China Punishes Gamers

[The Coder]

As with web censorship, something to look forward to in Thailand?

Chinese government punishes gamers for long online gaming sessions

China has started to crack down on long online gaming session by taking away experience and weapons from characters. Eleven online games are affected, including the popular World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment based in Irvine California. The government wants players to take at least a two-hour break between sessions and says this will prevent gaming addiction.

Players who continue after three hours will lose experience points and weapons from their characters. The harshest penalty is for people who play beyond five hours - They will cut the character's level to the lowest possible. It's unknown whether these penalties are permanent.

For World of Warcraft the three hour time limit may be bearable for lower-level characters, but as players advance, quests become harder and longer. Twenty minutes can be spent just getting to the particular area or dungeon. In addition, late game quests often require large parties that can take time to assemble.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/10/27/worldofw...hina/index.html

[Hikage]

bitches

[Crushdepth]

Pathetic. Stupid. Interventionist. Stupid. <deleted>.

Did I mention, stupid?

[Ice Maiden]

This is pathetic. I can see their concern for gamers but what are they going to do next, tell you how long to spend on the toilet?!

[Joey Boy]

tell you how long to spend on the toilet?! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

probably, they wouldnt want their kids spending to much time w@nkin

[TAWP]

The sad part is that the addicted players will only switch between two accounts...and the non-addicted get's punished.