The article is from MMOsite Writer Club member Andaleon
The Gray Areas of Responsible Gaming
Allow me to start this article with a short story. This uneventful situation happened a couple of days ago, one that sparked interest in writing this article.
I visited a game store to browse through their "old games" bin, meaning discounted prices on games released in 2004 or earlier. I was lucky enough to snag Clive Barker's Undying and Thief: Deadly Shadows for half their original prices. I approached another rack and found the Online Games section. I was feeling lucky, seeing a boxed set of Final Fantasy Online (with all the expansions) was on sale for 30% less the actual price. I continued browsing for new stuff like some PSP and NDS games before I decided to pay for what I got. It was then I had noticed a boy, probably 10 years old, and his father enter the store. I saw the little kid reach for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I quote from the child: "I wanna play this, daddy. I saw play and it's fun!" The dad gave some money and notioned this child to send the game to the counter. I, being the courteous one, let the child first in the cashier before me. What followed after piqued my interest. The sales guy didn't accept the child's attempted purchase of GTA, naturally because the kid was underaged to play the game, more so, buy it. And here comes the dad, asking what's wrong. The sales guy told the dad he cannot allow such a purchase, on the defense of the age restriction of the game. The dad, of course a natural buyer, goes on rebuttal with the quote "The customer is always right." The sales guy stood by his decision, making the child cry. The dad, now infuriated, stated that he will be buying the game, and not the kid. I quote a statement from the dad: "I'm sure I am old enough to buy and play this game!" The sales guy could not contest anymore and thus accepted the purchase. The game was bagged with its receipt stapled. The dad took the bag and gave it to his son just to make the kid stop crying.
This is probably the second time I saw something like this. The first time was when a parent came barging in [a different game store] complaining to the manager about the decline of sale to her child. The manager explained the violent content of the game, but fell to deaf ears.
See the pattern here? In order to keep the customer "happy," retailers would sell the games to their parents. What's even more appalling is the fact that parents are also sueing retailers for not selling the games to their kids. If retailers do experience such a confusing situation, what more for online games? The online world is littered with numerous free -to-dowload and free-to-play games. As smart as kids can be, it's safe to assume that children as young as 5 or 6 years old can browse the internet or play games. They can easily explore sites like MMOsite for downloadable content, register using their parents' email, and play. Let's not underestimate the intelligence of these children. They learn fast, and they apply what they've learned even faster. For all we know, a little child can stumble upon Requiem: Bloodymare's website, indicate a random false birthday, download the game without permission, and play despite the age restrictions. Unlike retailers and other human beings, a website's registration form is easy to fool with false information like age or name.
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