China blocks online gamers from playing for more than 3 consecutive hours

[Soln]

http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=4913

China blocks online gamers from playing for more than 3 consecutive hours
 

By Faye Wang

Shanghai.  August 23.  INTERFAX-CHINA - The Chinese Government unveiled a new system Tuesday to prevent individuals from playing online games for more than three consecutive hours, which must be installed for every online game in the country.

"This timing mechanism can prevent young people from becoming addicted to online games," Kou Xiaowei, Deputy Director of the Audiovisual and Internet Publication Department of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), said during a press conference.

The new system, developed under the guidance of the GAPP, stops individuals from playing online games for more than three hours by cutting the abilities of game characters. The new system cuts the ability level of a player's online game character by half after he or she has played for more than three consecutive hours. Once a player has played for more than five consecutive hours, the system cuts the ability level of that player's character to the lowest level allowed by the game.

The system also lowers the ability of players to find treasures or prizes available in an online game after they have played for more than three consecutive hours.

Furthermore, the system keeps track of hours of play. Individuals who immediately log back onto a game after three hours of consecutive play will continue to have the ability of their game character lowered by the system. Players must be logged off for a minimum of five hours before the system resets.

The GAPP has defined the playing of online games for less than three consecutive hours as "healthy," playing three to five consecutive hours as "tiring," and playing for more than five consecutive hours as "unhealthy." 

In addition, seven of China's largest online gaming firms pledged Tuesday to "sacrifice short-term revenues" to create a "healthy" environment for young internet users. Companies signing onto the "Beijing Accord" were Shanda, NetEase, The9, Optisp, Kingsoft, SINA, and Sohu. These seven companies also pledged to deploy the system when development is completed.

Development of the system is scheduled for completion at the end of September 2005. Internal testing is scheduled to begin in October of 2005. After internal testing, trial operations of the system will be held using the games "The Legend of Mir II" and "The World of Legend" operated by Shanda, "Westward Journey Online" and "Fantasy Westward Journey Online" operated by NetEase, "World of Warcraft" and "MU" operated by The9, "JX Online" and "First Myth Online" operated by Kingsoft, "The Legend of Mir 3G" operated by Optisp, "Lineage II" operated by SINA, and "Blade Online" operated by Sohu.

Compulsory deployment of the new system is expected to begin for all massive multiplayer online role-playing games and casual games in China in late 2005 or early 2006.

incredible and costly, and realistic?

Edit: WoW and Lineage emphasis

[Trippy]

In addition, seven of China's largest online gaming firms pledged Tuesday to "sacrifice short-term revenues" to create a "healthy" environment for young internet users. Companies signing onto the "Beijing Accord" were Shanda, NetEase, The9, Optisp, Kingsoft, SINA, and Sohu. These seven companies also pledged to deploy the system when development is completed.

Like they had any fricking choice in the matter.

[Dren]

Are they instituting the same thing for watching T.V.?  How about for watching long sporting events?  Does long travelling have to be limited too?  Will trains stop every 3 hours to let people off and jog for 5 hours before continuing on?

Why are 3 hours of playing a game online more unhealthy than 3 hours of sitting on your ass sewing clothes or writing a novel/article or accounting/finance/programming/etc. If 3 hours of repetitive low-activity actions is the cause for unhealthy issues, there are a ton of other sources for that.

Insane.

[Calantus]

The chinese guilds are gonna have SO much fun learning new raid instances.

[Soln]

The chinese guilds are gonna have SO much fun learning new raid instances.

they will be power-raiding indeed.  If this happens, imagine all the off-line organization that will happen.  Those guys will be focused and definitely 4tehwin

[Merusk]

This was mentioned back when China banned the under-18s from playing any game that had PKing in it as well.  They're focusing on cracking-down on games recently.

As for watching TV, the stations in China are state-owned like they were in Russia aren't they?  It's one thing to allow folks to watch extened hours of propaganda, and another to allow them to assemble in PC-cafes and be exposed to non-state-controlled media for extended hours.

[Dren]

This was mentioned back when China banned the under-18s from playing any game that had PKing in it as well.  They're focusing on cracking-down on games recently.

