6 ms·

My kids have started playing Roblox recently and they have started asking for some Robux so they can buy crap... I really don't get how so many people are into

My kids have started playing Roblox recently and they have started asking for some Robux so they can buy crap... I really don't get how so many people are into spending dollars on this stuff. Everything they wanted was ~$10-20 NZD and it was just throw away stuff, like a costume, etc. And then it's only useful in that one game you have brought it for. It blows my mind that it ever got this popular.

jack_pp 2y ago
Because kids aren't utilitarian. They want shiny things impulsively now in whatever niche game they are playing at the moment. Or want to keep up with their friends who got cool stuff to keep status. Doesn't matter to them that they'll switch games in a week and lose everything.
- jack_pp 2y ago
  To add to this, for them money is like ice cream, comes from parents rarely and gives them temporary pleasure. That's why I think it is good to pay your kids for chores or good grades so that they start learning financial responsibility early. Sure they'll blow their money on useless stuff at first but then they'll have none for some other thing they wish they had money for and will learn to choose more wisely in the future
  - hypertele-Xii 2y ago
    My dad let me gamble my allowance against himself in poker. Lost it all, obviously. Was quite heartbroken he wouldn't give it back, but I sure learned a lesson :)
  - fifticon 2y ago
    I concur with this. Our kid can earn robux doing chores, and she only earns them once in a while. It often leads her to a period of deliberation, where at first she's like 'I so much need this, I must do whatever chores it will take!'. Then gradually as the minutes go by, she gets doubts, and at some point flips into "No. Way. THAT is NOT worth THAT MUCH WORK!" Whenever this happens, I get sort of proud or satisfied. A lot of times it doesn't happen, she does the chore and gets the reward. But other times, especially for costly idiosyncratic choices, she comes to her senses. The insane spending sprees/binges shrink a lot, when they are expressed in "how much vacuuming and floor washing am I willing to endure?"
  - dloranc 2y ago
    > That's why I think it is good to pay your kids for chores or good grades so that they start learning financial responsibility early. Have you ever read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn? He states that rewarding for the things you mentioned inhibits the desired behavior in the long run.
    - squigz 2y ago
      Could you elaborate on how that might be?
    - jack_pp 2y ago
      Haven't read it but I remember reading about a study where they would watch some kids play with toys, record which were their favorite ones and then in another play session give them sweets for playing with their favorite toys after which those toys would no longer be their favorite. However even though most people don't enjoy their work we must learn to get past that in order to achieve our goals, might as well learn this early imo. Personally I hated most of school, pretty much every subject that wasn't math or programming. Rewards did motivate me to learn those things I didn't like. So maybe only reward them for doing stuff they already don't like doing but would be good for them. If you see your kid doing well in math but poorly in history only reward them for history.
    - CuriouslyC 2y ago
      So... Paying people to write software inhibits them writing software?
      - jack_pp 2y ago
        Doesn't inhibit them but makes the activity not pleasant because your mind is attaching the work itself to external motivation. You don't do it because you want to (for the pleasure of it), but for a paycheck and humans don't enjoy activities like that if they're not starving.
        bitfilped 2y ago
        This is how every other job in the world works, you work for money.
- drw85 2y ago
  It's not only kids that buy these. I know a lot of 40+ year old men that buy skins and useless junk in video games all the time. They spend a ton of money on cosmetic junk in short lived video games. It's puzzling to me, but i see it all the time.
  - joejag 2y ago
    I'm a 40+ year old man who buys cosmetics for CS2 (which has a resale market). If you are going to spend 200+ hours doing something you might as well have a nice environment to do it in. There's a reason everyone isn't driving a Honda Civic.
  - matwood 2y ago
    > It's puzzling to me, but i see it all the time. Everyone has their thing. I'm sure you spend money in ways that are just as puzzling to others.
  - jack_pp 2y ago
    Maybe if you earn 10k+ monthly and play a free game you don't mind buying shiny things for 50-100$ monthly
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      Yeah, I'll admit I have and Probbaly will "whale" in my share of mobile games. Though "whaling" amounts can vary vastly on the perception (I'm not throwing down $1000 every time a new character releases. But I do spend triple digits a month). Key is proper financial management. If I make $10000 post tax (which isnt an impressive figure for a community like this), put 15% in savings, 30% in rent/utilities, and 5% into food, I still have $5000 left. Spending $500 on games won't really phase me. I 100% agree this isn't something kids would do and balance, though. And I recognize others have addictions and much worse financial planning.
- J_cst 2y ago
