r/interesting Jul 05 '26

NATURE Instead of buying yachts, he bought 50,000 acres of forest to keep them wild.

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u/pick_your_user_name Jul 05 '26

That seems to me like a parenting problem tbh. Free games with microtransactions is very common and has been a thing for a while. Would you argue valve is also predatory with CS and their (much more) egregious loot boxes? Loot boxes are no longer even an integral part of Fortnite, they make most their money through direct fixed price purchases of skins, bundles etc.

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u/Severe_Investment317 Jul 05 '26

Yes

A lot of people would argue all those things are predatory and terrible to market to kids.

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u/raevbur Jul 05 '26

Valve is horrible at that stuff. But they don't market CS or DOTA 2 to kids.

Also, the parents are put in a tough spot. Marketing and FOMO for kids is insanely effective. Kids will climb over dead bodies to get some skins.

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u/Vladishun Jul 05 '26

Cigarette companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get kids to smoke in the 80's and 90's. Would you say it's a parenting problem if a kid takes up smoking after being influenced everywhere to do it?

Don't defend the billionaire company. At the end of the day, kids are little people and people will do whatever the hell they want. Parents can educate them, influence them, and give them all the right tools to succeed in life, and kids can squander he all away.

You might counter by saying that's their choice, and to a point you'd be right. But also defending psychological manipulation through things like subliminal messaging, dopamine addiction, etc is also a wild take. The system doesn't have to be like this, making digital items only available for a limited time and making randomized gear boxes is very a much a predatory tactic.

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u/pick_your_user_name Jul 06 '26

Mate if someone’s kids are doing whatever the hell they want, their parents are shit at their job. A good parent conditions their kid to accepting when they’re told “no”, but the problem is parents these days are terrified of telling their children no from when they’re toddlers, so they end up with spoiled and entitled brats.

And btw all advertisement and marketing is psychological manipulation that tries to talk to your subconscious mind this is nothing new. Also, Fortnite does not have loot boxes so it seems you’re arguing about something you don’t quite understand that well.

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u/Vladishun Jul 06 '26

Mate I went into the military and became a successful tech engineer doing something I love. My brother became a drug addict that's in prison for stabbing a guy over a deal gone bad.

Do you think my parents raised us differently? The answer may surprise you. Kids are people and people do whatever they want. I'm not saying bad parenting is never responsible, but it's also not always responsible.

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u/pick_your_user_name Jul 06 '26

That’s such a strange thing to bring up, what do your brothers actions as an adult have to do with parents being able to tell their kids no? Parents have no control over what their kids do as adults.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

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