6 ms·

Whats going on at Roblox? Curious, as a parent myself.

red369 3y ago
This article and thread lists some of the issues: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32014754 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32014754
melagonster 3y ago
Isaw twice similar comments but I didn't spend time to found it :/
jb1991 3y ago
History of adults masquerading as children for purposes of pedophilia.
- MomoXenosaga 3y ago
  History of adults masquerading as church leaders for purposes of pedophilia.
  - tstrimple 3y ago
    The church is often on their "team" so it gets a pass for rampant child abuse. Notice none of the groomer allegations are directed at the church despite the church abusing exponentially more children than people in drag. There is no global drag organization which is protecting members found to be abusing children by moving them into new areas where people don't know their priest is a pedophile the way we see in the church. If the "protect children" cries were honest, the churches and clergy should be one of the primary targets. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/nearly-1-700-priests-clergy-accused-sex-abuse-are-unsupervised-n1062396 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/nearly-1-700-priests-c... > Nearly 1,700 priests and other clergy members that the Roman Catholic Church considers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living under the radar with little to no oversight from religious authorities or law enforcement, decades after the first wave of the church abuse scandal roiled U.S. dioceses, an Associated Press investigation has found. > These priests, deacons, monks and lay people now teach middle-school math. They counsel survivors of sexual assault. They work as nurses and volunteer at nonprofits aimed at helping at-risk kids. They live next to playgrounds and daycare centers. They foster and care for children. > And in their time since leaving the church, dozens have committed crimes, including sexual assault and possessing child pornography, the AP’s analysis found.
bradford 3y ago
Highly addictive to my kids for reasons that I can't grok. Unfettered social interaction with other participants in an unmonitored environment that superficially 'looks' like a video game. This social interaction leads to bullshit purchases. Not purchasing the bullshit leads to peer pressure and bullying. Is it a technical problem? is it lack of content moderation? or do social networks that are catered towards children simply lead to a toxic environment? I can't say if it's more one or the other, which makes it a challenge to try and fix.
- genewitch 3y ago
  I watch my son play Roblox sometimes. The chat is heavily censored. He also learned most countries, their capitals, and their flags. And that was just a few servers with "country balls". I find the YouTube videos involving those far more insidious, because children don't really understand biting sarcasm and satire as well as adults, and I'll often make him switch videos. But I haven't noticed anything necessarily harmful about Roblox. Then again, don't they make like a billion dollars a year? I'm more upset that they screw content creators so badly that the "bullying and peer pressure" seems to be necessary. Roblox is one of those things that seems impossible on a technical level. And with a billion dollars, they could hire social workers, moderators, etc.
  - geraldwhen 3y ago
    But have you actually played Roblox? It’s absolute toxic trash. Almost every single game is a front for purchases, and those that aren’t are barely games at all. Many Minecraft mods are one time purchases that are way, way better than anything Roblox produces, but Minecraft is so buggy that it’s truly not suitable for kids, or anyone for that matter. Minecraft will continuously corrupt saves, so you need to fully reinstall the game, and log out of your Xbox/MS account and fail to authorize. I grew up on counterstrike and StarCraft mods, and there is nothing available today that fills the same role. I’ve played chess implemented in StarCraft, DOTA before it was standalone, and zombies maps that wouldn’t be brought to other shooters for years ahead of time. My kids aren’t allowed to play games I wouldn’t play. The list of actual-games-that-arent-ads is huge, and there is no need to let in Roblox.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
shagie 3y ago
People Make Games is one of the YouTube channels that I respect in this domain... Investigation: How Roblox Is Exploiting Young Game Developers - https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ Roblox Pressured Us to Delete Our Video. So We Dug Deeper. - https://youtu.be/vTMF6xEiAaY https://youtu.be/vTMF6xEiAaY
crooked-v 3y ago
Basically every negative aspect of modern gaming at once. Loot boxes, exploitative use of user-created content, unmoderated interaction between adults and children, free-to-play treadmilling to peer pressure children into spending money, etc etc.
- hatsunearu 3y ago
  user-created loot boxes are the pinnacle of the current gaming environment

This article and thread lists some of the issues: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32014754 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32014754

melagonster 3y ago

Isaw twice similar comments but I didn't spend time to found it :/

jb1991 3y ago

History of adults masquerading as children for purposes of pedophilia.