  Some time ago I read an article explaining that initially games used to sell upgrades which were making the player stronger in multi-player games. The net result was that the games were loosing players because that mechanic was seen as unfair (pay to win). So they switched to aesthetics enhancements only and that resulted the correct strategy to have in game sales and not loosing players. Unfortunately cannot remember further details to prove this memory, sorry.
  - MeanwInAsia 2y ago
    Meanwhile, Chinese and Korean kids widely DEMAND pay to win, and see people who complain about Pay2Win as "Losers in life", because, to them, it's just two valid paths, and if someone pays to win at a game, then it's just a mark of status. Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat? Tons of really great stuff in eastern work culture that I miss now back in europe. But that "results-first and call it a systematic right" thing never sat well with me.
    - J_cst 2y ago
      Thank you for bringing a different worldview to the discussion. I realize that my comment was Euro (or West) centric, but that wasn't intentional. I appreciate your perspective, as it adds valuable context and enriches the conversation. It's interesting to see how cultural differences shape attitudes toward gaming, and your insights have certainly given me something to think about. Thank you for that.
    - gruez 2y ago
      >Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat? Source?
      - bradjohnson 2y ago
        It's extremely easy to find yourself, but here: https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-fight-for-the-right-to-cheat https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-figh...
- dgb23 2y ago
  It's not kids or Roblox specifically, it's gamers and platforms/games with "micro-transactions" etc. When I was younger and still played online games regularly, I was initially stoked about cosmetic micro-transactions in (competitive) online games. Not because I wanted to buy them, but because these would fund the continuous development of my favorite games without affecting their integrity (no "pay to win" mechanisms). Later I found this was a Faustian bargain. It turned these games and communities around them into something that I don't want to participate in. These days I don't mind as much. Because among the sea of predatory, tacky or otherwise low quality crap there are way too many high quality, original and interesting games (typically made by small teams) that I will ever be able to play. I don't know anything about Roblox specifically. On one hand the comment above is tragic, but on the other hand my understanding is that motivates kids to play around with Lua. If that's the case, then I'm all for it, because for me and many others that kind of thing is how we found our way into our profession as developers.
  - BlueTemplar 2y ago
    Even if you specifically insist on Lua for some reason, there are probably way less predatory options, like Factorio.
    - dgb23 2y ago
      I don’t care about Lua specifically nor Roblox. And yes, Factorio is great.
  - foobarian 2y ago
    This is why I don't stress too much about validating game state in server scripts. It lets the kids cheat clientside if they can figure out how to rewrite and load the Lua scripts.
  - ElCapitanMarkla 2y ago
    I think you're right on with the micro-transactions, Roblox is particularly bad for it. One of the games on there my boy likes is Rainbow Friends, its some sort of tame horror survival genre which he loves exploring around and playing as the different characters. If I could just buy that game as a 'full unlock' or something I probably would, instead it's $$$ "micro" transactions for every little thing and it really isn't a habit I want to get the kids into.
matusp 2y ago
Yeah, this should be discussed more in my opinion. This entire business is just exploiting kids. I'm pretty worried about how my kids will behave when they get older and they will start to get bombarded by the Algorithm with all this "popular" staff.
globular-toast 2y ago
Who is "people" here? The children or the parents? The children are literally children; to them the funny numbers we use really are just funny numbers, they don't know how they relate to real value. As for the parents, a few credits here and there to shut them up and keep them out of trouble is probably considered worthwhile. When I was little they got football shirts, yoyos, trading cards etc. Same thing.
iainmerrick 2y ago
It's fashion. It's the same phenomenon as kids wanting to spend $100 to get the coolest shoes (in the real world).
- watwut 2y ago
  I do not know why this is downvoted. The principle is the same. Likewise fidget spinner, likewise trading cards, likewise bag with star wars picture, likewise whatever plastic piece of crap is being sold to kids currently.
- ElCapitanMarkla 2y ago
  At least with fashion / shoes its something you own / more or less have full control over. With the Roblox it all feels very ephemeral.
Hugsun 2y ago
It is illegal to advertise to children in Iceland because of this. They have no means to evaluate purchases like this. Modern technology has completely circumvented these laws.
ryoshu 2y ago
Whales are spending $15k a pop for some in-game assets. It's crazy.
massysett 2y ago
I got my 8-year-old going on Roblox because she asked for it. I had no idea what is really involved with it and as I watched her play it, it all seemed to me to be a big scam. She would play games and want Robux. So she would go on her iPad and download iPad games that pay out Robux. The iPad games are total junk that only pay Robux after my kid watches ads. Some of those ads are for crappy games that pay Robux. Repeat the cycle. I was appalled by the whole thing and deleted Roblox. She has gone back to Minecraft and does not seem to miss Roblox.
