this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2024
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Will someone please explain to me how a video game exploits children.
Kids make maps. Stuff in the maps is sold for Roblox bucks. Roblox bucks cost money to buy. The kid who makes the map gets the Roblox bucks, and can sell them. The problem is you only get 30% back when you sell a Roblox buck.
So kids spend time making big maps and servers, buying ads, getting shoutouts on YouTube/whatever, and Roblox takes a 70% cut from all of it
Isn't it more like 20%
Sounds like a normal business that gives kids a chance to make money.
Its exploiting child labor and the impulsive brain chemistry of adolescence.
Fair enough, but couldn't the same be said about YouTube? They also take the biggest cut of the ad money for creators.
Yes. Using kids to drive engagement on YouTube is exploitative. Parents who do that are exploiting their children
But what about…? Doesn’t excuse the first thing!
Why did anyone read my comment as an excuse? I was pointing two fingers instead of one on Roblox.
Probably the “but”. I agree that both are exploitive and they should all be called out on it.
My bad. English is not my first language.
"labor" 😂
What would you call it when a child does work that you profit from?
Doesn't matter what you call it. It's profitable and you know that's what's meant.
Is labor. There is a whole market of Roblox related things, there are job sites, freelance sites that employ kids to work on design/programming/marketing of these game modes. To pay them the game currency that maybe later can be traded for real money.
Is not just kids tinkering with the game.
The children yearn for the mines
A normal business, yes. Normal businesses are highly and cruelly exploitative, which is why we decided 80 years ago (in the US) that children, at the very least, should be protected from them.
Can't tell if you're kidding.
You could start with this People Make Games video from a couple of years ago. https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ?si=Ttg4-Bust1K-X-22
I said explain. It's this old school thing we used to do where we JUST TELL A PERSON SOMETHING
I get what you are saying, and actually agree with out. But you don't have to be an asshole about it. No one has the obligation to attend your tantrums.
Children make games on Roblox (real games, the thing people do working in the industry), Roblox makes money off those games and pays close to nothing to the children. Therefore, exploits children.
The video is an explanation, none of us want to regurgitate multiple 30-45 minute videos that already explain exactly what your asking.
Sometimes, there are already resources explaining more clearly and thoroughly than we could. And although I'm unsure if this case qualifies, there are definitely topics that can't be reduced to a few sentences. Thus, a reputable link is often worth more to both sides: it saves the explainer time and effort while informing the target far better.
If you don't want to engage with the content, I believe there are better ways to go about it than being rude to people who were likely trying to help.
The video is an explanation.
Obvious bad faith argument
This comment is such a beautifully concise argument for the existence of block buttons. Toodles~
No we didn't. Telling people something was invented in 2016 by russian bots in Kamchatka on Twitter.
Watch the video or feed it into ChatGPT for a summary or Google a pre-existing summary.
Get a life, guy
I'm not the one going around begging peeps for explanations
Read the article and find out
Just give me the broad strokes
Stop expecting handouts with 0 effort especially when the answer is one tap away.
Jeeze, he must work for Roblox with that level of expected free labor...
Lemme compile it all into a 20 second tiktok video
You must not be just a troll... but a mountain troll
These guys explain it well, let them:
Investigation: How Roblox is Exploiting Young Gamers
Roblox Pressured us To Delete our Video. So we Dug Deeper.
It's not hard to use a search engine.