Chinese Govt Limits Kids to 3hrs of Online Gaming 299
1MC writes "The Chinese govt is requiring game houses to modify MMOG's to restrict under 18 users to 3 hours "productive" gameplay per day. This "anti-addiction" software must be in place within 4 months, with games not compliant by July 15 liable to be shut down in China. Net9, Shanda and NetEase will be moving to comply with the government regulations. Users will have to register with their real names and Chinese identity card numbers to be allowed access to the games."
If China really wants to help kids... (Score:5, Insightful)
What's wrong with people? (Score:2, Insightful)
Nanny states are bullshit, just come visit the UK [engadget.com] in the not to distant future and you'll see what I mean (in fact, regardless of the nature of the previous link, we're already a nanny state).
Re:China is repressive (Score:4, Insightful)
Repressive governments... (Score:1, Insightful)
it's so sad that China that gets it right (Score:2, Insightful)
It is so sad that it has to be a country like China that finally gets it right.
MMO-s are addictive, they are designed to be addictive, not as a controlled substance but as a physiological trick of continuous reinforcement. Very soon people do not have fun in these game, rather they can't actually quit, they need to play to feel good again and regular life seems devoid of this feel good ingredient.
Alas I know too well what it is like to be addicted to an MMO. And I consider myself lucky to still have a job (thank god for my wife).
Moreover asian countries are at even more risk than US. There is a cultural affinity to the kinds of achievments that MMOs offer: "grind=advancement" and people get sucked in a lot more. Regulating gaming seems outrageous, until you realize that we're getting into a territory where we are not talking about games anymore...
Re:I wish US players had to do this... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Repressive governments... (Score:3, Insightful)
So is this something "repressive" by the Chinese government? What would you say if your own government tried to impose something like this?
Not so bad... (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm 19, so I'm in the same ballpark; I dunno what Chinese society is like firsthand, but I sure as hell don't have more than three hours a day to dedicate to a single asinine activty every single day. In my opinion, anyone who does much more than three hours of gaming in internet cafe's a day is quite analogous to someone with a substance abuse problem; they're both physically damaging, overly time-consuming, money-wasting, and socially awkward.
thank-god-they-got-something-right (Score:2, Insightful)
These sad souls need guidance, rehab, a life, something outside the warm cocoon of fat rolls and 3d dwarf landscapes.
Re:Repressive governments... (Score:2, Insightful)
Also... (Score:3, Insightful)
It helps a lot that in many cases, the subversive groups are fringe crazies.
Re:This is not to restrict kids online playtime (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm actually quite surprised I had to read this far down in the comments to find someone else who caught that.
Hearing China freak out about video game and internet addiction so much lately has raised some weird red flags with me. The Chinese government has a lot of reasons to keep people offline, and online gaming is one of those things the Great Firewall of China (the existence of which the government denies) they can't control as tightly. This is another subtle way to keep their citizenry in line.
Re:Repressive governments... (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree with you that, in today's society/culture, the chance that many high school kids will exercise moderation when it comes to consuming booze is pretty slim.
However, do you think if American society didn't pound the "drinking is bad, drinking is naughty, drinking is dangerous, you should NEVER drink" message into kids' heads (as opposed to "alcohol is a beverage that people enjoy with meals & in social settings, but, like anything else, drinking too much is not a good idea"), would the average high school senior binge-drink as much as he currently would when he got his hands on some booze?
And what if it was legal for said high school senior to go to the grocery store & buy some beer? Might that take away some of the "taboo" of drinking, and therefore the feeling that, upon "scoring" some beer. one needs to guzzle every drop in sight, because, "hey, who knows when we'll get this chance again?"
Just thinking out loud ;)
Re:I disagree (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sad News, Don Imus dead at 83 (Score:4, Insightful)
Um, poverty is a real culture. I grew up with a single mom that probably messed with drugs a bit more than she should have. Then I messed around with drugs more than I should have. I grew up in poverty and through a lot of hard work I've gotten a college education and so has my sister. The fact that we are all where we are today doesn't for an instant mean that we can't identify with music that targets those living in a "self perpetuating cycle of self-inflicted poverty and crime". The culture of poverty even the culture of crime is about improving your situation. I know it may not seem like it from the outside looking in, but drug addiction and crime are both things that many people do in order to improve their situation if only for a short time. Eating is better than not, getting high is better than jumping off a bridge. Other issues are highly emotional, it's hard when a child or relative dies because you cannot afford proper medical treatment, it's hard when someone becomes an alcoholic rather than a moderate drinker, it's hard when your parents argue every night because of bills, it's hard for people who are black and cannot afford a train ticket in order to look for work. You sit on a high horse claiming that this music contributes to the problem, when you do this you take focus away from the real problems, like drug addiction, lack of education, lack of jobs and a general lack of hope a lot kids face every day. You also apply a double standard when you don't say the same of art like Tom Sawyer, Gangs of New York, and many other stories, movies and songs that stretch back to the begining of man.
Re:thank-god-they-got-something-right (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this is one of the most wrong things I've ever read.
A parent has a direct compelling desire to protect and nurture his/her child. The parent has intimate knowledge and experience of that child's unique requirements. The parent has a genetic drive to insure the child's welfare. I can tell you as a parent that this drive is powerful and in the same realm as the drive for food and shelter. I feel the need to care for my child the same way I feel the need to eat.
