As a third side to the discussion, I do have my reservations about age verification, but then I don’t mind such mechanics being banned completely. PEGI, to my mind, severely underplays the issues involved.
It’s extremely easy to cross the line between “oh, you’re back! Here’s something small and nice to set you for a good gaming session” and “oh no, you didn’t come to the game, now your weekly/monthly streak is gone and the main reward you wanted and all your friends have is now forever unattainable”.
Most games, unfortunately, opt for the latter, focusing on FOMO and driving anxiety as the key factor to force people to play. Games should be something unimportant, something that is there and waits for you to finish with what matters. Not a second job that it became for many.
…and yes, battle pass is also an engagement mechanic of a similar kind and needs to be eliminated for much the same reasons.
As a third side to the discussion, I do have my reservations about age verification, but then I don’t mind such mechanics being banned completely. PEGI, to my mind, severely underplays the issues involved.
It’s extremely easy to cross the line between “oh, you’re back! Here’s something small and nice to set you for a good gaming session” and “oh no, you didn’t come to the game, now your weekly/monthly streak is gone and the main reward you wanted and all your friends have is now forever unattainable”.
Most games, unfortunately, opt for the latter, focusing on FOMO and driving anxiety as the key factor to force people to play. Games should be something unimportant, something that is there and waits for you to finish with what matters. Not a second job that it became for many.
…and yes, battle pass is also an engagement mechanic of a similar kind and needs to be eliminated for much the same reasons.
Patterns don’t have to be dark to be problematic.