#Software can be made to be just as #addictive as drugs, and that the companies that produce should be held accountable, just like companies that make tobacco and opioids. It will be interesting to see where this court case in Canada goes https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/fortnite-class-action-1.6678687
@eighthave I'm quite curious to see how this lawsuit turns out. While games obviously should be fun (it's their whole point), there are definitely a lot of dark patterns involved to trick people to continue playing when they don't even have fun anymore. The clearest current example is the "Battle Pass" system, putting unlocks behind playtime, tricking people into playing more and more under the fear they'll otherwise be unable to unlock a certain item they want.
@eighthave I also definitely think that targeting kids does need even stronger guidelines, because as a kid it is much easier to get hooked in for the silliest things.
As an example, I still remember as a kid my favourite game S4 League had a message telling you to take a break after every hour (as required by the Korean government I believe, being a game from there). But the message was different for each hour, so of course I wanted to see the message for playing 8 hours straight and... yeah.
@SylvieLorxu I've also been sucked into games. The Bard's Tale and Loderunner in the 80s. Then Duke Nukem, Civilization, and Age of Empires in the 90s. I think it is OK to make a game so good it is addictive. The problem now is that companies are putting addictive design first and foremost, putting aside the artistry of game design, to extract as much profit as possible. Indeed, public corporations like EA, Microsoft, Tencent, etc. are legally required to extract as much profit as possible.
@SylvieLorxu Addictive things are part of life, all human societies use habit-forming substances like alcohol, caffeine, coca, nicotine, etc. Video games now fit into that spectrum. And we enjoy using them, even when we know they can be quite destructive to some people's lives. With video games, most people still believe they are harmless, that's what needs to change. I personally stopped playing pretty much entirely because I could not manage the addictiveness. Caffeine and alcohol I can manage
@eighthave Most of all I find it interesting how a game released in 2007 actively lowered the amount of XP and in-game-currency you gained from playing if you'd been playing for too long per day, but 15 years later all popular games now reward kids for sinking in as much time as they possible can.
We definitely went wrong somewhere in the past 15 years and the culture of money being the most important thing always and it being okay to ruin lives to get more money is surely a big part of it.
@eighthave Like with all things, it's all about finding the right balance, yeah. I'd argue that for some things the right balance is always to not use it (because for example the downside of smoking is a high risk of lung cancer) but most other things can be enjoyed in ways where they don't destroy your life.
However, designing for addiction is simply unethical as you are then choosing to abuse the inability of some to manage the addictiveness.