The General Administration of Press and Publication in China reports that the Chinese government will begin taking action to curb the addition to many massive multiplayer online role playing games amongst young people in that nation. The plan details efforts to penalize gamers who log in for more than three consecutive hours by weakening their characters and gradually mounting penalties against them as play continues. Players will then be required to log off for five hours before the penalties reset and play can resume.
The initiative is being made in an effort to alleviate "serious social problems" that have been associated with youths and addictions to MMORPGs. The plan is scheduled to begin in October with all operators of MMO games in China required to comply. Many high profile companies such as The9, who operates World of Warcraft in China, have signed on to help beta test the system.