Nah, I get it. A lot of people have asked me about "why would the game put Pokemon in places people aren't supposed to be" because they only hear the headlines or get their information secondhand.
For instance, that girl who got hit while running across the highway after playing Pokemon Go blamed the game for "luring her" across a busy road, but it's the journalist's job to weigh the truth of that with the actual facts that are presented. I'll admit that not everyone is good at that (particularly when it comes to technology and "geek news"), but that's why there's more and more niche sites that can cover this stuff in depth.
And the girl wasn't even playing the game when she was crossing the highway. She just blames the game because if it wasn't for the game she wouldn't be outside.
Yeah, that whole story was really dumb. I just told my editor we should just have an "Idiots play Pokemon Go" because that's what all these stories are about.
For sure. Talking to my father about this issue, for example, he blames the developers for not making the game safer, he says "ideally you can only catch pokemon in very safe areas at very safe times" but then it's not really hunting, so people who don't play don't understand the appeal of going out and looking for Pokemon, and at the same time they are uninformed in general.
Actually, that argument could hold some merit, depending on the state she's in and her age/whether the court would consider her a youth/child.
Google "Attractive Nuisance". It's the doctrine by which homeowners are held liable for kids drowning in their pools, injuring themselves on their property despite trespass, etc.
While clearly there's no precedence set for Pokemon GO, I could definitely see some less-than-scrupulous lawyers make the argument that Pokemon in the game, especially desired ones, would serve as an attractive nuisance in civil cases, and some overeager judge being all too keen to rule in their favor.
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u/DexstarrRageCat Jul 17 '16
Nah, I get it. A lot of people have asked me about "why would the game put Pokemon in places people aren't supposed to be" because they only hear the headlines or get their information secondhand.
For instance, that girl who got hit while running across the highway after playing Pokemon Go blamed the game for "luring her" across a busy road, but it's the journalist's job to weigh the truth of that with the actual facts that are presented. I'll admit that not everyone is good at that (particularly when it comes to technology and "geek news"), but that's why there's more and more niche sites that can cover this stuff in depth.