Slashdot Mirror
Chinese Gamers Circumvent Anti-Obsession Measures
Turtlewind writes "A survey by iResearch China shows that the Chinese Government's "anti obsession" measures, reported on Slashdot last year, are being bypassed by MMORPG gamers. While the controls - which force operators of popular games such as World of Warcraft to impose penalties on players who play for more than three to five hours a day - were welcomed by almost half of Chinese gamers, a core of around 14% of players admitted to registering multiple accounts to get around the restrictions. Meanwhile, the government seems to be taking a different approach to the problem of gaming addiction, planning a campaign over the upcoming summer vacation to increase enforcement of laws banning minors from internet cafes."
People get addicted to games. It shouldn't be surprising when the really addicted get around the filters. I imagine it was top priority for a lot of them.
But, really, more than 5 hours a day? Doesn't your ass get numb?
Where are there parents while they spend so many hours per day at these places? I think that they should bare some responsibility for their children's actions.
Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
Man... are they really trying to solve the addiction problem by forbidding
the youngers from playing the games? I have no researches to base my ideas
on, but to me it seems that's the worst possible approach.
Bad habits cannot be eliminated. If you want to get rid of a bad habit, you
must replace it with a good one. The government should be doing some outdoor
activities campaigns or incentive to practice sports, or anything else
(the solution, of course, is not so trivial), but restricting the game
hours allowed, and blocking minors from internet cafes *without*
replacing this activity for something better will *not* solve
the problem.
Hell, it may sound a little pessimistic, but this "solution" may even
aggravate the problem if these kids/teenagers start developing even
worst habits like drugs or alcohol because they have nothing else
to fill their lives with.
If I clone myself, can I call it a thread?
If a girl winks to us, can I call it a race condition?
It's fine to work for 8 to 14 hours a day, but not permitted to perform an entertaining, pleasurable activity for more than 3 to 5 hours?
I appreciate that some people have a genuine problem with addiction, but I have to question society's priorities sometimes. People do literally work themselves to death, too.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Look banning minors from internet cafes is not really about combating internet addiction. If it were then what will it do for those that are adults, you know the same people that do not have parents anymore to not give money and permission to go to the internet cafe. This move is about preventing impressionable idealistic youths from reading about topics that will later lead to dissent. There is a certain danger to visiting certain sites from home or school. A lax internet cafe is a simple way around that.
Most MMO's aren't really that great, and force long grinds and tedious gameplay with little reward for the time and money spent.
Apart from the social aspects of MMOs, I'd say one of the defining factors of their addictiveness is that they're basically easy. You can progress (i.e. gain material rewards) without really having to think much. Contrast this with the real world where reward is not proportional to time or effort.
A paycheck isn't a reward, it's a trade. Given the decrease in employee negotiation power lately, it's usually not even a fair trade. Somewhere, someone decided that the most important thing in life is having large amounts of money, and those that do tend to have unbelievable power over the rest of us...and usually aren't all that bright about it, but are at least organized.
Maybe that end of the year bonus is a reward...usually even with good ratings it's well below what you deserve. I guess I agree, a weekend of raiding and beating some hard boss is usually more rewarding than any amount of office politic endurance.
One good thing: it helps keep those MMORPG kiddies who play 12 hours a day from having such a huge advantage over gamers who only play a few hours a day and never get a chance to level up the same way. And it reduces the load on the gaming companies from those 12 hour a day players, who never free up resources for others to play on the same servers.
Let's have game companies make calculations about how to appeal to the most players and how to manage their resources to serve games. The advantages you suggest may be there -- they sound plausible, and as a casual player of a few games I have to say MMORPGs have never really appealed to me largely because of exactly the sort of people you're talking about.
Government intervention only imposes arbitrary standards for compliance with the law, preventing exactly the sorts of balancing you're talking about, though. Suddenly instead of "How do we serve our customers better?" it's "How do we obey the letter of this law some hair-sprayed politico cooked up in her utter ignorance of how games work?" Unintended consequences and ways to game the system will surely result.
(Speaking of the U.S. "No Child Left Behind" standards for schools.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Ok stuff like this is getting annoying.
"Come on!!! This is the f***ing Chinese government. They don't give two shits about your health." Its obvious you never lived in china. Ive lived in a chinese University for a year now and I hope to clarify things about the evil chinese government. Yes they are communist. No that doesnt mean people cant have a life here.Most things are the same as at home(In ireland) but with a safer society. 95% of Chinese people agree with rules like this. Its obvious the chinese government does care about the people (thats what communism is supposed to be) rather than dirthy politicians trying to get votes. Every town has an exercise area like an outdoor gym and canteens in college and Secondary schools only serve healthy food. Now ive seen about 10 fat chinese people since ive come here compare that too the 10 skinny people i seen in florida. Chinese lifestyle is generally alot more healthy than in europe(all countrys ive been in) and America. Chinese college students generally have a curfew of 23:30pm. This is mainly due to security reasons as there are 8 people living in a room. Most people I see in internet cafes are not minors in our sense but college students. College students and young adults are still viewed as children in China and so such rules are not viewed as opressing but culture(would you object to a high school kid having a curfew?).Just before some suggests about chinese getting death sentance for coming home late or circumventing the Internet censorship... No nothing happens really. Chinese usually dont go partying very much but alot are dangerously obsessed with WoW. Most chinese dont care about Tiananmen sq and all the things that most people seem to think they(the government) are evil for. Same as most americans probably dont care how many iraqis are killed everyday? The chinese view to freedom like in the us is probably the opposite as your view. Children bring guns to school and masacre their teachers and friends in the name of american freedom and democracy. I think you should look in the mirror before assuming any government that isnt the same as america must be evil. Maybe your the one being brainwashed by an oppresive government and dont even know it. Are you afraid to walk in the city alone at night. On most occations i would be and not in china. That feels oppresive to me if anything. If your interested watch the redux video from 911truth.org and see if you still believe everything your told on fox news. Sorry ive probably taken it too far but constently reading about how oppressive life in the country i love is is annoying, especially by people who have never even been here!