- mmmlinux 2y ago
  This is an interesting new level in the system I had not heard of before.
sumtechguy 2y ago
My niece was about $1500 into that game before anyone realized what she was doing. She had been asking for gift cards and what not to get the credits. My sister realized what was going on when she added it all up. She thought it was a harmless game her kid was playing. It has a lot of dark patterns designed to scrape cash. There is nothing more expensive than a 'free to play' game.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  We limit our kid's Roblox and Fortnite in-app spending to Christmas and birthday, and she clearly understands she needs to stretch those game-bucks through the whole year. Four years in, it's worked out pretty well so far.
- consteval 2y ago
  > It has a lot of dark patterns designed to scrape cash Addiction triggers and reward center abuse. This, to me, is no different than bright slot machines.
kraig911 2y ago
Eh IMO how is it any worse than a video arcade? I really think that's all Roblox is an arcade. Yeah it's the experience is fleeing and ephemeral. But these kids are hopefully experiencing what I felt in my childhood that I can't achieve anymore. I probably dumped 60$ alone over months going to Pizza Inn trying to win at Mortal Kombat.
micromacrofoot 2y ago
it's popular because it's addicting
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  Like most games? Mario Bro's. was addicting.
  - micromacrofoot 2y ago
    mario bros didn't ask you for $1 to revive and save your progress every time you died these are gambling mechanics... if I just pay $1 more I can make it to the end! if you pay $5 you can be better than everyone else! if I buy just one more lucky box it will have the rare item! arcades had this, but they also had additional friction as a physical location... now little timmy can sit at home every waking hour badgering mom for another quarter to put into the machine and there's the social pressure of bobby and mary having the exclusive $10 youtuber hat all the typical trappings of life exaggerated and optimized to extract money in exchange for good vibes... from children
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      >mario bros didn't ask you for $1 to revive and save your progress every time you died Nope, that was the decade prior. I guess Street Fighter would be a better example where it monetized both ways. Eat quarters at the arcade, or spend $200 in 1980s moneys for the NES/SNES and anywhere from $50-80 for the full version. The arcade in many ways was as much an ad for "well you know can play this at home 24/7!"as much as an quarter muncher. >all the typical trappings of life exaggerated and optimized to extract money in exchange for good vibes... from children I'm not opposed to rating it M. But all those kids on COD and GTA tell me that that won't be the silver bullet that solves everything. At some level the parent needs to intervene and not buy that for them (like me for GTA).
johnnyanmac 2y ago
Thats just being a kid. Their $10 digital costume was some $5 cheap batman figure some 30 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the skin lasted longer. Of course the key here is that kids don't always get what they want when asked. I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff.
- isk517 2y ago
  >I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff. Easy. Step 1: Find where your parents leaves their wallet lying around because they don't expect their child to attempt credit fraud. Step 2: Punch in the numbers on the card into the appropriate boxes in the app because tech companies really don't have a interest in putting up any real barriers to prevent kids from spending money. Step 3: Profit!
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    It's easy when you put it that way. But I suppose that implies a breakdown of a lot of barriers that were setup early for me. 1. My parent was careful with money. every transaction would be tracked, so anything unusual like Robux would show up quick. 2. 99% of the time a CC would be in a purse or bedroom. Both strictly off limits unless permission was granted (or emergency) 3. I was on general pretty much only allowed to use any allowance (which wasn't much) for food or the occasional school supply. Anything else would require permission. Money given was for necessities, not leisure. It could just be the outliers popping up in news. But I just can't imagine so many social barriers breaking down over a video game.
    - isk517 2y ago
      I think it has less to do with social barriers and more to do with carelessness. Parents will give their kids video game console and tablets without thinking to turn on any sort of parental controls. Additionally there are any number of YouTube videos that easily findable without any actual effort that will show you the entire Robux purchasing process which means children who you would think might be to young to figure out the process end up figuring out the process. Finally, a lot of people don't go over there CC bill unless things look really out of sorts. I don't think this is a major break down of society type of thing, more of something modern parents need to be aware of since making a lot of ill advised app purchases seems to be becoming one of those things all children end up doing at least once before being taught not to (or finding out the consequences of disobeying).

