Comic for Friday 5/20 (Early High Res)
Added 2022-05-19 20:44:59 +0000 UTCSo Blizzard is getting sued again (seems to be their new hobby), this time by a father who is upset that his child bought a bunch of Hearthstone card packs and can't refund them after getting garbage.
Polygon reported on it here, but the gist is this: Dad gives his daughter access to a device connected to his credit card, and over the course of three years, she buys $300 worth of Hearthstone booster packs. He eventually wises up, and upon realizing that a) she didn't get any good cards and b) can't refund the purchases, decides to sue Blizzard because they didn't properly educate his child on the shittiness of random-draw card packs.
There's a lot of angles to this thing. I am a parent, and I know as well as anyone, being a parent is hard. Especially in this day and age. There are so many things you have to watch out for, dangers you have to be aware of and educate your kids on... it isn't easy. I try my best not to be too critical of other people's parenting; we all have our own approaches, and we all make mistakes.
I can understand not realizing that you connected your credit card to an app your kid is using. I can understand not being aware a game includes lootbox-esque purchases (and I can get on board with the idea that those mechanics shouldn't be marketed to kids).
But the moment a parent decides that those two mistakes are no longer their mistakes, but the responsibility of a massive corporation that requires litigation to remedy... I don't know. At that point I have a hard time finding the angle to that I can agree on.
Comments
I like Tim's version of "surprised Pikachu face". π
Alain Baum
2022-05-20 06:51:40 +0000 UTCEh, intentional ignorance. You've be surprised at how many people 1) don't bother to monitor their kids' activities, especially in the digital space, unless something reaches out and slaps them about it, and 2) don't bother to track their bank account/credit card register and transactions that are occurring. I find it very believable that someone could just straight up not notices the transactions, and not bother looking for them or checking their kids' activities, for 3+ years. Doesn't make it not *their fault*, though. Even if the company published the probabilities, very few kids have the capacity for understanding those probabilities *and* the understanding of money actually having value (and a proper understanding of "how much" that value is) for it to make a difference. Hell, many *adults* lack the capacity to properly process that information. This is just another "something bad happened, and I need someone else to blame for it so I don't have to take responsibility for my own laziness/stupidity/inattention".
Kaedys
2022-05-19 23:24:12 +0000 UTCIf the father complained after a few weeks or month or so, I could be understanding. Letting it go for three years cannot be just ignorance.
Thomas
2022-05-19 22:33:09 +0000 UTC
