General Discussion

Originally posted by Flummoxed

and the whole industry is marginalized by mainstream society

trust me, i worked in Shanghai for a few months and the young 20-somethings there don't give a rat's ass what mainstream society OR the government thinks.  Yeah they keep it on the down low so as not to get in trouble but the kids there are about as Western in ther attitudes and values as anyone you'll meet in NY, LA, or any major city in the US, UK or W. Europe. 

Sure a kid can be flogging a box of pirated console games, but he's very polite about it.

Sharing a bit of information, since I am Chinese myself. I'm currently in the U.S.

The government have already tried to regulate the MMO industry. This may be a bit hard for others to grasp, but China is trying to maintain its old ideals towards ..everything, but especially education.

MMORPG is one of the most ...shall we say distracting? things in regards to education. The Chinese government have already placed in a system known as "Fang Chen Mi," or literally "Anti-addiction." but it doesn't quite work well.

How the system works is that it requires the players to register using a Chinese Social Security ID, and it limits the numbers of hours a non-mature (person under 18) they can spend per day. On the game I played for a while, Demi-Gods and Semi Devils (Based on a Kungfu novel by Louis Cha), a minor is limited to 3 hours per day before EXP is cut in half, up to a maximum of five hours, which then you would be prevented from logging in altogether.

However, the system isn't working. Social Security Generators, in addition to the reluctance of companys to adhere to this standard makes this policy extremely difficult to enforce. Thus, the recent cracking-down to me seems to be more like a last resort than anything.

A point of interest: most of the newer MMORPGs made in China are item mall based, while the older ones with larger followings are based on monthly subscriptions. You can see why some of the companies are so against governmental regulations. 

In my hometown of Harbin, when I visited a few years ago, the owner of a NetCafe sold "Adult IDs" to students who wished to beat the system. =\

Corruption? I think so too. But more importantly, you have to look at where Chinese society is going. Gone were the days of confucian ideals and the stereotyped Asian. The majority now follows "Xiang Qian Kan," or literally "Look forward." This is a pun on "Look to the money."

Family is still valued, Bobfish, but it is disappearing. If I can blame you "Imperalist Capitalist Pigs" or whatever new label they came up with (it was Dog of Imperialism when I left China,) it's the utter devastation and corruption of the Chinese youth.

OH MY GOD. THEY ARE ACTUALLY THINKING FOR THEMSELVES FOR ONCE. THAT IS BAD!!

(Sarcasm should also be dripping off your screen at the moment.)

No, but going back to my point. I think the liberalization of China causes disappearances of traditional values. When I went back to my hometown and visited my old elementary school, every single child there told me they wanted to make money. Every. Single. One.

China, in my humble opinion has ceased to be a "communist" society. Its market mechanism lacks monitoring as China gets cheated out of taxes (if you look at Chinese News, you'll see a ton of stuff like this), its society leans towards a one-party dictatorship with succession among party lines, and civil rights is really nonexistant. 

I should know. I know people who got banned from MMOs because they were discussing politics. Isn't it nice how if we were in China right now the JFJ would be at your doors with a warrant of arrest now?

I read the article with mixed feelings. I am Chinese by ethnicity. I identify myself as American. I....

Aw, hell. Well. It's about damn time they did SOMETHING about it. My cousin's addicted to one of those himself.

Originally posted by Hexxeity

P.S.  Yes, all men do have to serve in the military when they turn 18, but for how long I do not know.

much as they do in some scandinavian and european countries as in national service

Originally posted by streea

bobfish, the problem is that the other countries you mentioned (US/EU) are not communistic or dictatorships. In other words, the government does not control our lives. THIS IS A GOOD THING.

if you believe that the government doesn't control our lives in the west you need to have a little bit of a wake up call. It amazes me how people can spout about the evils of other countries when they dont actually know what the reality of living in them is like regardless of what their local 'accepted authorities' on the subjects say while of course living 100s of miles away from the problem... and not seeing the equivalent on their own doorstep.

Mass projection (in a psychological sense) if u ask me...always better to see the demon/shadow elsewhere rather than in your own home

Originally posted by Raistlin25

Sharing a bit of information, since I am Chinese myself. I'm currently in the U.S.

The government have already tried to regulate the MMO industry. This may be a bit hard for others to grasp, but China is trying to maintain its old ideals towards ..everything, but especially education.

MMORPG is one of the most ...shall we say distracting? things in regards to education. The Chinese government have already placed in a system known as "Fang Chen Mi," or literally "Anti-addiction." but it doesn't quite work well.

How the system works is that it requires the players to register using a Chinese Social Security ID, and it limits the numbers of hours a non-mature (person under 18) they can spend per day. On the game I played for a while, Demi-Gods and Semi Devils (Based on a Kungfu novel by Louis Cha), a minor is limited to 3 hours per day before EXP is cut in half, up to a maximum of five hours, which then you would be prevented from logging in altogether.

