Current Events > Christmas is CANCELLED for Family cause 6 y/o spent $16,000+ on SONIC FORCES!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

BlakPeppa posted...

Hey lady, "Christmas isn't cancelled" as long as you are all together as a family watching X-mas specials, drinking egg nog and enjoying a wonderful x-mas dinner cooked up by Mr. Stay-at-home dad. oh what the hell. Even invite the Grandparents if they're in the neighborhood!

Uh... they cant pay the house mortgage so... when the bank takes the house, it might be time to call it and say, yes, Christmas is canceled.

---

Should've had purchase protections on, yes, but the mother isn't exactly wrong...games like this are quite predatory.

---

Can someone even try to go into detail of how these games are "predatory"?

---

sull56ivan2010 posted...

Can someone even try to go into detail of how these games are "predatory"?

They are designed around taking money from people in exchange for the rush of pleasure your brain gets from the prospect of getting something cool, shiny, new, a fancy prize. They're designed to give you shitty common items nine times out of ten so you buy one thousand of the "99 cent booster pack!" items to maximize your chances of getting that super cool fun rare skin or a boost of a million soldiers so you can be better than everyone else in the game.

They know what they're doing and that's why they stack the odds against you and why they don't put spending limits in the games. They know that people are going to spend money to try to get that one thing they can't get without grinding for 10,000 hours.

---

Here: https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/

It's called a Compulsion Loop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsion_loop

---

Hexenherz posted...

They are designed around taking money from people in exchange for the rush of pleasure your brain gets from the prospect of getting something cool, shiny, new, a fancy prize. They're designed to give you shitty common items nine times out of ten so you buy one thousand of the "99 cent booster pack!" items to maximize your chances of getting that super cool fun rare skin or a boost of a million soldiers so you can be better than everyone else in the game.

They know what they're doing and that's why they stack the odds against you and why they don't put spending limits in the games. They know that people are going to spend money to try to get that one thing they can't get without grinding for 10,000 hours.

But how does this apply to a six year old? Because they will beg for stuff and can manipulate in ways to get what they want or do stuff behind their parents backs.

And... yeah, you're not being forced. Again, not predatory.

---

Because a child is especially susceptible to the type of visual design and gameplay elements that form the basis for these types of compulsions/addictions.

Predatory doesn't mean someone is being forced to do something...

---

sull56ivan2010 posted...

But how does this apply to a six year old?

The same way it applies to everyone else. They're designed like slot machines. Companies employ psychologist to help design these things around making you want more and more.
---

sull56ivan2010 posted...

But how does this apply to a six year old? Because they will beg for stuff and can manipulate in ways to get what they want or do stuff behind their parents backs.

And... yeah, you're not being forced. Again, not predatory.

Vegas would love you.

---

Hexenherz posted...

Because a child is especially susceptible to the type of visual design and gameplay elements that form the basis for these types of compulsions/addictions.

Predatory doesn't mean someone is being forced to do something...

Then what's "predatory" about this? Don't underestimate the intelligence of kids.

---

sull56ivan2010 posted...

Then what's "predatory" about this? Don't underestimate the intelligence of kids.

Are you reading anything that I'm writing or are you just trying to get a rise out of me at this point.

It's predatory because it targets everyone with an inclination for an addictive personality (turns out, that's a lot of people across all age ranges).

It has nothing to do with how intelligent a person is; people fall into addictions all the time.

---

What grown up would spend 100 on a chest of virtual gold coins?"

I laughed pretty hard at that line

Anyway, I don't understand how they didn't notice it sooner or at the very least pause the usage of the card. They need to monitor their accounts better. Apple should have given them their money back though.

---

That's what happens when you hand a 6 year-old a tablet and expect the tablet to babysit for you. Now she is blaming the game for being a shitty parent for not paying attention to her child. Time to pay up and pay more attention next time.

---

DirkDiggles posted...

That's what happens when you hand a 6 year-old a tablet and expect the tablet to babysit for you. Now she is blaming the game for being a shitty parent for not paying attention to her child. Time to pay up and pay more attention next time.

The game is still definitely at fault.

---

Bass_X0 posted...

The game is still definitely at fault.

Yeah....I guess the game stole that ladys Credit Card info and used it......

---

DirkDiggles posted...

Yeah....I guess the game stole that ladys Credit Card info and used it......

You should not be allowed to spend $16,000 on a single game. There should be pay caps in every game where you buy all that there is to buy and you cannot buy anymore.

---

Bass_X0 posted...

You should not be allowed to spend $16,000 on a single game. There should be pay caps in every game where you buy all that there is to buy and you cannot buy anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL8zhtixLG0

---

LightningAce11 posted...

Can't she just charge it back?

Is this not possible? Say all those payments were unauthorised?
---

Imagine shilling for Apple.
---

DirkDiggles posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL8zhtixLG0

shouldn't be required. as Jim Sterling says, you shouldn't need parental guidance for a videogame aimed towards children.

---

1) yes, these microtransactions are predatory
2) always require a password to make a purchase. Don't be lazy, especially if kids will have access to the device.

---

Bass_X0 posted...

shouldn't be required. as Jim Sterling says, you shouldn't need parental guidance for a videogame aimed towards children.

So if he'd spent all that money on Amazon, or the App store it would be different because it isn't a "game marketed at children"? Those of course have better controls like email verifications sent that would limit damage, but it would still be damage hard to fix quickly.

As for the game mechanics, I don't know these ones specifically, but gatcha and F2P games usually rely on impatience. I've played several and only kicked in $5 to one, but otherwise got hundreds of hours out of several games for nothing. Even the recent big one Genshin Impact, I've gotten all story content to date finished and over a hundred hours of gameplay and haven't paid a dime because I don't need every character powered up to max to play the game, and whats there at no cost still works.

---

looks like most think apple should foot the bill
---

And the lesson is: don't ever have kids.

---

Corporations need to burn.

---

https://i.imgur.com/tV5cT3V.png
---

Apple should burn for this.

---

Revnir posted...

What if a kid steals his mom's credit card and goes to a jeweler and buys 16k worth of jewelry?

Should it be legal for the jeweler to sell it?

At some point there is a limit to how much you should blame the victims just to make yourself look tough.

That's an entirely different kettle of fish and you know it. This wasn't some sneaky, greedy older kid stealing cash from their parents wallets.

This was a couple who let their little brat have unfettered access to a device with a credit card, didn't bother to monitor him, found out that money kept going missing and instead of actively trying to figure out what was happening, did the bare minimum from June to December.

Doesn't that strike you as dumb, incompetent or just plain lazy? What if it had been someone who hacked into their accounts and was committing id theft? That would make anyone with half a brain concerned. But I guess put together these two don't even have that much.

---