Too young to speak, but old enough to listen?
Take a look at Steve's article.
It is regarding a change Jagex made about a half year ago (I think) when they made the game "appropriate" for kids under 13 by limiting their interaction to Quick Chat only. The change allowed them to continue legally marketing the game to younger audience which was (and still is) a big deal. In fact, a huge deal. Of money.
I actually remember praising the move, as Runescape free chat system, indeed, might not be appropriate for young ages (after all Runescape does have its fair share of predators, drugs, sex and religious references, cheating and swearing). One can argue that it should be up to parents to decide, but I absolutely understand why Jagex made that change and closed free chat for kids under 13.
Now back to Steve's article. Apparently the way Jagex implemented the solution was not by forcing younger players to stay in Quick Chat only worlds, or by filtering chat and leaving only quick chat messages visible. The only thing they did was to mute younger players. So younger players can still read all those "drugs, sex and religious references, cheating and swearing". The are only shielded from potential revealing of their personal information within the game. This is so lame.
I guess such limited change does let Jagex continue their marketing strategy and removes a risk of being sued.
But, common, that's hypocrisy in its pure form...
Friday, October 24, 2008
Too young to speak?
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2 comments:
I am a parent of a player that will turn 13 this year yet. When we set up his acct they knew of his age. they did not state that he could only use quick chat. And yes, I play too. I am Zorbas Tower. I play side by side my son and have never seen him abuse their rules of conduct. Yet, out of the blue, he could no longer talk. We appealed what they had done, only to be told that he was going to remain muted until his 13th B-Day. His account was setup long before they made this decision and didn't even have the common courtesy to contact us to notify us of their new rules. Now we continue to pay for a membership that doesn't allow him to even have a normal conversation. And I agree, this is a total "let's make more money off the kids"... Please if you read this with the article, add your comments and let's pressure Jagex to do 2 things. First, refund all moneys made during their impromptu ban of kids under 13, and Second, let's make sure they put a disclaimer on the account setup page right ABOVE the "ACCEPT" button
Quite honestly I doubt Jagex is monitoring this blog. Appeal or RSOF might be a better easier way to get Jagex's attention for the problem.
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