"Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

Re:"Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe by jasonlotito on Saturday March 01, 2014 @02:07AM (#7323469)

Sorry, but it tells you the cost, right on the damn screen. It's not hidden. It literally tells you the price. This is well after you've already downloaded the free app. So you have the game. You are inside, and their are prices next to it.

I mean, damn. Do these same people go to a club, get in for free, and then wonder why they still have to pay for drinks?

> Say "Free game of the week with paid IAP still included", I don't have a problem with this.

I guarantee that using that wording, people would think that the paid IAP was included with the "Free game of the week." I mean, they are already dumb enough to see a price and ignore it.

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Re:"Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe by jbinto on Saturday March 01, 2014 @07:08AM (#7323993)

If it's "unlock extra maps for $5" I think that's fair.

If it's "125 tokens for $10", that's not really telling you the price. Video arcades used this abstraction tactic successfully. Make people convert money upfront, make the exchange rate difficult to calculate mentally, ensure that the user is left with worthless "change" so they top up again, to avoid being left with sunk costs.

If every time an IAP is offered it showed prices in real $/€, people would think twice.

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Re:"Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe by jasonlotito on Saturday March 01, 2014 @07:30AM (#7324036)

I've never read so many comments from so many people wanting to give money to products they hate to support companies that use tactics you deplore.

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