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Does this game come with a warning?
Simburian
Posts: 6,913 Member
Given that EA envisage thousands of pounds being spent on what I can only call "Loot boxes" to get new items is there warning given on installing it that you may overspend. Parents of underage children who play it should have the option to set limits on spending. There have been court cases about this problem in the uk against mobile games.
""The Sims FreePlay has frequent updates adding specific themes to the game, similar to DLCs for Sims 4. Fuchs said the roadmap is already in place for Sims Mobile.
“We have a huge roadmap of things that we are going to roll out. We are going to be releasing a lot of content, but we have a new zone that we are planning to release right after we go worldwide,” Fuchs said. “In a zone, you will have different venues, different careers, different Create-A-Sim, build/buy objects, sets of things, mystery things -- so we have a huge amount of content planned. You could spend zero dollars and have a great experience, you could spend thousands of dollars, depending on how decked out you want to be.”"
http://www.player.one/sims-mobile-producer-talks-multiplayer-element-live-events-content-roadmap-123685
""The Sims FreePlay has frequent updates adding specific themes to the game, similar to DLCs for Sims 4. Fuchs said the roadmap is already in place for Sims Mobile.
“We have a huge roadmap of things that we are going to roll out. We are going to be releasing a lot of content, but we have a new zone that we are planning to release right after we go worldwide,” Fuchs said. “In a zone, you will have different venues, different careers, different Create-A-Sim, build/buy objects, sets of things, mystery things -- so we have a huge amount of content planned. You could spend zero dollars and have a great experience, you could spend thousands of dollars, depending on how decked out you want to be.”"
http://www.player.one/sims-mobile-producer-talks-multiplayer-element-live-events-content-roadmap-123685
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there's no lootboxes in the game ( only on limited time events ) , but the in-game items is pretty expensive
(◡‿◡✿)
Here's a mobile game addict of 19
.....At the height of the controversy surrounding microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2, a Reddit user who goes by the name XXXXXX posted an open letter to publisher EA and other developers in the video game industry. "I am 19 and addicted to gambling," he wrote. XXXXXX wasn't talking about roulette tables or online poker. He was talking about spending over $17,000 on in-game purchases over the last several years.
In yet another story that demonstrates both a clear lack of parental supervision over digital devices and a company’s ability to prey on addicts of free-to-play games, a 15-year-old boy in Belgium racked up a credit card bill of 37,000 Euros (over $46,000) while playing Machine Age’s “Game of War: Fire Age” online strategy game.
According to Flemish publication Nieuwsblad, the teenager used his grandfather’s credit card to purchase in-game gold that would improve his performance within the game. While free to download and play, the in-game gold purchases help a player build a city as well as an army to compete more effectively against opponents, similar to the “Civilization” franchise.
Just sayin'
Anyway, those who want to keep informed just so you know a few days back after inspecting 10 unnamed popular MMOs (no, Sims phonegames aren't among those) Netherlands find out 4 of them are illegal and lootboxes inside de facto gaming and issued warning to developers to modify it ASAP. The story of course is not over yet, but so far it reached a point where governments finally have to intervene:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/267994-the-netherlands-declares-some-loot-boxes-illegal-warns-developers-to-modify-them
So it started with Netherlands, I won't be surprised if the same thing happens soon in the whole EU, and afterterwards possibly spreads worldwide.
Note also that there is a new site that tracks presence of various microtransactions in games:
https://www.pcgamesn.com/site-rates-games-microtransactions
Sims Mobile is not detailed yet on it but plenty of games with lootboxes are. I expect the data from that site to play a big role in whatever happens with lootboxes in the future.
https://www.usgamer.net/articles/netherlands-find-four-games-in-violation-of-countrys-gambling-laws
Look I don't want to derail this further then it should.
There was a time when games required skill or thorough planning and were full products. Then expansions appeared which were almost a game sequel but were cheaper to produce because of reusing plenty of existing resources. Then paid cosmetics appeared, no I don't mean Sims stuffpacks only, remember Bethesda's horse armor?
And it was all good till touchscreen based phonegames spread. At first it seemed phones are strong enough to give people what old handhelds were used for. But no. For whatever reason, 99% of phonegames are not what we called videogames at all. No skill and no planning is required, it's all slot machines. Or pachinko.
While Netherlands was the first country to find the practice illegal, it issued only warnings (currently). Belgium went one step further today:
https://wccftech.com/belgian-gaming-commission-lootboxes-gambling/ As I said above. I expect all countries, slowly of course, will do something to protect their citizens one way or another. Or, to still remain on topic which is Sims Mobile, Izzy will have to be reworked/removed or Sims Mobile won't be possible to play in certain areas.
Further reading is for those who think EA is not aware of current trends where slotmachine designs are being put to the pillory, they are or at least EA's chief design officer Patrick Söderlund is aware and promises different approach in the future:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-04-16-ea-admits-it-got-it-wrong-over-star-wars-battlefront-2-loot-boxes
I think it's time for survey what needs to be remade first, EA.