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Re:Hi, I’m from the games industry. Governments, please stop us by wildmusings on Sunday December 13, 2015 @09:29PM (#10729091)
> we have a whole industry which explicit purpose is figuring out the best way to abuse bugs in human psychology to part them with their money, I think some reaction is warranted.

The video game industry did not invent slimy salesmen. Learning to say "no" to salesmen has been a basic life skill for all of human history. Millions of people manage to do it every day. It's one of the things that parents drill into their kids heads as they grow up.

We're talking about video games, frivolous entertainment. If you spend all of next month's rent on in-app purchases, you've thoroughly earned the consequences of your actions. And those consequences will serve as a potent lesson.

And the law has already gotten involved with recent developments in the game industry. The FTC and EU have already forced Apple and Google to ensure that children cannot make purchases without parental permission. With that in place, it's now up to the parents to say "no" to their children. Another basic life skill, with consequences for those who ignore it.

Re:Hi, I’m from the games industry. Governments, please stop us by greggman on Sunday December 13, 2015 @10:15PM (#10729234)
This isn't about simple ads. This is about serious manipulation. Would it be okay for a car salesman to send people to follow you around find out where you hang out, then have a one of them casually start up a conversation at some restaurant or bar, befriend you, and then a few days later, after you've became friends, subtly suggest they really like the same type of car the sales person has to sell?

Maybe you're okay with that but it's that kind of behavior the OP is against. Not just simple sales tactics to say no to but full on manipulation.

Re:Hi, I’m from the games industry. Governments, please stop us by jblow on Sunday December 13, 2015 @10:01PM (#10729183)
You can apply all your same arguments to gambling, but society disagrees -- gambling is regulated.
Re:Hi, I’m from the games industry. Governments, please stop us by twoodfin on Sunday December 13, 2015 @10:37PM (#10729298)
So regulated that states, through the lottery, are collectively the largest pushers and profiteers.

Somehow I suspect that kind of "regulation" is not what OP had in mind.

Re:Hi, I’m from the games industry. Governments, please stop us by wildmusings on Sunday December 13, 2015 @10:13PM (#10729225)
Totally irrelevant. This is the logical fallacy argumentum ad populum (i.e. appeal to the majority). We settle our differences democratically, but the outcome could very well be the worse option.

And, by the way, there's plenty of places where gambling is legal, including parts of the US.