3160 is likely nothing compared to what he's being deprived of. I have massive regrets of the time wasted gaming through my teens.
'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
281–290 of 340 posts
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#282Her is a useful overview on platform support to limit access to in game purchases https://pegi.info/page/game-purchases
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#2833160 is likely nothing compared to what he's being deprived of. I have massive regrets of the time wasted gaming through my teens.
He was a disabled adult with learning disabilities, I am quite sure that his experience is not the same as yours, as you would know, had you read the article.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#2843160 is likely nothing compared to what he's being deprived of. I have massive regrets of the time wasted gaming through my teens.
What else would you have done with it?
What else would you realistically have done with it? Everyone likes to imagine that the would have spent it on improving practices like learning a second language and a musical instrument, but would you really have done those things or found another distraction?
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think, like with other addictions, you need to take a holistic view of video game addiction that also includes the circumstances of the addicted people during their transition from casual use, to abuse, to addiction. Why? Because most people don't get addicted to video games, just like most people don't get addicted to alcohol. And while you might be able to chalk some of it up to addictive personalities (predispos…
The root cause of addiction is the same, whether it's a behavioural addiction like video games, exercise, gambling, or sex, or drugs. It's reward seeking behaviour trying to cause a rise in dopamine levels. The physiological effects of substance abuse is generally worse, but the cause is the same, from my experience and people I know the root cause is underlying psychological issues that cause people to engage in sel…
Your armchair theory is wrong though. The root cause of nicotine, hard drugs and alcohol addiction is overwhelmingly physical, not psychological.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#286>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?
I don't know elsewhere, but here (Italy) it is common enough (and highly recommended) that online "rechargeable" bank cards are used.
I don't see why one cannot give one to a kid with - say - 100 Euro initial credit on it, and let him/her do whatever he/she wants with the money.
Then manage it the same way as it was once with the (usually here weekly) "allowance", crediting on it something weekly or monthly.
I'll confess that my weekly allowance as a kid was 5.000 lire, i.e. roughly 2.5 Euro, which should say something on both my age and the effects of inflation ...
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#287Every generation has problems like this. I remember my friend become addicted to calling premium phone numbers when when he was a teenager. When his parents went to work, he would have stayed home and just keep calling all day instead of going to school. Only when the bill came through post his parents went mad and started to blame everyone but themselves. Eventually they got premium numbers blocked, but his son was spending all the money he could get his hands on on call cards.
It was a phase for him, he stopped doing that after few months.
When he talked about it years later, he couldn't believe that he did this. He says he wishes his parents gave him more attention and explained to him what it is about and why it makes no sense to do something like this.
Fascist love such stories, because they can use them to tell people how they should live and create more regulations.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#288I strongly believe that video games today are comparable to alcohol in the 60's. Y'know, how people in the 60's would say "Oh Johnny just likes his liquor" when Johnny's drinking at 9AM, drunk at 10 and hungover by 2. Right now we have people who are facing serious problems with video games, and yet we brush them off casually and callously. I can't count the number of stories on reddit about playing video games all d…
That's just simply not true.
There are countless studies that video games are nothing like alcohol or other addictive substances.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#289I strongly believe that video games today are comparable to alcohol in the 60's. Y'know, how people in the 60's would say "Oh Johnny just likes his liquor" when Johnny's drinking at 9AM, drunk at 10 and hungover by 2. Right now we have people who are facing serious problems with video games, and yet we brush them off casually and callously. I can't count the number of stories on reddit about playing video games all d…
Anecdata: I live this, I agree with you. An MMO was the only thing in my life I've stayed up all night for and then been able to set an alarm and wake up for after 2 hours of sleep. This was a game I committed to for 14 years. I've slept through finals, been tardy my entire life, yet for this MMO I could do anything. I was "sick" instead of seeing my girlfriend, I was otherwise occupied instead of working, or school.…
Were you able to contain your addiction on your own or did you get help? This sounds like a challenge for sure.
Re: 'My son spent £3,160 in one game'
#290Another 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…
I agree that this is preventable but you can't assume that everyone knows these things, especially when there is an article like this that doesn't contain any help or advice! Of all people the BBC should be using this opportunity to help people.