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Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#11

Post by _pmf_ »

econcon wrote: post #6

Dad can provide a minor credit card/debit card, they are very popular these days with spend limit. Many platforms allow you to set spend limit. It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill and same is true if your data is being charged per unit data consumed by your internet provider. In none of those cases, refund would be provided.

> It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill

A heater has not been psychologically engineered to incite minors to turn it on.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#13

Post by CaptainZapp »

michaelmrose wrote: post #7

Maybe require all apps to have a built in spending limit and an affirmative act per app to raise it with a mandatory password prompt and click on an emailed link to verify. Make it up to $50 one time or greater than $100 in one calendar month. Given how people actually spend 99% of people will never see such a prompt and virtually everyone that hits it will be one of these people who is being scammed out of their mon…

While that's a good idea it will never happen, since it's diametral to the interest of the app stores, which is to make as much money as possible.

Of course, if the abuse gets too bad there will be regulatory backlash.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#14

Post by IntelMiner »

runawaybottle wrote: post #12

How can a game developer ethically justify a $4500 price tag for a game? Yes, we can put in limits on spending, but let’s say we didn’t, does that mean a game could be worth that much money? Ever?

The industry actually has a term for people who spend compulsively like that. They literally call them "Whales"

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#15

Post by nix23 »

IntelMiner wrote: post #14
runawaybottle wrote: post #12

How can a game developer ethically justify a $4500 price tag for a game? Yes, we can put in limits on spending, but let’s say we didn’t, does that mean a game could be worth that much money? Ever?

The industry actually has a term for people who spend compulsively like that. They literally call them "Whales"

And it all started with a Horse Armor.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#16

Post by lopmotr »

_pmf_ wrote: post #11
econcon wrote: post #6

Dad can provide a minor credit card/debit card, they are very popular these days with spend limit. Many platforms allow you to set spend limit. It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill and same is true if your data is being charged per unit data consumed by your internet provider. In none of those cases, refund would be provided.

> It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill A heater has not been psychologically engineered to incite minors to turn it on.

Enticing makes you happy, inciting makes you angry. Both persuade you do to something.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#17

Post by FloatArtifact »

nix23 wrote: post #15
IntelMiner wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry actually has a term for people who spend compulsively like that. They literally call them "Whales"

And it all started with a Horse Armor.

Yep the industry took an arrow to the knee.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#18

Post by nix23 »

_pmf_ wrote: post #11
econcon wrote: post #6

Dad can provide a minor credit card/debit card, they are very popular these days with spend limit. Many platforms allow you to set spend limit. It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill and same is true if your data is being charged per unit data consumed by your internet provider. In none of those cases, refund would be provided.

> It's also possible to turn on a heater and forget to turn it off by a minor and accure mega electricity bill A heater has not been psychologically engineered to incite minors to turn it on.

>A heater has not been psychologically engineered

Maybe not your heater, but have you seen my Monster-Barbecue-Grill??

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#19

Post by celticninja »

notwhereyouare wrote: post #3

It’s not the app stores fault, but I think the App Store could start throwing up notifications if you go from spending 0 to 500 in a small period of time. That is crazy how the girl managed to spend THAT much in a period of a month.

Happens on xbox/ps too. The best way to handle it is to explain to your children how it works and educate them. I allow mine to spend money on Fortnite skins because they know what they are getting and what it is costing. Their cousin, I recently found out, spent £400 on Roblox tat after taking their parents credit card. Now the excuse can never be I didn't know, which is what their cousin said, even though she had taken the card and used the details, as opposed to it already being registered and the child just clicking 'buy' with no awareness.

Re: Dad horrified at £4,642 gaming app bill

#20

Post by libertine »

notwhereyouare wrote: post #3

It’s not the app stores fault, but I think the App Store could start throwing up notifications if you go from spending 0 to 500 in a small period of time. That is crazy how the girl managed to spend THAT much in a period of a month.

>That is crazy how the girl managed to spend THAT much in a period of a month.

If you think about it, it's not that hard if she keeps getting queues to spend more without any track of how much she spent.

Hell when I was a kid and internet was paid by the hour, we got a lot of months with spending out of control and big bills for our standards, because you lose track of time/spend.

I bet the game doesn't tell "You've spent X so far!".

Such apps are designed precisely for that.

Hopefully some EU country will label such behaviors as gaming addiction, and make stores have triggers to control such behavior.

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