Quote Originally Posted by Tilarta View Post
Much later, I communicated with a 3rd gamer parent and related the highlights of this conversation to them, to which they responded that their own children have become so focussed on Fortnite that when their parent tries to get those children to play any other game, the attempt is completely ignored.

From my perspective and most likely, those of the gamer parents I communicated with, Fortnite is encouraging an addictive like obsession in their junior playerbase
Dude, up until I became a parent and hobby farmer I'd had game obsessions since I was a kid! Always had at least a dozen games for whatever console I owned but there would always be one that I would play non stop. Off the top of my head:

*Asterix (Atari 2600)
*Ms Pacman (Atari 2600)
*Super Mario Bros (NES)
*Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
*Street Fighter II Turbo (Super NES)
*Super Mario 64 (N64)
*Goldeneye (N64)
*Halo (Xbox)
*DOAX Volleyball (Xbox)
*Sims 2 (PC)
*WoW (PC)
*Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)
*Fall of Cybertron (PS3)
*Transformers Earth Wars (mobile)

Each time that game would get mega preference over any other game I owned for about a year, with me playing the others only occasionally. Then something new would come out and I'd hardly pick up the old one again. It's just the cycle. And it was never like playing video games was all I did with my time, it's just that whatever time I did spend playing games was usually devoted to a specific one.

Now my son is the same. He played Marvel Super Heroes (PS4) for ages and now has no interest. Then the same happened with Super Mario Bros Wii. Right now he has no game he is particularly into.

Quote Originally Posted by Tilarta View Post
That's why I distrust this game so much and get annoyed when I see the Fortnite toys/merchandise for sale, it's promoting a product that is encouraging self-destructive behavior.
How is it self-destructive behavior? Do you have a link to any news stories about it as I haven't heard anything but then I don't keep up with gamer news much so I really don't know. Seems just like the normal gamer cycle to me but maybe there is something happening with this game in particular I am unaware of.

It's up to parents to be parents. If your kids like video games then by all means let them play, but have rules in place. For instance our son is not allowed to play until 4pm each day and then has to stop at dinnertime. And right now he is not even making use of that right, hasn't in weeks. He's got plenty of other interests to keep him occupied. And parents need to encourage their kids to have a wide variety of interests. If you let your kid do nothing but watch TV, or play video games, or eat candy or whatever then of course they will get addicted. Can't blame a product for that.