jack_pp 2y ago

Because kids aren't utilitarian. They want shiny things impulsively now in whatever niche game they are playing at the moment. Or want to keep up with their friends who got cool stuff to keep status. Doesn't matter to them that they'll switch games in a week and lose everything.

jack_pp 2y ago
To add to this, for them money is like ice cream, comes from parents rarely and gives them temporary pleasure. That's why I think it is good to pay your kids for chores or good grades so that they start learning financial responsibility early. Sure they'll blow their money on useless stuff at first but then they'll have none for some other thing they wish they had money for and will learn to choose more wisely in the future
- hypertele-Xii 2y ago
  My dad let me gamble my allowance against himself in poker. Lost it all, obviously. Was quite heartbroken he wouldn't give it back, but I sure learned a lesson :)
- fifticon 2y ago
  I concur with this. Our kid can earn robux doing chores, and she only earns them once in a while. It often leads her to a period of deliberation, where at first she's like 'I so much need this, I must do whatever chores it will take!'. Then gradually as the minutes go by, she gets doubts, and at some point flips into "No. Way. THAT is NOT worth THAT MUCH WORK!" Whenever this happens, I get sort of proud or satisfied. A lot of times it doesn't happen, she does the chore and gets the reward. But other times, especially for costly idiosyncratic choices, she comes to her senses. The insane spending sprees/binges shrink a lot, when they are expressed in "how much vacuuming and floor washing am I willing to endure?"
- dloranc 2y ago
  > That's why I think it is good to pay your kids for chores or good grades so that they start learning financial responsibility early. Have you ever read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn? He states that rewarding for the things you mentioned inhibits the desired behavior in the long run.
  - squigz 2y ago
    Could you elaborate on how that might be?
  - jack_pp 2y ago
    Haven't read it but I remember reading about a study where they would watch some kids play with toys, record which were their favorite ones and then in another play session give them sweets for playing with their favorite toys after which those toys would no longer be their favorite. However even though most people don't enjoy their work we must learn to get past that in order to achieve our goals, might as well learn this early imo. Personally I hated most of school, pretty much every subject that wasn't math or programming. Rewards did motivate me to learn those things I didn't like. So maybe only reward them for doing stuff they already don't like doing but would be good for them. If you see your kid doing well in math but poorly in history only reward them for history.
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    So... Paying people to write software inhibits them writing software?
    - jack_pp 2y ago
      Doesn't inhibit them but makes the activity not pleasant because your mind is attaching the work itself to external motivation. You don't do it because you want to (for the pleasure of it), but for a paycheck and humans don't enjoy activities like that if they're not starving.
      - bitfilped 2y ago
        This is how every other job in the world works, you work for money.
drw85 2y ago
It's not only kids that buy these. I know a lot of 40+ year old men that buy skins and useless junk in video games all the time. They spend a ton of money on cosmetic junk in short lived video games. It's puzzling to me, but i see it all the time.
- joejag 2y ago
  I'm a 40+ year old man who buys cosmetics for CS2 (which has a resale market). If you are going to spend 200+ hours doing something you might as well have a nice environment to do it in. There's a reason everyone isn't driving a Honda Civic.
- matwood 2y ago
  > It's puzzling to me, but i see it all the time. Everyone has their thing. I'm sure you spend money in ways that are just as puzzling to others.
- jack_pp 2y ago
  Maybe if you earn 10k+ monthly and play a free game you don't mind buying shiny things for 50-100$ monthly
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    Yeah, I'll admit I have and Probbaly will "whale" in my share of mobile games. Though "whaling" amounts can vary vastly on the perception (I'm not throwing down $1000 every time a new character releases. But I do spend triple digits a month). Key is proper financial management. If I make $10000 post tax (which isnt an impressive figure for a community like this), put 15% in savings, 30% in rent/utilities, and 5% into food, I still have $5000 left. Spending $500 on games won't really phase me. I 100% agree this isn't something kids would do and balance, though. And I recognize others have addictions and much worse financial planning.
J_cst 2y ago
