> how would one even decide where the line between manipulative consumption and social signaling is?
The mean amount of money spent and time played per week per user would be a good place to start. If any user is spending more than $40 USD/week on a game or more than 20 hours/week playing a game, it's a problem.
> If any user is spending more than $40 USD/week on a game or more than 20 hours/week playing a game, it's a problem.
A small handful of surprisingly successful people spend a significant amount on games, record themselves playing them for 40+ hours a week, and make money getting others to watch. Problem?
That's an occupation. Similarly, athletes in school may spend that much time or much more playing games of one sort or another, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, if a game or its marketing was created to be addictive and that is causing harm- that's a problem.
> If any user is spending more than $40 USD/week on a game
So, we'll ban all professional sports events because some people pay more than that to go to every game for their team? Or pay more than that to be able to watch lots of sports on TV? I know a fair number of perfectly normal people that pay thousands of dollars for season tickets.
I'd rather see the government help people that have a problem, rather than put limits on people that don't.
The mean amount of money spent and time played per week per user would be a good place to start. If any user is spending more than $40 USD/week on a game or more than 20 hours/week playing a game, it's a problem.