As for watching TV, the stations in China are state-owned like they were in Russia aren't they?  It's one thing to allow folks to watch extened hours of propaganda, and another to allow them to assemble in PC-cafes and be exposed to non-state-controlled media for extended hours.

Yeah, I know.  I was just being snarky before.  They basically want people to work, sleep and maybe eat.  Anything outside of that isn't good for the state.

[El Gallo]

Are they instituting the same thing for watching T.V.?  How about for watching long sporting events?  Does long travelling have to be limited too?  Will trains stop every 3 hours to let people off and jog for 5 hours before continuing on?

Why are 3 hours of playing a game online more unhealthy than 3 hours of sitting on your ass sewing clothes or writing a novel/article or accounting/finance/programming/etc. If 3 hours of repetitive low-activity actions is the cause for unhealthy issues, there are a ton of other sources for that.

Insane.

Insane to compare writing a novel with farming Argent Dawn faction?  Yes.  Very much so.

[Merusk]

Thinking about this, I'm more interested in knowing how they're going to make this work. That's a bunch of diverse codebases to have one single program or plug-in reduce the effectiveness of the character in the ways they describe.   Unless it's going to induce huge amounts of pinglag, I don't know how you're going to make a level 60 in wow fight like a level 30 after 3 hours, and then a level 1 after 5 hours while doing the same thing to a character in L2.

[shiznitz]

1) Doesn't this fuck IGE in some way? Just hoping. Hard to farm at half power.

2) Isn't this a profit bonanza for the MMOG companies? No more bandwidth hogs, but no lost subscriptions.

3) Isn't this good for any players NOT in China? I mean, not living in China ia good on its own, but this sounds like less lag for everyone else.

[Signe]

Of course, you do realise, that China has just invested a shit load of $$ into developing their own MMOs.  They will be developed and run by the government.  If people subscribe by the month and are limited to 3 hours per day... the Imperial Office of Online Gaming will have a right fluff time of it, won't they?  Of course, I should think that an addict or farmer would have multiple accounts, anyway.

It's hard to imagine a company going along with this sort of nonsense... but, then, China has a LOT of people and it might be hard for some to give up that sort of revenue.

[Dren]

Insane to compare writing a novel with farming Argent Dawn faction?  Yes.  Very much so.

Both have you sitting at a computer clicking the mouse and keypad for hours.  That is the comparison.  It was mainly a joke.  Sorry to confuse you.

[Nebu]

12:00pm : China implements 3h restriction on MMOG play.

12:02pm : Chinese programmer anonymously develops and implements program to work around said 3h restriction.

Repeat the cycle a few times.

People being innovative will find early cracks in the system.  As the poster has stated above, this is a nice way to make gaming in China more profitable while maintaining the air of being more "family friendly".  Not a bad marketing scheme really.  The alternative would be that people will a) have multiple accounts or b) have accounts on multiple games.  I really don't think they'll see the results they were hoping for.

[Merusk]

Thing is, you all are assuming that the sign-up process for games in China is similar to the US.  If you recall from the PK story when everyone was questioning how you'd enforce it, one of the stories mentioned that all games accounts were linked to your state ID#.  Fucking with that in China (i.e. duping one, or 'borrowing' someone's) is likely to get you shot.

I can see this as pretty enforcable, in that country. Not so much anywhere else.

[Nebu]

Though not necessarily in China, we have seen:

People playing until they died.

People killing eachother over items/accounts.

The addiction is strong in some people. That's all I'm saying.

[shiznitz]

The article says this will be part of the game's code. How is one going to hack around the server clocks to make 3 hours look like 1 hour?

[HaemishM]

WoW profit ++

[Bunk]

As Nebu brings up, my first thought was -  why wouldn't all of the game companies agree? It just means more people buying multiple accounts.

[Merusk]

As Nebu brings up, my first thought was -  why wouldn't all of the game companies agree? It just means more people buying multiple accounts.

Thing is, you all are assuming that the sign-up process for games in China is similar to the US. If you recall from the PK story when everyone was questioning how you'd enforce it, one of the stories mentioned that all games accounts were linked to your state ID#. [/b]Fucking with that in China (i.e. duping one, or 'borrowing' someone's) is likely to get you shot.

