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'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#41

Post by falcolas »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #20
willk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These games were not just on Apple's platform. I think these types of games are predatory. What is wrong with just selling a whole game? It is hard to find any game these days that comes out complete. Blizzard did it with Star Craft 2 and for that reason, I refused to buy it.

There are plenty of games you can buy on the iOS store. What's wrong with buying a whole game?

Even "whole" games (like the latest $60 FIFA release) have unlimited microtransactions. And it's not limited to iOS, or Android. It's on most internet connected platforms.

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#42

Post by sdinsn »

theturtletalks wrote: post #28
notus wrote: post #14

This is disgusting. Yes parents should be aware of these things but shifting the burden of locking down every system a child uses when this could be handled at the app store or financial processor level is ridiculous. It seems that some of these people are claiming that the game is not distinguishing well between fake and real currency. There are definitely games I've played where this is ambiguous as well. IMO there…

I know Apple asks for Face ID or Touch ID when making in app purchases. This seems like a deterrence, but not sure about Android.

You can do the same thing on Android. It's not on by default though

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#43

Post by subsaharancoder »

No child wakes up one morning and decides to do this, it's often a steady progression enabled by parents who have relegated their responsibilities to TV screens, video games and mobile phones. Casting blame on tech that they've let loose on their kids absolves the parents of any responsibility.

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#44

Post by hyayz »

>he managed to download Clash of Clans through a Google Play account, enter his own children's bank card details and buy lots of in-game items.

Wait, why the fuck does a 12 year old child have a bank card?

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#45

Post by lilactown »

One thing that I haven't used on my Switch (no kids), but I understand as a great feature, is that you can add funds available for games as a one-time purchase that can be used across the system.

The actual purchase of system currency can be controlled while allowing the dependent to make their own choices on how to spend it.

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#46

Post by robocat »

madeofpalk wrote: post #23
notus wrote: post #14

This is disgusting. Yes parents should be aware of these things but shifting the burden of locking down every system a child uses when this could be handled at the app store or financial processor level is ridiculous. It seems that some of these people are claiming that the game is not distinguishing well between fake and real currency. There are definitely games I've played where this is ambiguous as well. IMO there…

But still though, they gave the kid their credit card. If you don't want your kid to spend £3000 then don't give it to them? Not defending any particular app's behaviour. Without any first hand knowledge, I certainly believe that there are scummy games out there using dubious methods to get people to rack up IAP.

> If you don't want your kid to spend £3000 then don't give it to them?

The article said it was a 22 year old with cerebral palsy using his own account (presumably his own credit card).

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#47

Post by falcolas »

madeofpalk wrote: post #23
notus wrote: post #14

This is disgusting. Yes parents should be aware of these things but shifting the burden of locking down every system a child uses when this could be handled at the app store or financial processor level is ridiculous. It seems that some of these people are claiming that the game is not distinguishing well between fake and real currency. There are definitely games I've played where this is ambiguous as well. IMO there…

But still though, they gave the kid their credit card. If you don't want your kid to spend £3000 then don't give it to them? Not defending any particular app's behaviour. Without any first hand knowledge, I certainly believe that there are scummy games out there using dubious methods to get people to rack up IAP.

"Giving your kid the credit card" is as simple as using the credit card once on the device, perhaps for a completely different game (or to buy the game in the first place). There is not necessarily any kind of physical action associated with these transactions.

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#49

Post by vipbababd »

I understand this isn't addressing the issue at hand, but having notifications sent to your phone whenever a purchase/swipe is made on a credit card is incredibly useful. It might be moot if the device receiving the notifications is being used by the person making the transaction, but I would recommend everyone to set up such a thing if their bank supports it. And, all banks should do this eventually!

I get instant purchase notifications on my bank cards; it's really good to know exactly when they get used.

Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'

#50

Post by fortran77 »

madeofpalk wrote: post #23
notus wrote: post #14

This is disgusting. Yes parents should be aware of these things but shifting the burden of locking down every system a child uses when this could be handled at the app store or financial processor level is ridiculous. It seems that some of these people are claiming that the game is not distinguishing well between fake and real currency. There are definitely games I've played where this is ambiguous as well. IMO there…

But still though, they gave the kid their credit card. If you don't want your kid to spend £3000 then don't give it to them? Not defending any particular app's behaviour. Without any first hand knowledge, I certainly believe that there are scummy games out there using dubious methods to get people to rack up IAP.

Some of this is "bad parenting", but games that say they're OK for 3 year olds (like the mini-golf game described in the article) shouldn't make it easy for a 3 year old to spend money.

I have less sympathy for the high-school and college kids who did this.

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