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Games with in-app purchases are not free


securitybreach

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securitybreach

About time!! Maybe they will adapt the policy in the US as well:

Google has agreed to add protections around games' in-app purchases to ensure that children won't rack up unwanted charges on their parents' credit cards. The changes come at the request of the European Commission, which has been investigating the ongoing issue of unwanted in-app purchases and is today laying out a series of guidelines that it would like developers and app stores to comply with. Google has said that by the end of September, it will cease to advertise games as "free" when they include in-app purchases and that it will also require payment verification before each purchase. It's unclear if these changes will be exclusive to Europe, however.....

http://mobile.thever...pean-commission

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Guest LilBambi

Definitely about time though.

 

Always annoys me when games are listed as free but aren't worth much if you don't buy some in app purchases.

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Guest LilBambi

If that were the case, that would be true, but it's not.

 

The bare minimum software is free; but it's not very useful unless you buy the in-app purchases. In fact, likely boring and or frustrating.

 

 

I don't mind the ones where they at least give you something every so often to help keep the game moving. You just have to be willing to wait every 1.5 hrs, or every 4 hours, or once a day to get them.

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I don't game much at all, so I see very little of this. If I found it irritating, I would post a poor review in the App Store.

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securitybreach

The problem is that there is a huge majority of top titles that are "free" but require in-app purchases. You will see something really neat looking like some new EA FPS game that says free but is basically useless without the in-app purchases.

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WHat do you mean by "basically worthless"? If a game is free but with in app purchases, I would expect a couple levels available to play and see if I like the game. If I don't, I've wasted no money. I like that idea.

 

Frankly, app development is not cheap, and many developers rely on income in order to feed their family and keep developing. IAP puts the apps in more people's hands, and if the user likes the app, he will probably gain value from the IAP stuff.

 

Does Google play make a note that is easily visible on the app's page in the Play store that shows the app has IAP? I know the App Store on IOS does.

 

Adam

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securitybreach

Yes they do list IAP in the description but I would much rather pay for a game or get a basic free one. It's stupid to advertise high end games as free, then charge to for every little thing. I am not just talking about giving you a free demo (couple of levels) and then wanting you to pay for the full game. A lot of games require a payment to complete even one level.

 

For instance, downloading a "free" game to test it out, downloading 1-3gb of data files and then realize you cannot complete one level without paying.

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I didn't give googleplay a credit card. :grin:

I downloaded CandyCrush just to see what everyone was talking about. Last night, as I failed to complete level 7, I got a popup about getting something for 99¢. I just closed the box out. If I can try level 7 again, fine; if not, I'll uninstall the game.

 

I actually didn't buy the tablet to play games, I was just curious about this one.

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securitybreach

Well that is not bad then. I could deal with that but not what I mentioned above. Of course that is a lower end game and doesn't require 1-3gb of data to play.

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Guest LilBambi

Very few are like that Adam. At least the ones I have downloaded. Most of the ones I have had either action packs available to upgrade it beyond the current version. Like with Slingo. In app purchase takes it to Slingo Supreme. Slingo was great by itself. But you got basically Slingo version 2 a few years later by an in app purchase.

 

Other games give you the ability to work forward in the game slowly via time based points/coinage, etc., or you can buy coins or whatever you need from their store within the game to move forward more quickly.

 

There are also ones that are like trial versions. Some go so far, and stop, some are true trials with full ability but limited time, others are crippled versions but all you have to buy full versions to get the rest of the game.

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There's a lot of ways to accomplish trials,etc., and several have been noted here. I am just not a fan of saying a game is not free when it technically is free with in-app purchases. I think noting that there are IAPs inside is enough to accomplish notification. Removing free apps from the free list because they offer in app purchases makes less sense to me, because it confuses things.

 

Now, if there are developers who are crippling the apps and getting you to download them under the pretense of it being free, then those developers should suffer one star reviews and public humiliation. Blog about it, tweet, etc., and let your world know that the app sucks. I would also drop the developer a note stating why you did this.

 

Adam

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Guest LilBambi

Well, many are crippleware. So that makes folks upset. Not really free if there is no way to progress without getting the IAP.

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