I can see this as pretty enforcable, in that country. Not so much anywhere else.

[Nebu]

Thing is, you all are assuming that the sign-up process for games in China is similar to the US.  If you recall from the PK story when everyone was questioning how you'd enforce it, one of the stories mentioned that all games accounts were linked to your state ID#.  Fucking with that in China (i.e. duping one, or 'borrowing' someone's) is likely to get you shot.

I can see this as pretty enforcable, in that country. Not so much anywhere else.

I'll concede that this would likely limit the play of each account to 3h, but I see no reason why someone couldn't play multiple accounts consecutively.  By using ID#'s from non-gaming relatives for example. 

Edit: My comments on hacking were more for comic value and demonstrate my lack of insight.

[HaemishM]

As Nebu brings up, my first thought was -  why wouldn't all of the game companies agree? It just means more people buying multiple accounts.

Or just using less bandwidth, but paying the same amount monthly. Operation costs go down while revenue remains steady = more profit.

[Merusk]

I'll concede that this would likely limit the play of each account to 3h, but I see no reason why someone couldn't play multiple accounts consecutively.  By using ID#'s from non-gaming relatives for example. 

Do you go around using your relative's Social Security numbers on a whim?  Now think about doing the same thing in an opressive regime where people are shot for tax fraud. Abusing your "papers" in such a manner is at least equaly bad as tax fraud to a beuracrat. This is not something you can apply American thought processes and understandings based on our freedoms to.

[Nebu]

"Would I?" and "Would someone else?" are very different questions.  I've spent time in China and realize that while the government structure has some striking differences from ours, the people aren't all that different from people elsewhere in the world. 

Simply stated: When you impose restrictions on people's free will, all that usually results is a black market.  Telling people how long they can do something they wish to do longer will produce a workaround, legal or not. So yes, I expect people that are addicted to gaming to find ways around these restrictions and they will vary in degree. 

I really think that all this mandate will do is improve profits for the gaming companies and encourage more companies to implement versions of their games in China.  Maybe that's all it's designed to do.   

FWIW: The government can't possibly have the resources to monitor who is using what ID for a video game.  I'm sure people that are able to overcome their fear of the government will know this. 

[Roac]

FWIW: The government can't possibly have the resources to monitor who is using what ID for a video game.  I'm sure people that are able to overcome their fear of the government will know this. 

I would doubt that playing a video game is much of a worthwhile issue to take a stand on, in a country well known for its human rights violations.

[Dren]

Though not necessarily in China, we have seen:

People playing until they died.

People killing eachother over items/accounts.

The addiction is strong in some people. That's all I'm saying.

True, but it is a new addiction and needs to be compared to the old addictions before one determines something *has* to be done.  While we hear about maybe a monthly occurence of issues, that is probably a small blip on the radar screen when compared to drug addiction for instance.  This smells like good old American style politician shenanigans.  Throw a stupid control idea on something that is perceived as an issue because it has a lot of attention today.

[Roac]

This smells like good old American style politician shenanigans.  Throw a stupid control idea on something that is perceived as an issue because it has a lot of attention today.

Heh.  No.  American politics are what they are largely because the politicians have to look good to the people so that they get re-elected.  Chinese politicians don't have to give two shits about the people. 

[tazelbain]

Doesn't it make you happy to know our trade deficit is going to support worthwhile projects like this?

[Samprimary]

This was mentioned back when China banned the under-18s from playing any game that had PKing in it as well.  They're focusing on cracking-down on games recently.

As for watching TV, the stations in China are state-owned like they were in Russia aren't they?  It's one thing to allow folks to watch extened hours of propaganda, and another to allow them to assemble in PC-cafes and be exposed to non-state-controlled media for extended hours.

The Chinese government is experimenting heavily in curbing public dissent through a North-Korea styled method of control, wherein reality is invented by media dissemination controlled by the government. Only shit the central government approves of gets through to them at all, and it works pretty decently, allowing the Communist party to fall deeper into corruption and self-serving aggrandization while keeping the populace short-leashed and well heeled.

