Did it ever occur to you that not everyone has endless hours to spend "getting better" at a game. To most people, a game is just that. A game. A distraction for a few minutes. Then there is work, family time, laundry, mowing the lawn, what have you. I am willing to get a bit of a hard time in a game but i have enough aggravation during the work day dealing with incensitive ignorant douchebags er... customers. I dont need to be put down by a no life little buttmunch with a super fast connection and the latest aimbot. That is why i (and many other people with a life outside games) put my money (of which i have considerably more than a 14 year old living with his parents, making me and my tastes a more attractive market to game designers) on easyer games. I am not lazy. I am f*ing tired and just want to relax. There are many kinds of people with many kinds of needs and tastes in the world. Game companies being businesses, follow the money. Right now the money seems to be coming more from casual gamers than from the hard core ones. Just look at facebook game producers Zynga!

So essentialy, these poor buggers are suffering from PTSD. I am not a psychiatrist but having served in afghanistan with the canadian military i have my self seen some nasty stuff that left me a bit messed up for months (i can still barely remember how to use punctiation :) and have known brothers that will never be the same. This looks just like it. When you think about it, seeing it with your own eyes or seeing pictures of it is the same. You have a bit more detachment but not that much. It is like police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and countless others who put them selves in harm's way to protect others. The gung ho 20 yo rushing in to be payed to "watch porn all day" is not very different from the young boys rushing to war to kill them some taleebans(yes that is intended). Young, inexperienced, without the defence mechanisms to protect a up to then sheltered psyche. So if that is what they are suffering from, that is how they should be treated. Now the thing is will the private companies recognise this and take appropriate actions like the government AH! did (sorry for the hysterical laugh. To their credit, some people, governmental and civilians ARE trying to make a difference).

More than "business games" i think the issue is about casual gaming. One has to admit those facebook games are not exactly challenging. That would make you think that the average gamer's IQ took a nose dive. Makes sense. You also have to consider people (in this case facebook users) motivations to play those games. It all depends on your point of view and who populates your social univers of course. From my point of view, a lot of them are average joes with lives, jobs, families. They get home after a hard day's work and they want to relax. Lets play a game for an hour. They dont want to have to compete with(and ultimately be humiliated by) a 14 year old that does nothing but play that fps or work on his build order for the perfect zerg rush. They want the equivalent of hobby gardening or jigsaw puzzles. A simple, relaxing, almost zen like experience. They are not stupid by any stretch. They just want to chill. Of course you also got the OCDs, the ones who get addicted easy and super competitive s who will try to beat everyone at anything just because (yes some of those play farmville too. Why is beyond me but they do :).