Yes the target market for a Smurf game is smart/old people.Kalezian said:
The prices...its obviously a scam for careless people.
Apple Gives Capcom a Smurfberry Crunch
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
The prices...its obviously a scam for careless people.
I'm still disgusted with this scam game, Capcom should be ashamed. It's quite obvious that all it's intended to do is trick people into having to pay a bill. There is no excuse for why the items are so expensive, this whole "window period" just adds further fuel. It should be taken off the marketplace, it's pathetic.
I don't have an iPad, hence I don't have this game... What exactly do you need smurfberries for ? and why do they cost $99 for a wagon of them?
I mean, if you purchase enough of them do you get access to Smurfette, if you know what I mean??? Just seems like a ridiculous price for a virtual item in a iPad game.
I mean, if you purchase enough of them do you get access to Smurfette, if you know what I mean??? Just seems like a ridiculous price for a virtual item in a iPad game.
So if Apple has a problem with this app/game, why'd they approve it in the first place?
Love the Cosby joke you referenced though.
Well, the parents should know better. Like you said, you got your first bill and there's a $10 charge that shouldn't be there, so you investigated and found out. You didn't wait months before checking your bill and finding thousands of dollars had been racked up like the mom who's kid bought stuff on Xbox Live or the kid who bought tons of smurfberries. $99 for an in-game item and a 15 minute window to buy whatever you want after buying a first item are both very stupid, but there is always room for parental intelligence too.bombadilillo said:
Love the Cosby joke you referenced though.
Yeah but at 99$ each buy a kid could rack up 1400$ in leteally 15 minutes. So that IS your first warning. Its good on Apple for refunding it but they need to remove the app till its pricing goes down. I just...it boggles my mind they chare 100$ for a perishable in game item....wtf. its insane.
I just looked on my iPod for any settings related to this that I could change - it took me a few minutes to find an option to turn off in-game purchases, so it's good to know it's there. On the other hand I consider myself pretty tech-savvy and I couldn't find it straight away.
Also there was nothing to do with this 15 minute window. I would definitely change that if I could.
Also there was nothing to do with this 15 minute window. I would definitely change that if I could.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.Aura Guardian said:
That is to say, they're not dicks, just utterly stupid.
I'm still waiting for a sharp legal mind to take Capple or Appcom to court. Everything about games like these scream exploitation. Sure, YOU might be able to understand nothing is ever really free in a F2P game, but children don't see it quite the same way you do, even if you explain it to them. It's cute and colourful. It's all too easy for a child's mind to wander and thinking nothing of the 'buy more of X now!' button without thinking of the consequences.
I'd like to know what the hell these Smurfberries actually do! It's the second news post on this issue... I'd really like to know what a $99 virtual item is meant to do for you exactly. Come on Mr. Newsreporter! Tell us! Spill the beans already!
I'd like to know what the hell these Smurfberries actually do! It's the second news post on this issue... I'd really like to know what a $99 virtual item is meant to do for you exactly. Come on Mr. Newsreporter! Tell us! Spill the beans already!
Hold on a second... Capcom have already stated that its Apple's software that forces them to keep it un-passworded for 15 minutes.Andy Chalk said:
I sense shenanigans!
Yeah this is fishey I mean I can see all the "blame the parents" view but as I remember hearing somerwhere from some documentry parents are only 2 people while their are probably tens of thousands people trying to get a child to buy something. Yes parents can do some things but there are cracks in their armor.
According to the game description, they speed up the growth of your crops and your village.Gralian said:
Also, I'm not condoning the game, but the very first thing in that description was "PLEASE NOTE: Smurf Village is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. You may lock out the ability to purchase in-app content by adjusting your device?s settings. "
Wait... that's it? It's basically a fast-forward function?torzath said:
Geez. Small wonder that so many people claim people (not just kids tbh) these days have short attention spans and impatient behaviour. <Insert long-winded rant about how the 'go-go consumerist culture' has shaped this way of thinking into modern society>
Like you said, 15 minutes is a fairly long amount of time. What side are you arguing for here? Because I think 15 minutes is a blind spot in the system the average consumer shouldn't be expected to account for.Kalezian said:
The article has me in a cartoons-of-my-childhood mood. So I heard 'go-go consumerist culture' in Don Adams' voice.Gralian said:
I'm sick of seeing people claim "Blame the parents for everything!", it's absolutely outrageous how often people scream "Blame the Parents" on this website. The XBox kid whose mother ignored her credit card statement for 6 months, sure, I can see that. But in 15 minutes this 8 year old bought $1400.00 worth of these ridiculously overpriced in game items. Items that, as everyone has pointed out, cost more than the Collector's Edition of a AAA game. Hell, Steam had a sale where I could get every Square-Enix game they have available, plus all the DLC, for $75 not too long ago. That's every S-E game on Steam for LESS than one Wagon of Smurfberries.