I talked to a person who had just arrived from a summer at his family home in China. I asked him about the farmer riots and mass imprisonments going on in China right now. He had no idea what I was talking about.

[Llava]

Hm.

Think this will have any impact on the development process?

That is to say, if Chinese folks are limited to 3 hours of play, do you think developers will stop expecting more than 2 hours of consecutive play for a raid?

Not likely unless they see a hit in their wallets as a direct result of this.  If enough people say "I'd like to play MMOGs, but with the 3 hour time limit it's pointless because you can't do anything productive in 3 hours" then this could actually end up helping.

But altogether, not too likely.

Would be nice, though.  Raids wouldn't be so bad if developers didn't think it was fun to sit on your ass for 7 hours, 3 of them waiting to form the perfect army of 50% the least popular class in the game, 35% the second least, and 15% the most popular, 0% the other 15 classes in the game.

[HaemishM]

You know, this really wouldn't be that hard for WoW to program in. They already have something similar in the rest system. Just set up something so that if you are not rested, you get a form of resurrection sickness that fits each of the stages of the government-mandated level reductions.

[Simond]

Wonder where IGE is going to move to now?

[Llava]

[Yegolev]

This thread is too long for my joke to work now.  I'll be playing Puzzle Pirates.

[sarius]

Wonder where IGE is going to move to now?

I'm sure they'll find a place full of young victims.

[Abel]

As I'm actually typing this from China I can enlighten you on quite a few points:


1)

Why are 3 hours of playing a game online more unhealthy than 3 hours of sitting on your ass sewing clothes or writing a novel/article or accounting/finance/programming/etc.

As you probably know, MMO's in China are huge and basically mainstream entertainment for the younger generations. Addiction has caused some social problems and the governement decided to step in. Not a good idea probably, but the Chinese governement likes to regulate a lot of their citizens' lives, at the least on paper.


2) China has a huge bureaucracy and tons of regulation in place. As a result much of the regulation is badly or not controled at all. China is *NOT* 1984, there is actually a lot of “freedom", as long as you don't really pose any threat to the Chinese governement. Rules are broken all the time everywhere, depending on how much effort is done in actually enforcing them. A couple of examples: piracy is strictly forbidden and there are stringent regulations to ensure good working conditions. In reality piracy is rampant and working conditions are usually awful.
From what I read the rule has been introduced by the same state agency (GAPP) that gives licenses to MMO's, so in this case it looks they'll have to comply if they're allowed on the market. It's unsure though what the GAPP will do against players who try to circumvent the system. Frankly I don't think they'll be able to do much at all.


3)

As for watching TV, the stations in China are state-owned like they were in Russia aren't they?

A large number are, but there are also a growing number of private TV stations which spew out the usual commercial crap. There is propaganda on the state channels, but it's not as bad as you might think and noone will force you to sit through it. Just zap to that funky quiz on the other channel.


4) I played both DAoC and CoH without any trouble from China, so that's already one big hole in their regulation. Have to say though that not many Chinese have credit cards.
Also there are plenty of other non-MMO online games, often free, which do not fall under this rule. Also there are pirated versions of Lineage II on the market (and possible other MMO's), which I suppose won't be regulated either.


5)

I talked to a person who had just arrived from a summer at his family home in China. I asked him about the farmer riots and mass imprisonments going on in China right now. He had no idea what I was talking about.

The problem here is that Western news sources in China are often suspect too. With both Chinese and Western sources not very reliable, it's actually very difficult to tell what is exactly happening.
There is certainly some dissent formenting among parts of the Chinese population, but it's impossible to accuratly gauge it. Chinese in any case are far less indoctrinated then North Koreans, those are in a totally different league alltogether.


6)

Chinese politicians don't have to give two shits about the people.

 

Chinese politicians generally worry a lot about the people. Their whole economic reform is aimed at pleasing the people. The basic idea is that dissent will be extinguished by improving living conditions. People whose economical condition is improving won't complain, even if they're under a violent dictature, as they're too busy trying to get rich.
Chinese politicians biggest fear is that certain parts of the country will lag behind and stay poor, causing major social unrest. That's why Beijing is doing such great efforts to promote development of the poorer West, North and countryside.