Farmers will loose their time muhahaha ^.^

Source:
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/nation/userobject1ai2754171.html

In an effort to help reduce on-line addiction of young people, all game operators in China are being required to deter minors from playing their games for more than three hours a day, according to a circular issued in Beijing yesterday.

The circular says on-line game companies must develop a system that restricts a minor's playing time by canceling half their earned credits if they remain on-line for more than three hours a day. If the child plays for more than five hours a day all of their gaming credits will be taken away.

Most on-line games encourage players to play longer by rewarding them with more credits and virtue goods. "The system will only target minors who lack the self-discipline to control their playing time," said Kou Xiaowei, an official with the State Press and Publication Administration (SPPA).

"There has been controversy over what is the upper limit of 'healthy' playing time," Kou said. "We set three hours as the final limit based on a survey that found 64 percent of Internet users in China use it for less than three hours a day."

On-line gamers will also be required to register using their real names and identity card numbers which will indicate if they are under the age of 18.

The companies will have until June 15 to develop an anti-addiction system which must be fully tested by July 15 and implemented thereafter, according to the circular.

The circular was co-issued by eight government departments, including the SPPA, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security.

In early March, China banned new internet bars from opening in 2007 as part of the government's campaign to combat the rising problem of Internet addiction. Some internet bars in China resemble huge discos with hundreds of computer stations surrounded by a high-tech decor where users play throughout the night.

Over the past few years, China has seen an alarming rise in the number of teenagers addicted to internet gaming.

A report released by the China National Children's Center claimed that 13 percent of Chinese internet users under the age of18 were addicted to internet gaming.

Official statistics show that the number of internet users in China reached 123 million in mid-2006. About 15 percent - or 18 million - are under the age of 18.


China may be far away, but I dont like it somehow.

Ugh that sucks, I'd be ****** if anyone is going to tell me how long I may or may not play.

Then again I'm not a teenager but that's their parents place to say, 3 hours only, not anyone else, IMO :)

That takes care of the farmers that are under 18 :/

I know that this wont affect the most farmers, but there are other things I notice that are not clear in this article. Original I read a german newspage, linkin to this english article and just quickly read the english version.

German Source:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/88019

This is linkin to other newsarticles (from 2005 (!!) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/63230) saying, that:
Die Spiele-Firmen Shanda, NetEase, The9, Optisp, Kingsoft, SINA und Sohu sollen zugesagt haben, das System zu verwenden. Es soll im September fertiggestellt sein und im Oktober getestet werden. Betroffen seien unter anderem die Spiele World of Warcraft und Lineage II.
-> The companies Shanda, NetEase, The9, Optisp, Kingsoft, SINA und Sohu agreed to use the new system that will be finished in september and tested in october. Affected games would be WoW and L2, along with others.


The german source also says, that ppl that used a fake customer ID will be also affected by this 3 hours rule and the police will check all IDs.

Also linked are news about how china tries to regulate their Inet, by not allowing new netcafes, or that bloggers need to register and such stuff.

(...)China’s 18-digit ID numbers are mainly based on place of birth, age and gender and are unique to each citizen, but widely available software can generate fake but plausible numbers.

Under the new system, Chinese police would check each number, a government official, Kou Xiaowei, said on Monday.

Players whose IDs showed they were under 18, or who submitted incorrect numbers, would be forced to play versions of online games featuring an anti-addiction system that encourages them to spend less time online, he said.

Minors who stayed online for more than three hours a day would have half of their game credits cancelled; those who played for more than five hours a day would have all of their credits taken away. (...)

Just found it at Finacial Times (english):
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2f9f7060-e6bf-11db-9034-000b5df10621.html

Only in communist china lol

Like **** I mean im on the comp for 10 hours a day, but I mean I do EVERYTHING on it, because well, you... can.

Yea it won't affect the chinese farmers here because they use NA lineage 2 accounts anyways. The only way for the chinese government to know that they were online would be to somehow sniff the data packets and say oh look you are playing an online game and then oh look you've been online for > 3 hrs. It's impossible.

Lol im sure its possible.

It just wont be happening for awhile, a long while

Not impossible, but I imagine that the resources to do such a thing are not there yet.
Besides, there are many more farmers than just in China.

It will make no difference if they are not playing on chinese servers. In fact, it will probably encourage more of them to play on servers that are not chinese. (like ours)

I don't care tbh - if actual real chinese players want to come play on NA - cool with me, I like the international flavor.

A law like this will do little to nothing to affect the pro-farmer population, which is not as heavily chinese as many would have you believe.

Ah China!
Under 18 Chinese shouldn't be allowed play, they must return to the factory or the mine. Who will get coal for heavy industry and sew my new pants if they play video games I ask you!?
I hope they'll forbid bike riding and football for more than three hours, because young people are addicted to street games and drop school afterwards. If you want to play outside, help your family in the fields, scoundrel!

[/sarcasm]

BTW, there's no such thing as communism in China, Crest. Only aggressive capitalistic totalitarian policies. But that's more for Off Topic boards.


As I sometimes go through a week without playing one minute, I would be annoyed if there was a limit of time the day I can play. Now it's only China, only teens, and there are many ways to circumvent this. So... /care

I predict this will be just as successful as the all the other Chinese 'anti-piracy' efforts.

In short, it's mostly lip-service and as long as the RMT places bribe their local boss things will continue as they always have.

Actual chinese players? Hey they get the same shaft everyone else had or does...prohibition in the US, censorship in Germany, etc, etc, etc.

LOL!! Too bad the star ratings are gone, that was classic ;)

This in NO way will affect farmers. The reasons are simple.

1.) Most professional farmers are over the age of 18.

2.) This only effects Chinese servers, obviously you don't have to do this when you sign up for a NA server, because it is the same procedure as we do.

If anything this will encourage Chinese players to play on servers based outside China so that they do not have these restrictions. Granted that only a select few cities in China will be able to do this since the government tries to keep an iron grip on any foreign media uncontrolled by the Chinese government themselves.

Actually they could do it to all servers just implement a snifer that must be turned on in order to access the internet from their computer. Some what like a software that must be installed.

Oh yes, and then implant RFID chips to be 100% sure only this and that person uses the computer.
And then US government slaps it's forehead and say "wonderful idea, in the name of fighting terorism we can ..." and since US is implementing it, EU will point finger saying "hey look our big brother and idol US is doing it, we should make some regulations for it to be used in our countries ..."

Or well I mean Oh well ... sorry for offtopic :p

This is kinda funny, but I remember when Greece actually put kids in jail for playing any video game a few years ago. After a month or two they removed the law and the kiddies went free again :)

I find it funny that so many people talk about this issue like they know something, have you even been to china? I have? do you understand why they do what they do? I do, ive seen where they live, This is just another form of factory working , most at 18+, i talk to quite a few of the raid farmers on kain, their extremly nice people.

This won't affect anyone, they wont arrest an 18 year old or under for WORKING, because their not playing, their working. At least these guys have fun for their $1 usd an hour or so.

Shame on you arrigant pieces of [censored]