Is there any regulations for in-game purchases? I just got royally ripped off for 10 quid on Clash Royale. 'High chance of legendary'- nope I got a series of weak cards (archer, X-bow, Pekka). In my mind that is deliberate, and not random, a ploy to get someone to pay more money to try and attain what they were after. 10 quid is a lot of money! I could have paid for 2 premium games on here. In my mind if you pay this amount of money- random is not good enough. It should be a considerably high percentage chance of a 'legendary', and should examine what cards you actually have. But I think I'm going to have to take it as lesson learnt but some right Cowboys on that App Store. I believe there should be regulations on these things.
In the West? Not really. Japan made kompu gacha practices illegal a few years ago, see e.g. here: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/japan-officially-declares-lucractive-kompu-gacha-practice-illegal-in-social-games/525608 I vaguely recall that Japan and China had some legalisation initiatives ongoing that would force companies to display probabilities before purchase, but I cannot find any sources for it right away, and don't have the time to dig deeper currently. And of course that's deliberate, what did you expect? The chances to actually get highest tier items quite often are below 1% (again, need sources) . So "high chance" e.g. means "twice the normal chance" --> 2% . Rather impressive, no? If you want regulations, contact your responsible government agency, get a campaign going, go into politics. That kind of thing
ah you know your stuff 'kompu gacha practises' that's interesting. I could raise an epetition I suppose.
Nah not really. Just a good memory (most of the time) and Google And I was wrong, there is some stuff going on in the EU and US as well. A few example sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/wlf/2015/05/28/ftcs-actions-on-in-app-purchases-reflect-chilling-move-toward-mother-may-i-paternalism/#15f00c3b1aa5 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/consumer-marketing/news/1401222_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-847_en.htm And I just remembered the most prominent case, which was in no small part responsible to get the ball rolling in the EU and US: Smurfberries. See e.g. here https://gigaom.com/2011/02/21/in-app-purchases-and-the-smurfberry-affair/ and here http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107662-Eight-Year-Old-Girl-Blows-1400-on-Smurfberries Some parents even sued Apple: http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/971333 Googling for "smurfberries iap scandal" will give you a lot to read. My take on that: If your child racks up ANY bill without your knowledge and approval, it's entirely your fault. Sure, screaming for the Nanny State(TM) to protect you is an option. But you know what? Just go away, learn to be responsible instead. If you want to read up, better google for the full "in app purchases". A lot of stuff uses the IAP acronym, from aerospace to doctors to schools.
Ah, you're in the UK. Try your Office of Fair Trading if you want more regulations. Here's their official "Principles for online and app-based games". And a related article: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-01-30-oft-releases-final-guidelines-for-in-app-purchasing You can try Gamasutra, they should have a bunch of articles on the topic as well.
Same here! I bought diamonds in MU Origin hoping to get an epic pet but all I got is trash. I really want to have a garuda pet with 5 options and I already purchased 500$ worth of diamonds.
Thanks again Nullzone, here is a letter I wrote to trading standards: it maybe sour grapes or whatever but £10 a lot of money and it definitely adds up. I mean on the one hand they could have a case its essentially no different from say a fruit machine. But on the other hand if that is the case where indeed purchases constitute gambling, then the number of kids playing makes it quite dubious.
