pass laws that can make these executives serve jail time. You’d quickly see these “impossible to moderate” platforms quickly clean up.

I don't understand why this is getting downvoted. As another response mentioned, we wouldn't tolerate this in any other industry. If a restaurant served food that harmed people we wouldn't say, "it's on the parents." I don't get why so many folks are willing to say that with harms caused by tech companies. Scale is no excuse either, "at our scale we just can't handle all the content." If anything it makes the problem…

Yes, it's absurd how tech considers "but we're too big" to be a legitimate reason for inaction. That would get handcuffs clapped on you in any other industry. What happened to "too big to fail" being a sign of deep corruption requiring immediate action and breaking up companies?

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#17

Post by massysett »

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #6

It's a nightmare managing all this stuff. Roblox, Minecraft, Meta Quest services, Fortnite, the list goes on and on. These companies are not helping us either. Thankfully my son and his friends have somehow iterated away from Fortnite. It's no longer cool so they just stopped playing it. That's one less thing I have to worry about.

I let my kid play Roblox for a couple of weeks and I was absolutely horrified by all the inducements to seek Robux. So I removed it from her iPad, which is locked down.

She gets along just fine without Roblox.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#18

Post by endymion-light »

I looked at Roblox recently as a nostalgia trip as I was active in the community over a decade ago when I was a kid.

Genuinely insane that it's legal. Full dark gambling patterns, insane access. I think the only reason it's not been regulated is that people haven't looked closely, but it's as if someone took the worst of gacha games and decided to base their childrens platform on it.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#19

Post by iamnothere »

zzzeek wrote: post #4
crazydoggers wrote: post #2

We need to pass laws that can make these executives serve jail time. You’d quickly see these “impossible to moderate” platforms quickly clean up.

Agree, in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it. The world does not need to have a Roblox app (my 11 year old would disagree very much)

> in any other field if a product cannot be made safe for consumers, you just don't produce and sell it

I’ll keep this in mind the next time I pick up some acetylene or muriatic acid.

Re: Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse

#20

Post by wslh »

iamnothere wrote: post #13
wslh wrote: post #11

I want to share a small story a close friend told me. His son is eleven. Every Saturday he goes to tennis class. He's good at it, sure, but the important part is that he loves it. One Saturday, though, he refused to go. Why? Because there was a special Roblox event happening at the same time. His father tried reasoning with him, the kid, agrees, a bit reluctantly. But when the father walks into the bar, he sees a doz…

How is this different from a LAN party? I spent countless hours engrossed in DOOM deathmatches and Starcraft games as a kid. I don’t really see the difference. The problem outlined in the article is about moderation of spaces where kids are present. You seem to be trying to draw some broader conclusion that video games are harmful.

> You seem to be trying to draw some broader conclusion that video games are harmful.

I never said video games are harmful. I talked about manipulation of people of all ages at a planetary scale.

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