agreed. FTP is a slot machine for minors, it should be regulated.I think that making all FTP games not available for kids might actually be a good idea. These games only survive on business models where basically to get people hooked in the same way as gambling to try and milk money out of the user. It's ethically really dodgy to market these games at kids.
The difference is "whales" like this literally do keep these games afloat, they are designed to be unethical trash leeching cash from desparate, sad people.
THis sounds like my mom.
She just learned how to use the computer and iPad and likes to play those slot games, well since her checking is with mine right now I keep it up to date. She spend like 3k on these stupid games. I got mad and told her how stupid it is, she didn't like that LOL.
'Free to play', huh? Wouldn't have guessed...
All parties involved seemed to have dropped the ball. The boy should not have taken advantage of a credit card that was not his, the mother should have watched her bank statements more closely, the game should not have been so addicting nor should it have encouraged or allowed such easy and numerous IAPs, and the credit card company should have stepped in and stopped the spending early on.
I do agree that stricter rules and limits need to be implemented.
How rich do you have to be to not even notice that cash being spent
I'm not sure that is a legitimate criticism.
Making a game that is not addictive seems akin to making a game that is boring,
Making a game that's addictive is significantly different than making a game that is addictive, and once you become addicted, relies on extracting unhealthy amounts of money from you in order to fund itself.
But yes, I agree. It's cool to make a game that's hard to stop playing! It's shameful to make a game that starts milking you for money in order to keep playing once you're hooked.
Edit: Reading what you're responding to, you are likely implying the same thing as I'm saying here, so potentially disregard.
I doubt 99% of all gamers will spend £37,000 on games in their lifetime
Maybe his mom didn't notice, because it wasn't her money/account. For whatever reason, she was buying Ebooks using her own fathers account. This whole saga effected the grandfather, I suppose?
I don't know about EU law, but in the US the parents could make a legal case that their son lacked capacity to form the contracts.
Also, do they not have caps on the credit line there? How do you not notice that kind of charge on your card for months?
The English article is pretty short butI'd be grateful if someone could translate the Flemish version
Edit: Thanks, E-phonk!
http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/141003_boy-online-game-debt
How can you spend 37k on a game? like waaa
I actually played this game a few months ago.
There was a guy in my clan that spent thousands of dollars during my brief time in the game. Thousands. Each time he bought the $100 chest thingy, everyone in the clan got an item. Well, sometimes I would log into the game and see 10 to 15 items waiting for me because of his purchases. It was insane.
The solution is to set a max amount that can be spent on IAP per game per person.
At 15, you're too old to not know what you're doing. Either he's an idiot or he just didn't care
How is that even possible ? the max limit of credit card in belgium is 5000 € :/
I'm not sure that is a legitimate criticism.
Making a game that is not addictive seems akin to making a game that is boring,
No notifications though? That's pure fucking cash grabbing.The boy is stupid.
You can't blame the game.
Pretty much.Jesus Christ, everyone in this story (parents, kid, app publisher) fucked up.
Since the mother did authorize her son to use the credit card, I don't see it as a given that they get the money back. Whatever her story is, she willingly gave her credit card information to her son. Seems like all this is mostly for show so they can get out of their own fuck-up for free.
Yes the developer (or Apple?) should warm people when they are spending a lot of money, but I doubt such an extreme scenario was considered when designing the IAP system.
Serious question, as a parent how would you prevent situations like this? As a kid there were times when my mom gave me her credit card number for online purchases, and I was always completely responsible but I could have just as easily done some shit like this.
Well if you're certain then OK.I completely understand the design philosphy behind the games but I'm fairly certain at no point do the developers sit around waiting for a child to make a mistake like this. They are trying to hook legitimate whales, people who have the money but not the time to play the game in a free way.
I just think that these shocking headlines undermine the legitimacy of their strategy.