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"Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

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Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#101

Post by microtonal »

jasonlotito wrote: post #46
microtonal wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is clearly a difference between the US and the EU. Most EU citizens (including me) think it is fine to regulate the market, e.g. if it is misleading. Such games are often misleading, since they are not really free. The 'Free' label is just used because people will impulse-install a free application more quickly than a paid application and in the end an addicted gamer will probably spend more through in-app purch…

Apple already does this. I am literally looking at a game right now in the App Store and it's free and Apple makes it very clear that it offers IAPs. It even gives you a list of the Top IAPs. So, listing every IAP, it does not do. But beyond that, it gives you exactly what is being asked.

I know Apple does that, the Play store also indicates that an app has in-app purchases. But why not say it clearly in the 'purchasing button'?

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#102

Post by tolmasky »

nnutter wrote: post #18

Personally I would like to see iAP to be considered like advertising and for it to be more heavily regulated at child audiences. Tired of my 4 year old crying because I won't let him spend another $4 to unlock another widget.

And my parents were tired of me asking for sugary cereals. And yet both they and I survived, and I probably got to eat that cereal three total times in my childhood. Not getting things is an important lesson, especially in a world that will only increase the pressure to buy things in the future (legislation won't stop his peers from telling him to buy cool shoes). And if you disagree with that statement (perfectly reasonable to do so), then it's still not really someone else's responsibility to hide him from it, you should feel free to do so.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#103

Post by just2n »

taspeotis wrote: post #8

When I look at free games on the App Store I see if it says "offers in-app purchases". If it does I look at the in-app purchases. If the in-app purchases are "x00 Special In-Game Currency Units" then I don't install the game. Not sure we need legislation to avoid being ripped off...

Sure you avoid the games, but they're clearly making tons of money. People find things that "work" -- they earn tons of money. They repeat. Other people see that it works. They copy. Suddenly the world is full of games that have artificial limitations that can be passed by waiting N hours or by paying $N.

I say we boycott applications that do this. But if it's easier to legislate, then by all means.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#104

Post by pja »

diziet wrote: post #73
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Candy Crush actually gets harder after you pay, because you've marked yourself as a sucker by paying once.

This is something that should be pretty simple to test. Do you have any more details?

I believe that it's not so much that it specifically gets hard after you've paid (although that's a neat dark pattern that I wouldn't put past some of the current crop of App game developers frankly!) but rather that after a certain point it simply gets too hard to progress without paying. So the developers draw you in with what appears to be a skill game that you can enjoy playing, and then after they've got you committed they gradually turn it into a money game by making it progressively more and more unfair.

I can't remember where the article is that I read about all this though.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#105

Post by jimwalsh »

There should be 3 classifications of apps. Free, Paid, IAP. I absolutely agree that IAP apps should not be able to be marketed as 'Free'. It's quite disingenuous to do so.

It's like a store saying everyone can have a free t-shirt. But then requiring that you buy $10 of stuff from the store first. You would still call that shirt free?

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#106

Post by showsover »

tolmasky wrote: post #100
zik wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlike the US, the EU has strong legislation against deceptive advertising. Saying that a game is "free" when it's designed for profit is intentionally deceptive. It's really as simple as that.

Games with ads are free but designed for profit. Is that misleading too?

That is not misleading because the player does not need to spend money.

Which is the definition of 'free' that is used.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#107

Post by thaumasiotes »

rytis wrote: post #59
taspeotis wrote: post #8

When I look at free games on the App Store I see if it says "offers in-app purchases". If it does I look at the in-app purchases. If the in-app purchases are "x00 Special In-Game Currency Units" then I don't install the game. Not sure we need legislation to avoid being ripped off...

I think it'd be a good thing to do. You have a process in place, and enough self discipline to avoid installing such apps. But not everyone is like that. I'm guessing majority of the users go like this: "ah, it's a free app, great, I'll get it. Oh, what do I do now? £0.99 is not too bad, I'll just get another pack of , so I don't have to wait 30 mins". Can people self-regulate and avoid behaving like that? Yes. Do th…

I'm not the first or last person to say this, but the solution to "some people behave in way X, while other people behave in way Y" is generally not "we need legislation compelling everyone to behave the same way".

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#108

Post by fnayr »

showsover wrote: post #106
tolmasky wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Games with ads are free but designed for profit. Is that misleading too?

That is not misleading because the player does not need to spend money. Which is the definition of 'free' that is used.

The player does not need to spend money for the majority of freemium games either.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#109

Post by k-mcgrady »

I actually think if Apple were to rearrange the App Store so that we had 'free', 'paid', and 'free with IAP' categories it might make discovery a lot better too. The 'top grossing' chart if currently pretty much an 'IAP' chart so just remove IAP apps from the free chart and replace 'top grossing' with top grossing IAP apps.

Re: "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

#110

Post by joesb »

pja wrote: post #104
diziet wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is something that should be pretty simple to test. Do you have any more details?

I believe that it's not so much that it specifically gets hard after you've paid (although that's a neat dark pattern that I wouldn't put past some of the current crop of App game developers frankly!) but rather that after a certain point it simply gets too hard to progress without paying. So the developers draw you in with what appears to be a skill game that you can enjoy playing, and then after they've got you com…

Except I have lots of friends who played to the last level of Candy Crush without buying any IAP. The game is not impossible to beat without IAP.
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