However, the system isn't working. Social Security Generators, in addition to the reluctance of companys to adhere to this standard makes this policy extremely difficult to enforce. Thus, the recent cracking-down to me seems to be more like a last resort than anything.

A point of interest: most of the newer MMORPGs made in China are item mall based, while the older ones with larger followings are based on monthly subscriptions. You can see why some of the companies are so against governmental regulations. 

In my hometown of Harbin, when I visited a few years ago, the owner of a NetCafe sold "Adult IDs" to students who wished to beat the system. =\

Corruption? I think so too. But more importantly, you have to look at where Chinese society is going. Gone were the days of confucian ideals and the stereotyped Asian. The majority now follows "Xiang Qian Kan," or literally "Look forward." This is a pun on "Look to the money."

Family is still valued, Bobfish, but it is disappearing. If I can blame you "Imperalist Capitalist Pigs" or whatever new label they came up with (it was Dog of Imperialism when I left China,) it's the utter devastation and corruption of the Chinese youth.

OH MY GOD. THEY ARE ACTUALLY THINKING FOR THEMSELVES FOR ONCE. THAT IS BAD!!

(Sarcasm should also be dripping off your screen at the moment.)

No, but going back to my point. I think the liberalization of China causes disappearances of traditional values. When I went back to my hometown and visited my old elementary school, every single child there told me they wanted to make money. Every. Single. One.

China, in my humble opinion has ceased to be a "communist" society. Its market mechanism lacks monitoring as China gets cheated out of taxes (if you look at Chinese News, you'll see a ton of stuff like this), its society leans towards a one-party dictatorship with succession among party lines, and civil rights is really nonexistant. 

I should know. I know people who got banned from MMOs because they were discussing politics. Isn't it nice how if we were in China right now the JFJ would be at your doors with a warrant of arrest now?

I read the article with mixed feelings. I am Chinese by ethnicity. I identify myself as American. I....

Aw, hell. Well. It's about damn time they did SOMETHING about it. My cousin's addicted to one of those himself.

thnx for that breath of reality there

:)

thought this was a discussion of chinese regulations, not gold sellers?

and what is the problem with gold sellers anyway?? i bought the game, i made the char, i farmed the gold.. let me do whatever the hell i want with it.. currently i only play wow and on my server the only "problem" is the trade chat spam.. annoying to look at, but i dont see it ruining the game economy.. and if blizz really wanted to handle the "problem" why not just ban all the farming/selling accounts? having to buy new accounts all the time would shurely put em out of bizz in the end.. same thing with BG leechers.. have a gm monitor the BG's just one hour a day and ban the leechers from BG's for a week.. within a month there would be allmost none left im shure.. tbh i dont think blizz care, they just make semi-regulations on theese issues to silence the whiners..

but actually, if i bought 5000g i might be able to buy your world drop epic you couldnt sell before.. and then u can buy something from someone else and so on.. in the end it will make anyone buying/selling stuff richer...

yeah gold farmers are paid crap.. compared to our western standards.. a lot of em make a decent living that way.. it enables em to save up a couple of years and move on to something theyd rather do.. and a lot of em go to a cafe and play on their own account when they get off from work..

now whats really ruining economy (in wow) is S1 gear for honor.. craftable epics is so much harder to sell now.. gj blizz! but nah, lets blame the gold farmers...

Originally posted by Raistlin25

Family is still valued, Bobfish, but it is disappearing. If I can blame you "Imperalist Capitalist Pigs" or whatever new label they came up with (it was Dog of Imperialism when I left China,) it's the utter devastation and corruption of the Chinese youth.

This is a shame in my opinion, it's one of the few developed countries I've been to that has proper values and manners. I am though getting old myself and I guess these values will be lost in all countries eventually.

Originally posted by cobbsie

 

Originally posted by Hexxeity

P.S.  Yes, all men do have to serve in the military when they turn 18, but for how long I do not know.

 

much as they do in some scandinavian and european countries as in national service

 

 

If you continue on the subject of this kind of national service it has in many countries around the world been the spark that creates democracy, that if I and everyone I know is ready to go to war for this country, I want it to be my country.

If the problem is GOLDSELLERS, the solution is DON'T BUY GOLD.

I have never bought any sort of in game item off a vendor outside the game.  I don't ever intend to.  If you want to stop the goldsellers, don't buy the gold.  Simple solution.

Oh, and I know it's impossible to stop.  There are always going to be morons who must have a billion gold or be power leveled to the top.  But if only we could get rid of those idjits... LOL  Anyway, I'll keep doing my part by not buying if you will keep doing your part.

Good Hunting.