Meanwhile in South Korea...

[Spadow]

The 'Shutdown' system was a controversial bill and with unanimous votes it passed through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Korea. The bill became law and the 'Shutdown' system was implemented to all games. Restricting game play of users who are under the age of 16 between midnight and 6 AM.

Now, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has introduced a new bill, the 'Cooling Off' system to strengthen their goal to combat game addiction.

Cooling Off system
All minor users who play a game for more than 2 hours will automatically disconnect from the game to ''cool off'' for 10 minutes. After the cooling off period of 10 minutes is over, you are allowed to reconnect 1 more time. Thus restricting you to 4 hours of game play each day.

Developers and publishers who do not implement the 'Cooling Off' system into their game will be punished. Punishment can be up to three years of imprisonment or be fined 30 million KRW.



I found this recently uploaded video on YouTube, it might clarify some stuff to you about what's going on in South Korea related to gaming right now...

[Ryukiroku]

Well that's pineappleed up.

[Raul]

Well pineapple.
This isn't...
I don't even.
If this pomegranate passes, I'm going to flip a pomegranate.

[Rain]

am I the only one who thinks this is a good idea?
(provided that they don't make anymore bills like this)

[Sarah]

I kind of think it's a good idea. It's way too easy to get distracted by games and not do what you need to. Especially for teenagers, this habits need to be knocked out early.

Though I guess the problem is that all a kid needs to do is pick up a console game once their four hours are up, or log onto a different mmo. Not going to stop anything.

[Words]

I kind of think it's a good idea. It's way too easy to get distracted by games and not do what you need to. Especially for teenagers, this habits need to be knocked out early.

Though I guess the problem is that all a kid needs to do is pick up a console game once their four hours are up, or log onto a different mmo. Not going to stop anything.

This.
Hope the bill only addresses stuff like that and it doesn't become something awful

[Even]

I think this is a stupid idea, you can prevent them from playing late but limiting them on time...? This will destroy the purpose of items like 90 day shop on maple :S

[Ouchiess]

I kind of think it's a good idea. It's way too easy to get distracted by games and not do what you need to. Especially for teenagers, this habits need to be knocked out early.

Though I guess the problem is that all a kid needs to do is pick up a console game once their four hours are up, or log onto a different mmo. Not going to stop anything.

That's exactly the point, this isn't going to stop anything.

Midnight ban I think was a good idea, preventing people from playing from 12am to 7am isn't that bad as most people will go to sleep, but restricting playtime to 4hrs is just dumb.


South Korea is taking what parents should be responsible for and taking it as their own responsibly. I'm pretty sure that's a violation of human rights.

[Raul]

[Today 06:00 PM] Ouchiess: >Gaming is largest industry in south Korea
[Today 06:00 PM] Ouchiess: >Lets pineapple it over
[Today 06:00 PM] Ouchiess: >We're smart!
[Today 06:01 PM] KremeChoco: inorite.
It's ineffective and damaging.

[Kirov]

Play 4 hours of one game then 4 hours of another?

[Tay]

I'm kind of split, I do not think it's the governments place to be doing something that the child's parents should be doing. However, from what I understand this is a reallllllly big problem in Korea. It just kind of seems like the government is over stepping it's power, controlling it's people more than representing them. I may completely stupid and wrong, but whatever.

[Luxeraph]

...
How is this bad?
It just regulates it for kids younger than 16 years (btw wasn't the one not letting you play at night 18+?) and on the highly addictive MMOs or does it also regulates consoles?

I find the video quite funny since they make it seem like they are violating a right, video games specially ones without a clear goal are highly addictive (I as most gamers know its true) and at those years when we find something fun to do, we might even do it till death, so I don't see the problem of letting kids grow a bit before giving them full responsability on how much they'll play, also taking in mind that in South Korea the gaming addiction is quite bad (or at least thats how they media show it, making even documentals about it).

The video is almost saying that is wrong to not let the kids smoke or drink alcohol (I know those things are worse but they are also addictive) because its taking from them the right of free will.

[Raul]

...
How is this bad?
It just regulates it for kids younger than 16 years (btw wasn't the one not letting you play at night 18+?) and on the highly addictive MMOs or does it also regulates consoles?

I find the video quite funny since they make it seem like they are violating a right, video games specially ones without a clear goal are highly addictive (I as most gamers know its true) and at those years when we find something fun to do, we might even do it till death, so I don't see the problem of letting kids grow a bit before giving them full responsability on how much they'll play, also taking in mind that in South Korea the gaming addiction is quite bad (or at least thats how they media show it, making even documentals about it).

The video is almost saying that is wrong to not let the kids smoke or drink alcohol (I know those things are worse but they are also addictive) because its taking from them the right of free will.

The thing is those aren't illegal because they're addictive, they're illegal because they're dangerous.

[Words]

The thing is those aren't illegal because they're addictive, they're illegal because they're dangerous.

Addiction to videogames are dangerous too.
Extreme cases or Big Bang Theory's Penny cases are just as bad.

[Devil]

Reaction from 16year old gamers (and younger):

OMG OMG OMGGGGGGGGGG NOW I WILL NEVER REACH LVL200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:')

Reaction from Nexon:
Introduces 4x exp cards

=======================

No really, this is an excellent decision, 4 hours of gaming at the age of 16 is more then enough...

[sinisterboy9]

I am ambivalent towards this...

First of all, it may be hard for even nations like America to relate, but gaming addiction in South Korea is extremely severe. Clearly, some action is needed to mitigate youth from playing games for prolonged periods of time, and this bill--while drastic--seems to somewhat get the job done. In that sense I agree with this bill.

However, it should not be the government's responsibility to impose such laws, which harms the gaming industry and may gives Korean parents (who mostly are damn strict) even more power.

I also worry because Koreans (speaking as one), being very passionate people (yes I'm generalizing), can get extremely aggressive and violent when provoked. This is more than provocative...

Overall I think this bill should be passed though. Once the initial outrage passes, youth will start to realize what they've been missing out on.

[Luxeraph]

Overall I think this bill should be passed though. Once the initial outrage passes, youth will start to realize what they've been missing out on.

Till they turn 17 in which they'll have a big sleep over party to celebrate they can play for 24 hours straight (you know how kids do with beer and turning 21).

[Corn]

I'm thinking it's good. It's only for minors.

Trolololol.

[Kalovale]

Why should the government be allowed to decide that 4 hours a day is appropriate for EVERY child, though?

[masterzero]

What if you manually close the client before the 2 hour limit and then log in again ? does it say something of that ? although it would be a dumb way to bypass it... I only see the "play for more than 2 hours" o.o