'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
bbc.co.uk
'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
1–10 of 340 posts
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#2Another one of those oversensationalized outrage articles that can be boiled down to "I cannot put even a minimal effort in keeping an eye on my children, so I will blame someone else for it and make it their responsibility." There is literally a setting on iOS for that specific specific scenario, which allows to prevent in-app purchases[0]. And it is very easy and intuitive to set up too, so it isn't like it is hidden behind millions of menus and dark patterns.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#3It's astonishing that the developers of games like this can sleep at night. Do they lie to themselves and pretend all the kids spending thousands of dollars are the children of Saudi royals or something? They must know that they're exploiting people who can't afford it.
Edit: these developers know damn well if their target demo is children, and they know damn well that the phenomenon of children running up huge debts without the informed consent of their parents is all too common. They know what they're doing; they can't plead ignorance. At best they are self-deluded, but it's more likely they are morally corrupt. Blinded by their love for money, totally indifferent to the suffering their business model causes.
It's absolutely revolting, and so is anybody defending it by implicitly asserting that it's okay for developers to exploit children if their parents happen to be careless or neglectful. "The parents are to blame for allowing it" does not absolve the developers who knowingly profit from it. Should it be legal for me to sell cigarettes to a child if their parents were foolish enough to give the child a credit card? Of course not, fuck off with that shit.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#4Mobile free to play games now make up the majority of money made in video games today.
It's strange then that most of these games aren't that interesting. Who are the players of these that make up the new class of gamers?
It would seem that the payers are the exploitable - those able to be swindled with casino mechanisms.
As an ex- free-to-play game developer and one who believes regulation often does more harm to consumers than good, I'd like to see something done. I'm just at a loss for what would work.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#5Another one of those oversensationalized outrage articles that can be boiled down to "I cannot put even a minimal effort in keeping an eye on my children, so I will blame someone else for it and make it their responsibility." There is literally a setting on iOS for that specific specific scenario, which allows to prevent in-app purchases[0]. And it is very easy and intuitive to set up too, so it isn't like it is hidd…
In-app purchases should be off by default.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#6But how do you tell the difference between an adult and a kid with their parents password and bank card?
If you trust your kid with your bank account and get burned.. isn't that kind of on you?
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#7Another one of those oversensationalized outrage articles that can be boiled down to "I cannot put even a minimal effort in keeping an eye on my children, so I will blame someone else for it and make it their responsibility." There is literally a setting on iOS for that specific specific scenario, which allows to prevent in-app purchases[0]. And it is very easy and intuitive to set up too, so it isn't like it is hidd…
In-app purchases should be off by default.
They are unless you add a card, and sign in, and enable the ability to pay without using your password.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#8>learning difficulties and the approximate cognitive ability of a seven-year-old child.
so obviously I gave him full control over "his entire savings"
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#9Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#10Giving a smartphone to an underage person is also like giving them a credit card, a phone that can be used to call any tolled number, a way to access inappropriate content, etc, etc.