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Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

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Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform I see these as orthogonal issues. Your mathmaking gripe sounds legitimate, and is probably driven by Roblox's low 21+ user numbers. That would be expected to change over time. At the same time, I'm not seeing a great argument for why these folks (EDIT: Roblox) should continue to have unfettered access to kids…

Roblox is absolutely torching their platform, in many ways besides matchmaking and the age verification. Ask any kid who's grown up with the game. Players are leaving in droves and Roblox has become quite un-cool in the last six or so months.

I can tell you right now that any kid that’s growing up with the platform right now couldn’t care less.

They don’t communicate in chat. They communicate by shouting at each other from 2 feet away.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s just a US quirk. In many countries you can buy alcohol when you’re 18+. It’s odd that you can do everything but drink. Like you can go to work, drive home to your wife and kids, but can’t have a beer lol.

> That’s just a US quirk My understanding is it’s because of car culture. Drunk-driving deaths drove up the drinking age [1]. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Why-Is-the-US-Drinking-Age-...

They could fix this by lowering the drinking age. Not by raising it. If you have two years of experience being drunk and then start driving you know exactly what you are in for.

If you’ve been confidently driving for years and then suddenly pair that with alcohol… complete opposite effect.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#113
post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

> But these measures were implemented poorly and needed to be paired with matchmaking to not destroy the platform. As a parent, my experience in discussion with other parents is: "Don't ever let your child onto Roblox, it is utterly toxic and should be avoided at all costs." From that perspective, I think most parents view the destruction of the platform as neutral to positive, and it suggests that the status quo wou…

Which parents do you talk with? The consensus around me seems to be that it’s fine as long as whatever you do on there is done with RL friends.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#114
post #64
post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

Or perhaps you’ve aged out of a game that is primarily meant to be a place for children. The child safety measures make things more difficult for you because nobody wants you there. And it seems to be working as designed. Maybe it’s time to find a new game that’s more for your age group.

There’s a whole bunch of Roblox experiences clearly designed for adults. There’s dozens of us xD

I’m not sure if I’d say it’s better or worse, the games are higher quality because they need to be to keep an older adience engaged.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#115
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re unlikely to convince an adult of that age who has willingly spent 10s of thousands of dollars on a children’s game that they maybe shouldn’t be playing it.

Tens of thousands of robux. That's hundreds of dollars, reasonable for a long term player.

Ask me what I’ve spent on a League of Legends account I can no longer even use. My wallet weeps.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God forbid people want to work on video game stuff instead of for an advertising company.

Yeah, but for Roblox? That’s child gambling and child grooming.

Roblox made a platform. The people on that platform used it for making gambling and child grooming.

I guess the worst you can say for roblox is that it incentivizes that with the way they’re selling Robux, but that’s also the only way their platform can work.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#118

Regardless of Roblox’s continued failings I strongly believe that there needs to be a safe, scrutinized, and open online platform for children to socialize in meaningful ways. As much as we would rather discontinue social media for minors the fact remains that for millions of Americans the internet provides a primary means of social fulfillment, especially in gaming, which is far more popular among youth demographics…

> and open online platform for children to socialize in meaningful ways.

What benefits will this bring over an offline platform for children to socialize in? I'm not denying that there would be any, but, if we determine what those are directly, perhaps we can find better mechanisms than bespoke "social media" platforms to deliver them.

> I think Roblox themselves have a chance

It'd probably be a good start to subtract things like "virtual currency" from whatever implementation is imagined.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#119
post #116

Child well-being being inversely correlated with stock price is very much a nice summary of the times we live in.

I think human wellbeing has been inverted with stock price basically since stocks were introduced.

Prior to stocks we had feudal lords created out of vast private land holdings. Stocks at least abstract ownership out into a more democratic mechanism. The notion is sound but the current implementation is incomplete, for the same reason the prior innovations were, the initial uninformed creation become too easily corrupted.

Re: Roblox shares plummet 18% as child safety measures weigh on bookings

#120
post #64
post #31

The "child safety measures" was dividing the playerbase into age groups and banning almost all communication between them. The age groups are under 9, 9–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18–20, and 21+. Users only speak to other players ±1 age group, so 18-20 can speak to 16-17 or 21+. The problem is almost every game on Roblox is social and the matchmaking isn't mature enough to ensure players in a lobby can all communicate. My fav…

Or perhaps you’ve aged out of a game that is primarily meant to be a place for children. The child safety measures make things more difficult for you because nobody wants you there. And it seems to be working as designed. Maybe it’s time to find a new game that’s more for your age group.

LOL, they literally said they want to play with other 18+ players alone. Without kids in the lobby, at all.

What are you, fun police? What's next, ban on bright coloured clothes?

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