And people are claiming this is the parent's fault? I'm only human, I can't watch EVERYTHING my daughter does at every second of every day. I work, I want to relax sometimes, and sometimes things slip my mind. I'm not omniscient, which some people here expect all parents to be.
Here's a theoretical example of something that could happen to anyone. I decide to let my kid play on my phone/ipad/whatever cause we're in an airport or something, and she's being really noisy and making a huge commotion. I had just bought some other app to check flights or restaurants or something 2 minutes prior. She starts playing her game. It's for 4 years + of age. I took a quick glance at the game, doesn't seem harmful, but doesn't interest me at all. I'll check it out a bit, make sure it seems safe. Yeah, it's got in game purchases, but it requires my iTunes password. I'm not gonna worry about it too much, I buy stuff in other apps I use, so I don't want to turn that feature off. At the end of the month, I notice I've got a $1200.00 bill from iTunes, $1100.00 of that being Smurfberries. What the hell!? I ask. I check with my daughter, she tells me just pressed some buttons to get some, and smiles saying they helped her Smurf Village grow REALLY fast. She's all excited about it. I then realize what happened after doing some research and discovering the 15 minute window that, sometimes can go longer than 15 minutes if there's a glitch somewhere. I also find out to my horror that one of the items for sale on the Smurf game costs almost $100.00, when I figured, because it was such a low end looking game, that it might charge $10-$20 for whatever it had to sell.
That's nuts, ridiculous pricing, and absolute bullshit. This game preys after children, there's no doubt about that.
Also, anyone who says that children shouldn't be allowed to touch expensive things like iPads and etc, is just silly. When your child screams at you because she wants to play with your fancy toy because she's curious. You're gonna let her look at it. You'll supervise her until she can use it without damaging it, and teach her the basics. And eventually you'll feel comfortable with her playing with it.
Parents are expected to be superheroes who can do anything. We're only human, and we all make mistakes. Grow up and stop shouting "PARENTS SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!" for everything. Most of us do our best, despite what you think to the contrary.
And people are claiming this is the parent's fault? I'm only human, I can't watch EVERYTHING my daughter does at every second of every day. I work, I want to relax sometimes, and sometimes things slip my mind. I'm not omniscient, which some people here expect all parents to be.
Here's a theoretical example of something that could happen to anyone. I decide to let my kid play on my phone/ipad/whatever cause we're in an airport or something, and she's being really noisy and making a huge commotion. I had just bought some other app to check flights or restaurants or something 2 minutes prior. She starts playing her game. It's for 4 years + of age. I took a quick glance at the game, doesn't seem harmful, but doesn't interest me at all. I'll check it out a bit, make sure it seems safe. Yeah, it's got in game purchases, but it requires my iTunes password. I'm not gonna worry about it too much, I buy stuff in other apps I use, so I don't want to turn that feature off. At the end of the month, I notice I've got a $1200.00 bill from iTunes, $1100.00 of that being Smurfberries. What the hell!? I ask. I check with my daughter, she tells me just pressed some buttons to get some, and smiles saying they helped her Smurf Village grow REALLY fast. She's all excited about it. I then realize what happened after doing some research and discovering the 15 minute window that, sometimes can go longer than 15 minutes if there's a glitch somewhere. I also find out to my horror that one of the items for sale on the Smurf game costs almost $100.00, when I figured, because it was such a low end looking game, that it might charge $10-$20 for whatever it had to sell.
That's nuts, ridiculous pricing, and absolute bullshit. This game preys after children, there's no doubt about that.
Also, anyone who says that children shouldn't be allowed to touch expensive things like iPads and etc, is just silly. When your child screams at you because she wants to play with your fancy toy because she's curious. You're gonna let her look at it. You'll supervise her until she can use it without damaging it, and teach her the basics. And eventually you'll feel comfortable with her playing with it.
Parents are expected to be superheroes who can do anything. We're only human, and we all make mistakes. Grow up and stop shouting "PARENTS SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!" for everything. Most of us do our best, despite what you think to the contrary.