As I said in another comment, I think this industry is still in its infancy and getting a lot of its mechanics worked out. I don't honestly believe we make a game targeted to addicts, otherwise I could not work there in good conscience. But I'm also not ignorant in thinking that addicts aren't part of our userbase.
The question that confronts me when I go into work everyday is how can we make this game fun for everyone, and how can we make money in a non-destructive, ethical manner?
>how can we make money in a non-destructive, ethical manner
I have an answer, provide people with tools that make their lives better. Does the service you're providing actually make people's lives better. And I don't mean does it make their lives more entertaining. There's no objective way to measure this, so it comes down to a VALUE judgement. YOUR value judgement. And it's not about making money, it's about making products, services and tools, for people. For people, like you, me and your mom, and my mom.
Also you said 'These users even have names. They're called "whales"'. No that's not their names, their names are bob, joan, mike, susan blah blah blah even if you don't have those names in the data, they exist. seriously, its easy to forget when you abstract them away, but there are actual humans at the end of each one of those clicks.
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As I said in another comment, I think this industry is still in its infancy and getting a lot of its mechanics worked out. I don't honestly believe we make a game targeted to addicts, otherwise I could not work there in good conscience. But I'm also not ignorant in thinking that addicts aren't part of our userbase.
The question that confronts me when I go into work everyday is how can we make this game fun for everyone, and how can we make money in a non-destructive, ethical manner?
>how can we make money in a non-destructive, ethical manner
I have an answer, provide people with tools that make their lives better. Does the service you're providing actually make people's lives better. And I don't mean does it make their lives more entertaining. There's no objective way to measure this, so it comes down to a VALUE judgement. YOUR value judgement. And it's not about making money, it's about making products, services and tools, for people. For people, like you, me and your mom, and my mom.
Also you said 'These users even have names. They're called "whales"'. No that's not their names, their names are bob, joan, mike, susan blah blah blah even if you don't have those names in the data, they exist. seriously, its easy to forget when you abstract them away, but there are actual humans at the end of each one of those clicks.
Entertainment has value.
So why don't you put a strict limit/spend limit on the game? Because you don't care about the ethics, except insofar as it sticks to you.