Some time ago I read an article explaining that initially games used to sell upgrades which were making the player stronger in multi-player games. The net result was that the games were loosing players because that mechanic was seen as unfair (pay to win). So they switched to aesthetics enhancements only and that resulted the correct strategy to have in game sales and not loosing players. Unfortunately cannot remember further details to prove this memory, sorry.
- MeanwInAsia 2y ago
  Meanwhile, Chinese and Korean kids widely DEMAND pay to win, and see people who complain about Pay2Win as "Losers in life", because, to them, it's just two valid paths, and if someone pays to win at a game, then it's just a mark of status. Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat? Tons of really great stuff in eastern work culture that I miss now back in europe. But that "results-first and call it a systematic right" thing never sat well with me.
  - J_cst 2y ago
    Thank you for bringing a different worldview to the discussion. I realize that my comment was Euro (or West) centric, but that wasn't intentional. I appreciate your perspective, as it adds valuable context and enriches the conversation. It's interesting to see how cultural differences shape attitudes toward gaming, and your insights have certainly given me something to think about. Thank you for that.
  - gruez 2y ago
    >Btw, did you also know that parents in central china have protested over the right to cheat? Source?
    - bradjohnson 2y ago
      It's extremely easy to find yourself, but here: https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-fight-for-the-right-to-cheat https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-figh...
dgb23 2y ago
It's not kids or Roblox specifically, it's gamers and platforms/games with "micro-transactions" etc. When I was younger and still played online games regularly, I was initially stoked about cosmetic micro-transactions in (competitive) online games. Not because I wanted to buy them, but because these would fund the continuous development of my favorite games without affecting their integrity (no "pay to win" mechanisms). Later I found this was a Faustian bargain. It turned these games and communities around them into something that I don't want to participate in. These days I don't mind as much. Because among the sea of predatory, tacky or otherwise low quality crap there are way too many high quality, original and interesting games (typically made by small teams) that I will ever be able to play. I don't know anything about Roblox specifically. On one hand the comment above is tragic, but on the other hand my understanding is that motivates kids to play around with Lua. If that's the case, then I'm all for it, because for me and many others that kind of thing is how we found our way into our profession as developers.
- BlueTemplar 2y ago
  Even if you specifically insist on Lua for some reason, there are probably way less predatory options, like Factorio.
  - dgb23 2y ago
    I don’t care about Lua specifically nor Roblox. And yes, Factorio is great.
- foobarian 2y ago
  This is why I don't stress too much about validating game state in server scripts. It lets the kids cheat clientside if they can figure out how to rewrite and load the Lua scripts.
- ElCapitanMarkla 2y ago
  I think you're right on with the micro-transactions, Roblox is particularly bad for it. One of the games on there my boy likes is Rainbow Friends, its some sort of tame horror survival genre which he loves exploring around and playing as the different characters. If I could just buy that game as a 'full unlock' or something I probably would, instead it's $$$ "micro" transactions for every little thing and it really isn't a habit I want to get the kids into.

matusp 2y ago

Yeah, this should be discussed more in my opinion. This entire business is just exploiting kids. I'm pretty worried about how my kids will behave when they get older and they will start to get bombarded by the Algorithm with all this "popular" staff.

globular-toast 2y ago

Who is "people" here? The children or the parents? The children are literally children; to them the funny numbers we use really are just funny numbers, they don't know how they relate to real value. As for the parents, a few credits here and there to shut them up and keep them out of trouble is probably considered worthwhile. When I was little they got football shirts, yoyos, trading cards etc. Same thing.

iainmerrick 2y ago

It's fashion. It's the same phenomenon as kids wanting to spend $100 to get the coolest shoes (in the real world).

watwut 2y ago
I do not know why this is downvoted. The principle is the same. Likewise fidget spinner, likewise trading cards, likewise bag with star wars picture, likewise whatever plastic piece of crap is being sold to kids currently.
ElCapitanMarkla 2y ago
At least with fashion / shoes its something you own / more or less have full control over. With the Roblox it all feels very ephemeral.

