reading Addiction by Design by Natasha Schull and it is seriously horrifying. we talk a lot of the need for CS majors to take ethics classes, but i have a growing conviction that we need this for video game designers as well -- this should be required reading for every designer everywhere - ThreadSky

joeyschutz.bsky.social • 12 days ago

reading Addiction by Design by Natasha Schull and it is seriously horrifying. we talk a lot of the need for CS majors to take ethics classes, but i have a growing conviction that we need this for video game designers as well -- this should be required reading for every designer everywhere

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aaaaa.bsky.social•12 days ago

if the economy depends on the theft of peoples attention no ethic class will help w that 😭

joeyschutz.bsky.social•12 days ago

i feel like right now there's not even an awareness of these forces, like we're thoughtlessly replicating systems of addiction, proliferating these brain prisons, sometimes in places where we aren't necessarily aware we are even doing that (believing we are chasing "good design")

aaaaa.bsky.social•12 days ago

yes! and on another note, still need to hear your presentation on postmodernism sometime soon :/

joeyschutz.bsky.social•12 days ago

true...perhaps i'll start working on the slides this weekend, sounds fun to return to mr fredric :)

charlesjpratt.bsky.social•12 days ago

She came and gave a talk on this book at the Game Center years ago. It's probably still on our YouTube channel if we recorded it

hotlocalwizards.bsky.social•12 days ago

yes-- i think this is one of the distressing lacks in chronically AAA-apologetic games education.

Alfie Bown's "Playstation Dreamworld" (from like 2011? 2012?) touches on this sort of thing from a Lacanian angle. the first chapter on Pokemon Go feels like it foretold stuff in our present landscape.

hotlocalwizards.bsky.social•12 days ago

Nir Eyal's frankly horrifying "Hooked" is a series of case studies on how to successfully implement habit-formation in digital products. it's totally straight, & i think even he can tell that he's doing something bad, but he finds elaborate excuses for why it's o.k.

disgusting, but very instructive

hotlocalwizards.bsky.social•12 days ago

very excited to talk to you in person about all this sometime. i think we're at a good moment-- as the Big Money in game dev becomes all too casual with its economic brutalities-- for promoting more humane, hyperlocal, & life-affirming approaches to game making.

joeyschutz.bsky.social•12 days ago

yes would love to chat about it! having many thoughts...and would love to hear yours :)

follysoft.bsky.social•12 days ago

This is the kind of thing that bothers me seeing viral videos online of people getting attacked or going through something where they could clearly use some help... How are bystanders so reflexive to pull out their phones and start recording rather than help out or call 911?

itsbibs.bsky.social•12 days ago

beyond the casino, I feel like this happens in sports all the time. players continue to run the ball if a player is down, etc. when the stakes are so high, physical injury essentially jettisons the individual out of the magic circle, a breach of contract. everyone else left inside is myopic.

itsbibs.bsky.social•12 days ago

refs, casino floor workers, etc are not just rule enforcers but are also like pillows catching players as they’re jettisoned out.

joeyschutz.bsky.social•12 days ago

yeah what's hitting home for me is that this problem goes way beyond casinos, loot boxes, whatever, that there is a crass and evil weaponization of addiction all throughout games, especially video games. will be raving about this at boshis in more detail, still sorting my thoughts lol

droqen.bsky.social•12 days ago

kill gameplay kill gameplay

dannyhawk.com•12 days ago

My undergrad was incessant in letting us know that there are “great jobs in slots” for us

joeyschutz.bsky.social•12 days ago

for me this goes beyond slots! so much in video games is built on addiction, oblivion of the player

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