The "government" is not a single entity, but the resultant vector of millions of competing agendas and forces. As such it doesn't "care" for any child and it doesn't have knowledge of any child. It can only set broad policies that hopefully indirectly cause "good" but often cause "bad" in it's pursuit of particular agendas.
Corporations and Governments are not people. They are not living entities, although we often treat them as such legally.
To say the "government" can care for a child is simply incorrect. A teacher, a nanny, a social worker, a lawyer and a congressman may be affecting a child, but there is no such person as "the government".
Re:China is repressive (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:China is repressive (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're looking at philosophical movements among the wealthy, sure. Such activities require financial independence. But as for mass political movements, economic dissatisfaction is almost always required.
Re:I wish US players had to do this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Having been intelligent and literate at 14, and having met people age 30 with the maturity of a toddler, I know there are exceptions on both sides. With the anonymity of the internet, it's best to judge someone by the content of their character and not by their supposed age.
Re:Read the article.. not the summary- no time lim (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:it's so sad that China that gets it right (Score:3, Insightful)
People call MMORPGs an addiction because up until the point where you burn out they exhibit all the symptoms of it. Your social life does suffer, other games are left unplayed in favor of the MMO, chores are put off (well, this happens anyway) etc. The crucial difference, insightfully noted by you, is that instead of finding something harder or being perpetually enslaved there is a sudden burn out and the "addiction" ends.
I'd still qualify MMOs as addictive, but they aren't perpetual or ever increasing. I'd almost say that's their saving grace.
Comments miss the point (Score:3, Insightful)
You have to be kidding? (Score:3, Insightful)
Let alone the fact this is the typical selfish reaction from people who only think freedom works when someone else doesn't do something they don't like.
no, the solution is for you to ignore the people who cause you grief in these games or just don't play them. Most MMORPGs have methods to ignore the very people you speak of. Use it, never suggest to a politician new ways to thwart our rights.
Sadly, it's not that simple (Score:4, Insightful)
Point in case, I actually know a mid-40's mid-level manager who speaks l33t in MMOs. Shocked the heck out of me to hear (ok, read) him online chatting in what I imagined to be typical loser-kid speak. The poor sap probably imagines that adopting that lingo makes him all cool and hip online.
I know a guy in his 50's whose online life consists pretty much of being a die-hard ganker. That's how he gets his jollies. Ganking newbies.
Also, let's just say there must be a reason why the stereotype about all the "horny naked teenage female" characters online is to assume it must be a fat 40-year-old guy, and not, say, that it must be a 14 year old guy. 'Nuff said.
Conversely, I've been grouped with more than enough 14 year olds and even (according to himself) a 11 year old, that could actually play the game pretty darn well and functioned perfectly well in a group.
Now I'm not saying that either covers 100% of the group. ("All generalizations are false, including this one.") Just that you can't take it for granted that kids = "leetspeek, ninja looters, griefers & beggars", and adults = cool.
As for the nanny-state part, actually I hope that it's _not_ possible to bank hours. The chinese have my sympathy, but from a selfish bastard point of view: maybe having to deal with the chinese market will finally hammer it into everyone's head that 40-man 8-hour raids are _not_ fun. If it's not possible to do it in 3 hours, including getting the group, that should be anyone's hint that it's probably not that much fun. If you end up having some sort of _duty_ to the guild to be there daily at hour X, because 39 others depend on you, it's not fun. Time sinks are ok only when done in moderation, not when you need to quit your job or give up sleep to even be able to join.
Again, I'm aware that it's a very selfish and nasty thing to say, cheering at someone else's problems. So don't take it too seriously. But, still, if it's happening anyway, it might as well give some designers some clue.
Re:thank-god-they-got-something-right (Score:4, Insightful)
You know, not every government decision has to be associated with suppression and regime.
Re:Guns don't kill people, niggers kill people. (Score:5, Insightful)
out of the box thinking (Score:2, Insightful)
Do you have to resort to the deep rooted stereotype whenever talking about anything you don't really know or understand? I'm so tired of the typical rants here about China that I actually spend the time register and say something different.
Fact: China has a long way to go in comparison to most western countries on banning things, esp in the minor protection department. Think of all the hassles you've got to go through to buy alcohol, or to go to a movie and left the kids home. Think of all those regulations you've got to study to do anything kid related, be it starting a day care or get licensed as a school teacher.
Fact: The communist party in China is neither more evil nor more foolish than the party you vote for or vote against. The so-called "China style communism" is neither more repressive nor more rigid than the church doctrine you believe or disbelieve. Tell you what, when I first came to the US, my first ever and the only bible study (hard sold to me by a co-worker) reminded me dearly of the culture revolution style meeting my parents described to me. We Chinese don't do that sort of things anymore, ever since I was born. But it's still alive and kicking here. Talking about the brain wash, ha.
Fact: Most Chinese don't really care about the democracy or freedom of speech you cherish so much, at least for now. We certainly don't want the freedom to defend ourselves by owning a rifle. If you really want to export your ideology I'd say prepare for the culture shock. The last time a friend of mine (born a US citizen) tried to convince me the Taiwan style democracy is good for China I told him the popular saying in China, which is even quoted by Taiwan's vice president as well as opposition party leader as true, "if you haven't been to Taiwan, you won't realize the culture revolution is still on-going".
Fact: The shear fact that you're having a hard time believing these is the proof of how your democracy and freedom of speech has failed to provide you with a clear view on what's going on in the world. Think harder, and think out of the box, then maybe someday you'll make sense of the things happening across the ocean.