Parents Sue Gaming Giants for 'Addictive' Game Design

[killamch89]

Honestly, I think some of these people don't have any business being parents. Anyways here's the details of the lawsuit:

The lawsuit, filed on October 30, states that that Microsoft, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, EA, and others “use patented designs, algorithms and marketing containing addictive features and technology” leading to addiction. These designs and “addictive features”, the claim says utilized data collection of minors, predatory monetization schemes, and feedback loops to keep players more engaged.

“We never imagined when our son started playing video games that he would become so addicted that his education would severely suffer, he would lose all interest in spending time with his friends, and his physical and mental health would be at risk,” said Casey Dunn, the mother who filed the lawsuit on behalf of her child. “These video game companies have targeted and taken advantage of kids, prioritizing their profit over all else. As a mom, I knew I had to do something to ensure they don’t get away with destroying the wellbeing and futures of our children.”

Now I agree about the monetization schemes. However, the parents should be the ones who set boundaries in the home regarding the amount of hours their child can spend gaming. Except, these parents think it's someone else's job to set boundaries on what their kids can and can't do. Here's more about the lawsuit What do you think about this stupid lawsuit?

[Reality vs Adventure]

I don't understand. What kind of 'dark patterns' are they talking about? Loot boxes is one thing, but 'dark patterns' is an entirely different ball game. First off, if the kid has autism, then they can pick up patterns on just about anything, so that is a personal health issue. Besides loot boxes, what exactly can be addicting in algorithms? It's a video game. I'm just not seeing it. Every single game I've played, I just don't see 'dark patterns.' Are the parents crazy or something? Who exactly is suing? Are they those far right freaks that hate pink candy and pink pop tarts thinking it turns people gay? Beware, the USA is full of crazies who are hyper paranoid. Be careful, your music may have subliminal messages too. Bwahahahaha. 

 

[Shagger]

3 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

 ...Are they those far right freaks that hate pink candy and pink pop tarts thinking it turns people gay? Beware, the USA is full of crazies who are hyper paranoid. Be careful, your music may have subliminal messages too. Bwahahahaha. 

 

 

Before I get started with my own post on this, @Reality vs Adventure, you have got to stop trying to bring politics into topics like this.  Is it not fair on this family to imply this about them just for filing this lawsuit no matter how stupid you feel it is.  Even if it turns out this family are literal Nazis it wouldn't matter because social-political bias has nothing to with this situation, so why make that connection?  This family could to be liberals and this would make as much sense.

 

More importantly, you know perfectly well whare to go on this forum if you want to discuss politics.  Create a thread there to share your thoughts how these idoligies are affecting modern society (That actually would be an interesting topic) referencing these situations if you want, but stop bringing these arguments into threads whare this is clearly not relevant.

 

Anyway, before coming to this thread I saw another article this morning from PC Gamer that goes into the details and definitions of these "dark patterns" a lot more closely that the article @killamch89 posted. To be fair, that article was more focused in this specic lawsuit. So there's nothing wrong with that article, it just had a different focus. 

 

Back to the point, and having read both articles, I don't think this lawsuit is so ridiculous.  Most of us are aware of how damaging lootboxes are due to the phycological tics they employ to keep people spending, but that's not the only form of phycological manipulation game companies employ. Again, please read the PC Gamer article for a better description of the examples then I could offer. Game companies use this manipulation to achieve what they would call "player retention", but I think we can see that as "to get them addicted" in other words.

 

This manipulation may not work on you reading this, likely an adult devoid of mental disabilities, but these tactics are not meant for you. They are ment for people who, for one reason or another, are more vulnerable, like the autistic child at the centre of this lawsuit. Children as well as adults with mental disabilies are protected by law from gambling for a reason, the same reason why games doing shit like this should also bear this criticism, especially if they are rated for children to play.

 

Yes, the parents have a role to play to protect thier children from these things, but they can't be expected to be able to do so if organizations like the FTC and ESRB aren't doing enough to warm them of the dangers these business practices pose. Parents are having to deal with this almost completely blind, only learning the dangers of the manipulative design of these games when it's already too late.

 

So to this family and thier lawyers, I say go get 'em!  Bleed these companies not just for yourselves, but for every other victim and for all of us who are sick to death of these business practices.