Dave Achondo WAIT a minute. Did I hear this right? The city council is thinking about regulating online games such as my favorite “Dota 2”? Are you kidding me, what did this game do to you? There are plenty of things out there to regulate. Take for instance, people who constantly put up food stalls at the Cogon area as if they own the road. What about the trisikad operators who are no longer allowed to go through major thoroughfares of this urbanized city (which I have yet to see being implemented), or better yet, how about strictly implementing the curfew here? Cut the bull***t and lies. In the end, the city council will regulate things but the regulations would never be implemented. They will just implement for a week, and then it’s back to old habits again. The point is, there is so many issues the city council should pay attention to yet their direction is towards regulating online games such as Dota 2. Can’t they just pay attention to the most pressing issues like Cagayan de Oro is a flood zone, and that the bridge that was built to prevent floods from happening, “backfired”? It’s not the game which is the problem. It’s the parents. Don’t they have authority over their children? I laughed over a report that the Women’s and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) of the Cagayan de Oro Police Office (Cocpo) conducted a “rescue operation” recently. Wow, rescue operation! Were they kidnapped? I highly doubt that part. How can you call that a rescue mission? Were the kids in any danger? Were they even kept in that Internet cafe against their will? Nope, they were there because they were enjoying--and  earning. There are many factors. One is that through Dota 2, CS GO or any online game for that matter, depending on what’s trending, they can earn money. There are plenty of factors that can eat up the entire opinion page of this newspaper if I explained them one by one. But one common reason why some kids would rather play the game is because they are better playing and trying to trade items for cash. Yes, they are better trading than begging for cash. Councilor Reuben Daba, chairman of the city council’s committee on social services, received reports from Bukidnon (that does not have any curfew for minors) that Dota 2 is causing problems. That is just stupid. As if regulating online games would solve anything... This game isn’t as violent or harmful that people who are ignorant and who have yet to understand it could simply say it’s causing problems! It only causes problems when the parents don’t exercise control over their children. You want to know who you should blame for all of this? The parents. As a gamer, all I can say is, do not blame the game. You should blame or punish the parents of those who cannot discipline their own children. I have been playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), Role Playing Games (RPG) and others. Never have their been an instance that a particular game ruined my life. It is true that some players earn from online games but based on my experience, the only way you can earn from a particular game is when you have the knowledge of the games market, or at times, by betting (pustahanay). Councilor Daba reported that the online game Dota has proliferated in the city. He alleges that this has brought bad influence to the youth in the cty and must be regulated. Bad influence? That is crazy. Stop blaming the game, it’s the players who have to answer for that. Do not ruin the game for others who enjoy it. They have done nothing wrong and so, don’t impose nonsense regulations on them. It is important for Internet cafe owners to be mindful of their customers.  Minors should never be allowed to play during school hours. As long as I can remember. Penalize violators. I also came across this notion that online games is a bad influence. If you ask me, if the city council pushes through with this nonsense of a regulation, they should focus more on, games that promotes violence. “(It’s a) bad influence because a girl from Libona, Bukidnon reportedly refused to go home for several days after being influenced in online games like Dota along with other minors. The minors were reportedly earning from playing Dota. That’s the reason they can hang out and enjoy because they have money to spend. What is alarming is that it is an online game nga makadaut sa ilang pag-eskwela,” Daba said. I wouldn’t want our councilor to look ignorant or anything. But I can only suggest that in order to prevent the Bukidnon incident from happening, punish the parents. From there, it’s going to be a domino effect. I have made a thesis on this when I was in college. In my thesis, I found that a particular game can influence minors’ behavior and actions. I am talking about the world renowned game “Grand Theft Auto” (GTA). I found out that in RPGs such as this have side effects on gullible minors, and they may lead them to replicate what they saw in the game. A slight overview on GTA lets you play a role of a criminal. Your journey revolves around completing missions on strip clubs, assassination, and killing people out of the shear fun of it. That is not the case with Dota 2. That’s why I oppose this stupid regulation on online games. Think of something better please like imposing harsh sanctions on Internet cafe owners that allow students to play during school hours among others. It would be best to tell all stakeholders not to allow minors during school hours, and have curfew starting at 10 pm. Properly implement the curfew for minors. By then, you would see results. But do not blame the game.