<story><title>Fortnite and the Good Life</title><url>https://tinyletter.com/lmsacasas/letters/the-convivial-society-no-15-fortnite-and-the-good-life</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dna113</author><text>As someone who spent much their teens logged into World of Warcraft, I wish people would be a bit more open minded about this.&lt;p&gt;Someone like Prince Harry saying that Fortnite is a waste of time, is seriously damaging to the image someone might have of themselves playing it. I doubt Prince Harry has got the first clue, and his opinion of it being a waste of time is totally subjective.&lt;p&gt;It took me probably a decade until I realized that the large chunk of my teens I spent logged in to World of Warcraft were not a blemish on my life. The game had so much depth, it was incredibly challenging, and the social aspect was a huge part of it. My family and our societies negative view of the game encouraged a negative view of myself, seeing as I enjoyed it so much.&lt;p&gt;Of course you should encourage variety, but let your kid play the fuckin game!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>brightball</author><text>Having spent a ton of my teens playing online games, I agree with you to a point.&lt;p&gt;It’s also a little dismissive to assume that this is just like every other game. There are so many psychological tricks going on to add a “feeder pellet” aspect to some games today that they are truly designed to be addictive. Games with in app purchases or ads, are usually built for it. Games that have timed reward systems to incentivize you to keep coming back at that same time every day are also part of it. You see these systems with most of the “free” games on touch screens and as a parent I can tell you that my children are significantly different playing them vs playing any other game with their friends (even online). It’s a noticeable enough and shocking enough behavioral change that you have to remove it.&lt;p&gt;When not having access to a game for a certain period of time creates anger or tears, it’s no longer just a game.</text></comment>
<story><title>Fortnite and the Good Life</title><url>https://tinyletter.com/lmsacasas/letters/the-convivial-society-no-15-fortnite-and-the-good-life</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dna113</author><text>As someone who spent much their teens logged into World of Warcraft, I wish people would be a bit more open minded about this.&lt;p&gt;Someone like Prince Harry saying that Fortnite is a waste of time, is seriously damaging to the image someone might have of themselves playing it. I doubt Prince Harry has got the first clue, and his opinion of it being a waste of time is totally subjective.&lt;p&gt;It took me probably a decade until I realized that the large chunk of my teens I spent logged in to World of Warcraft were not a blemish on my life. The game had so much depth, it was incredibly challenging, and the social aspect was a huge part of it. My family and our societies negative view of the game encouraged a negative view of myself, seeing as I enjoyed it so much.&lt;p&gt;Of course you should encourage variety, but let your kid play the fuckin game!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>UnpossibleJim</author><text>Am I the only one who feels like this is another echo of moral panic of the great Dungeons &amp;amp; Dragons scare of the mid eighties, which then morphed into the WoW scare of the early 2000&amp;#x27;s, which has now morphed into the Fortnite scare of 2019? It seems like every 20ish years there is a new and terrible game for parents, media and establishment to find and reach perfect harmony about that coalesces into a cry of &amp;quot;What about the children?!&amp;quot; all the way t Capital Hill and beyond. Ugh.</text></comment>