Responsible gaming

[arex1337]

From time to time, in different online fora, people self-identify as addicted to chess.

Information
We should add a section in our FAQ that would link to helpful resources, e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/comments/3nmedk/faq_answers_to_popular_questions/ - if anyone knows of better resources, please let us know.

We could increase the chances of relevant users discovering it by adding a "Responsible gaming" link to the main footer ("About Lichess - FAQ - Contact - Mobile App - Terms of Service - Privacy - Source Code"). The link would then link to the specific section/question of the FAQ.

Restrictions
Chess is not gambling, but we could take some inspiration from UK regulations for gambling operators. According to Wikipedia, they include requirements to provide users ways of restricting their own play:

Tool	Description	Relevance
Permanent Account Closure	Lets players close their account cut off all contact from the gambling operator	We already have this.
Self Exclusion / Time Out	allowing players to put their account on temporary (reversible) hiatus	We could add a button near the "close account" button that let's the user temporarily suspend their own account for a pre-defined or custom period, e.g. 1 day, 1 week, 1 month.
Reality Check	A pop-up is triggered at certain time intervals to remind players to take a break / stop playing	Maybe more annoying than effective, but we could have a pop-up after every X hours of continuous play with the option of dismissing all future popups, so if you don't want them you only see it once.
Time Limits	Used for setting strict time limits on playing sessions	Not relevant
Deposit Limits / Account Tracker		Not relevant

Summary of proposals

1. Add a link in our FAQ to resources that helps people identify and manage their addiction, and make sure this information is discoverable.
2. Add functionality for self-exclusion
3. Add reminder pop-up about taking a break (least important)

[ornicar]

• Self Exclusion / Time Out
• Reality Check

I think these should be done with tools external to lichess. I'm happy to link to them in the FAQ.

[superuser-does]

I agree on the self-exclusion point. At OS level, the easy tools for it come and go (they stop working between OS releases, or are hard to set up, cost money, etc).
The reliable solutions that stay functional include Freedom (commercial, cross-platform), Cold Turkey (freemium, cross-platform) and SelfControl (Mac, FOSS; this app is honestly immortal, has been around for a long time). They've all remained active and are the best, easy to use and malleable solutions at system level.

You always have hostfiles, but I can't recommend them in good faith. They're cumbersome and can't be turned on and off with ease, or have time limits placed on them. They're also near-impossible to use on mobile due to security.

On the browser though, I can give an easy recommendation I personally use from time to time. It's FOSS too. LeechBlock NG has been reliable for years, and it's cross-browser. Good to put in as a recommendation.

The unfortunate truth is, addicted people will find it difficult to not relapse. On-site controls limited to their accounts will be ineffective, and most can just make another account. And cookies or sessions? Most regular users also know what a cookie is, or at least know that clearing data can solve the problem. So I definitely support Thibault's position on that, but more because I feel implementing these controls wouldn't help the users.

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No opinion on the reality check, personally. If anyone wishes to propose having it on the site itself, then it shouldn't be a regular notification (like game invites). It's better to be separate from those so not to confuse their purposes.

Moreover, the 'nagging red badge' of the internet should be reserved for important things, like a friend wanting you to play a game. To wit, I dislike how the use of notifications has been greatly expanded on Facebook and been made inconsistent, leaving users with a much poorer platform. So if it's to be considered, that's definitely how not to do it.

[Mumbis]

OS or browser side Self Exclusion / Time Out sounds like a terrible idea! Those can all be circumvented. Server side is the only way to go. Is this not very easy to implement?

[arex1337]

Pull requests are welcome