Wikipedia mentions a TV news report, about children who stole their parents' credit cards in order to buy these items. I suspect that the fault was not only the game's. The parents should have paid more attention
to what their children were doing online, and the children should not have gotten so obsessed with having the latest fashions -- whether in real life or online. But the fact that the game's business model is so centered around paying for these temporary fads might give parents pause. There's no limit to how much you can spend, and you have to keep spending to keep your items.
Runescape
Runescape was started by a UK Internet startup called Jagex, during the late 90's. It quickly became popular, and today has millions of players, putting it in the same league as the legendary World of Warcraft. It's more family-friendly than World of Warcraft, however, and while some features -- such as its British humor, with at least one Hitchhiker's Guide reference -- are certainly meant to be appreciated by adults, the game as a whole (like Maple Story) is mostly played by children and teenagers. It can be accessed from any computing platform, including Ubuntu PCs and Macs.
Runescape is not a "free" game in the strictest sense of the word. People who play Runescape for free have to watch advertisements before playing the game, and are subject to banner ads above the game window. There is no Runescape "Cash Shop," though; paying $6 a month removes the ads, and lets players access a whole slew of extra features. They lose access to these features if they stop paying, but they don't have to stop playing the game altogether.
Runescape's Wikipedia article does not mention any controversy related to the game, and a quick Google search doesn't turn up any news reports, either. Meanwhile, in a feature on the Runescape website where players mail in questions to the game's characters, one of them advises a player looking for ways to afford the $6 a month to "embark on a quest;" like the "car-washing" quest, or the "extra-chores" quest.
The Upshot
Not all free games are created equally. Some, like Runescape, are free in the sense of letting you try it out for free, and then charging a fair price for full access to the game. Others, like Maple Story, encourage players to become addicted to buying new things. And while most people probably play games like Maple Story responsibly, it's in their creators' best interests to encourage their players not to.
Letting your kids play this kind of free online game just because it's "free games" is like giving them "free" toys at fast food restaurants. It shuts them up for a little while, but you know they're
going to beg you to go back to that restaurant. It's part of that restaurant's business model.
By taking a closer look at what kind of games your children are playing over the Internet, you can see whether they're designed to give a fair value for money put into them, or whether they're designed to extract as much money as possible. Probably the best way to find out is to listen to your children ... but that's a subject for a whole 'nother article. Have fun!
Letting your kids play this kind of free online game just because it's "free" is like giving them "free" toys at fast food restaurants. It shuts them up for a little while, but you know they're
going to beg you to go back to that restaurant. It's part of that restaurant's business model.
By taking a closer look at what kind of games your children are playing over the Internet, you can see whether they're designed to give a fair value for money put into them, or whether they're designed to extract as much money as possible. Probably the best way to find out is to listen to your children ... but that's a subject for a whole 'nother article. Have fun!
Online Games for Kids