MomoXenosaga 3y ago
History of adults masquerading as church leaders for purposes of pedophilia.
- tstrimple 3y ago
  The church is often on their "team" so it gets a pass for rampant child abuse. Notice none of the groomer allegations are directed at the church despite the church abusing exponentially more children than people in drag. There is no global drag organization which is protecting members found to be abusing children by moving them into new areas where people don't know their priest is a pedophile the way we see in the church. If the "protect children" cries were honest, the churches and clergy should be one of the primary targets. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/nearly-1-700-priests-clergy-accused-sex-abuse-are-unsupervised-n1062396 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/nearly-1-700-priests-c... > Nearly 1,700 priests and other clergy members that the Roman Catholic Church considers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living under the radar with little to no oversight from religious authorities or law enforcement, decades after the first wave of the church abuse scandal roiled U.S. dioceses, an Associated Press investigation has found. > These priests, deacons, monks and lay people now teach middle-school math. They counsel survivors of sexual assault. They work as nurses and volunteer at nonprofits aimed at helping at-risk kids. They live next to playgrounds and daycare centers. They foster and care for children. > And in their time since leaving the church, dozens have committed crimes, including sexual assault and possessing child pornography, the AP’s analysis found.

bradford 3y ago

Highly addictive to my kids for reasons that I can't grok. Unfettered social interaction with other participants in an unmonitored environment that superficially 'looks' like a video game. This social interaction leads to bullshit purchases. Not purchasing the bullshit leads to peer pressure and bullying. Is it a technical problem? is it lack of content moderation? or do social networks that are catered towards children simply lead to a toxic environment? I can't say if it's more one or the other, which makes it a challenge to try and fix.

genewitch 3y ago
I watch my son play Roblox sometimes. The chat is heavily censored. He also learned most countries, their capitals, and their flags. And that was just a few servers with "country balls". I find the YouTube videos involving those far more insidious, because children don't really understand biting sarcasm and satire as well as adults, and I'll often make him switch videos. But I haven't noticed anything necessarily harmful about Roblox. Then again, don't they make like a billion dollars a year? I'm more upset that they screw content creators so badly that the "bullying and peer pressure" seems to be necessary. Roblox is one of those things that seems impossible on a technical level. And with a billion dollars, they could hire social workers, moderators, etc.
- geraldwhen 3y ago
  But have you actually played Roblox? It’s absolute toxic trash. Almost every single game is a front for purchases, and those that aren’t are barely games at all. Many Minecraft mods are one time purchases that are way, way better than anything Roblox produces, but Minecraft is so buggy that it’s truly not suitable for kids, or anyone for that matter. Minecraft will continuously corrupt saves, so you need to fully reinstall the game, and log out of your Xbox/MS account and fail to authorize. I grew up on counterstrike and StarCraft mods, and there is nothing available today that fills the same role. I’ve played chess implemented in StarCraft, DOTA before it was standalone, and zombies maps that wouldn’t be brought to other shooters for years ahead of time. My kids aren’t allowed to play games I wouldn’t play. The list of actual-games-that-arent-ads is huge, and there is no need to let in Roblox.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

shagie 3y ago

People Make Games is one of the YouTube channels that I respect in this domain... Investigation: How Roblox Is Exploiting Young Game Developers - https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ Roblox Pressured Us to Delete Our Video. So We Dug Deeper. - https://youtu.be/vTMF6xEiAaY https://youtu.be/vTMF6xEiAaY

crooked-v 3y ago

Basically every negative aspect of modern gaming at once. Loot boxes, exploitative use of user-created content, unmoderated interaction between adults and children, free-to-play treadmilling to peer pressure children into spending money, etc etc.

hatsunearu 3y ago
user-created loot boxes are the pinnacle of the current gaming environment