As a new father that will eventually get into that situation: how do you ban Roblox in your house? I imagine it’s popular among your kids’ real world acquaintances (school etc). Doesn’t banning it exclude your kids from these groups? Do they feel left out?
Given the current state of gaming and where it’s heading I would love to ban gaming altogether but I feel social pressure from other kids makes it very hard.
I go against the stream it seems, but even though I grew up gaming, I see it now as mostly wasted time. Any benefit that came with it is easily overshadowed with literally wasting the most precious thing we have - our time in this universe which could be spent having serious adventures (or anything else like finding/working on love and real friends(TM)).
I've gotten into various sports mostly done in mountains and some additional filler training like weightlifting and running, my quality of life and satisfaction from it skyrocketed. Obviously you get much more healthier, attractive and happier as side effect, but over time your mindset also changes a lot.
These days, displays in our home are kept to the minimum since content is mostly toxic and made as addictive as possible (as mentioned all over this thread). As time progresses we will gradually ease it off, but games will be last thing on a long list. There is not much skill to learn so they are not missing out, clicking all around can be done by infants.
It helps that we are surrounded by people where such approach is the norm and mark of good invested parenthood, and letting kids get addicted to various dark patterns online or in gaming is seen as on cca same level as being absent alcoholic parent or similar fail. Not that I don't see it often ie when traveling, kids glued to screen to me looks very sad while their parents often look like epitome of laziness. Physically and mentally weak, socially awkward, stuck in eternal dopamine kick chase, largely defenseless from sophisticated actors milking their parents credit cards.
Everyone will have different experiences. I turned that gaming passion into a career and am fortunately much better off than my single mother who struggled raising me.
(and speaking of parents: who the hell is letting a kid use their credit card? I bought an extra $.75 butterfingers one time and it was probably the most mad my mom ever got at me. More than when I dinged the car while learning to drive. I NEVER spent her money again without asking).
Games help motivate me to read (being into RPGs with little/no voice acting will do that), they arguably enhaced my logic puzzle ability and reaction time, they gave me something to bind over with like minded acquaintances.
I think it really comes down to a case by case basis.
I'm mostly in agreement with ya. I've always been big into the outdoors as it's what truly allows me to recharge. Fishing/hiking/hunting/mountainbiking, etc. All of it is good for the soul. As the kids have gotten older I've been able to get them out in the same activities. In my house 8/10 times we are outside doing outdoorsy stuff, while the other 20% is gaming.
The type/quality of the games definitely matters IMO. My six year old really enjoys DCS World and Kerbel Space program. Roblox is a total no go in my house, but I rarely deny my kid from wanting to land a jet or build a rocket.
Explain them the concepts of loot boxes and pay to win. My son, who was 8 at that time, understood quiet fast that these games don't require skill and are just trying to steal money from him. He doesn't like that and now avoids games that contain these dark patterns and has become quiet good at spotting them.
Also, buy a Nintendo console. It solves 99% of all problems. I haven't seen these dark patterns in any Nintendo title and personally I think it's the best gaming environment for kids.
> Doesn’t banning it exclude your kids from these groups? Do they feel left out?
The way I was raised we understood that most kids do things that come back to bite them later and we could choose to be better than that.
I don't feel guilty for teaching my kids to avoid drugs and alcohol—the friend groups that would actually fully exclude them from aren't worth their time anyway. I feel the same about Roblox. It's a dangerous drug produced by an intentionally exploitative company.
If refusing to participate causes a particular friend group to become inaccessible, that says something about the amount of time that friend group spends on the drug and therefore says something about the utility of the time my kid would have spent with them anyway.
My kids did not paid a cent nor did most of their friends. There are some paid a little, no more then the relatively normal amount of money. If someone 8 years old is paying a lot of money for Roblox while his friends prefer roblox because it is free, then the issue is provably solvable.
Beyond limiting infinite amount of paying by not giving the kid infinite amount of money, you can limit their time in the app or on tablet by rules like "max X hours per week".
Something similar happened to me once. You need a valid CPF number (something like a ssn) to create an account on most webshops in Brazil, so fraudsters will use stolen ones. They then proceed to purchase stuff with stolen CCs
I don’t know if this is the case, but I’ve noticed questionable news outlets reposting their own old articles, possibly to game google news search or something
> I remember seeing a claim that the Bluetooth part was a feature since you could just "pass the controller" inside the cabin but I haven't been able to find a source for it.
> Think about what that means for the future of all auto mechanics. Will there be far fewer?
Definitely. This is one of the reasons why dealerships are reluctant with EVs: apparently a big chunk of their profits come from servicing the cars they sell.
The original "subscription model" meatspace. Sell a self destructing product there needs chronic ambiguous repairs that cost "how important is it for you to have a car?" .
Yeah that's the most interesting thing for me as well. I'm also curious about how wfh was granted and then removed: was there a contract change to guarantee it? Or did they simply "promise" to do so? If there was a contractual change to guarantee wfh, can they make another change and remove it just like that?
I've learned the hard way to never organize my life around benefits that are "promised" but not in my contract. This here is exactly what happens every single time: the person who made you the promise leaves the company and the promise goes along with them.
Most US workers aren't under an employment contract, it's at-will in both directions. That said, everything is negotiable, and if one is sufficiently motivated and has the leverage, an employment agreement can be crafted even without jeopardizing the at-will relationship.
What are these "contracts" you're referring to? I've worked full time in tech for 25 years and I've never had a contract of any sort that I'm aware of.
I think the disconnect is that in Europe employment contracts spell out a lot. In the U.S. they are really don't cover a lot about how you work. The common phrase in the U.S. is "additional tasks and duties as required", which could mean anything.
After the 1000th "last nail in the coffin" I gave up believing that this will end someday. I see it becoming one of those ever-lasting scams that go up and down in popularity, like piramid schemes, tourist scams, 419 scams etc.
Oh it will absolutely be drawn out. I see that first hand because I know some people who write blockchains. There are still new "products" being launched that seem to be only for promoting the use of various cryptocoins.
So it might be like e-mail spam, it'll stick around as long as there are suckers born every minute.
But I'm hoping it will fade away from the mainstream at least.
Everyone I have known who tried YouTube kids eventually ended up with normal YouTube. Maybe it is sort of acceptable for English speaking families, but outside of that, shows that parents wanted to show the kids or were ok with were not available. And shows that were available were meh anyway.
It came across to me as something that exists so that google can point out that it exists.
Given the current state of gaming and where it’s heading I would love to ban gaming altogether but I feel social pressure from other kids makes it very hard.