Hugsun 2y ago

It is illegal to advertise to children in Iceland because of this. They have no means to evaluate purchases like this. Modern technology has completely circumvented these laws.

ryoshu 2y ago

Whales are spending $15k a pop for some in-game assets. It's crazy.

massysett 2y ago

I got my 8-year-old going on Roblox because she asked for it. I had no idea what is really involved with it and as I watched her play it, it all seemed to me to be a big scam. She would play games and want Robux. So she would go on her iPad and download iPad games that pay out Robux. The iPad games are total junk that only pay Robux after my kid watches ads. Some of those ads are for crappy games that pay Robux. Repeat the cycle. I was appalled by the whole thing and deleted Roblox. She has gone back to Minecraft and does not seem to miss Roblox.

mmmlinux 2y ago
This is an interesting new level in the system I had not heard of before.

sumtechguy 2y ago

My niece was about $1500 into that game before anyone realized what she was doing. She had been asking for gift cards and what not to get the credits. My sister realized what was going on when she added it all up. She thought it was a harmless game her kid was playing. It has a lot of dark patterns designed to scrape cash. There is nothing more expensive than a 'free to play' game.

ryandrake 2y ago
We limit our kid's Roblox and Fortnite in-app spending to Christmas and birthday, and she clearly understands she needs to stretch those game-bucks through the whole year. Four years in, it's worked out pretty well so far.
consteval 2y ago
> It has a lot of dark patterns designed to scrape cash Addiction triggers and reward center abuse. This, to me, is no different than bright slot machines.

kraig911 2y ago

Eh IMO how is it any worse than a video arcade? I really think that's all Roblox is an arcade. Yeah it's the experience is fleeing and ephemeral. But these kids are hopefully experiencing what I felt in my childhood that I can't achieve anymore. I probably dumped 60$ alone over months going to Pizza Inn trying to win at Mortal Kombat.

micromacrofoot 2y ago

it's popular because it's addicting

johnnyanmac 2y ago
Like most games? Mario Bro's. was addicting.
- micromacrofoot 2y ago
  mario bros didn't ask you for $1 to revive and save your progress every time you died these are gambling mechanics... if I just pay $1 more I can make it to the end! if you pay $5 you can be better than everyone else! if I buy just one more lucky box it will have the rare item! arcades had this, but they also had additional friction as a physical location... now little timmy can sit at home every waking hour badgering mom for another quarter to put into the machine and there's the social pressure of bobby and mary having the exclusive $10 youtuber hat all the typical trappings of life exaggerated and optimized to extract money in exchange for good vibes... from children
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    >mario bros didn't ask you for $1 to revive and save your progress every time you died Nope, that was the decade prior. I guess Street Fighter would be a better example where it monetized both ways. Eat quarters at the arcade, or spend $200 in 1980s moneys for the NES/SNES and anywhere from $50-80 for the full version. The arcade in many ways was as much an ad for "well you know can play this at home 24/7!"as much as an quarter muncher. >all the typical trappings of life exaggerated and optimized to extract money in exchange for good vibes... from children I'm not opposed to rating it M. But all those kids on COD and GTA tell me that that won't be the silver bullet that solves everything. At some level the parent needs to intervene and not buy that for them (like me for GTA).

johnnyanmac 2y ago

Thats just being a kid. Their $10 digital costume was some $5 cheap batman figure some 30 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the skin lasted longer. Of course the key here is that kids don't always get what they want when asked. I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff.

isk517 2y ago
>I don't understand how some kids can just get unfettered access to a credit card and spend hundreds on such stuff. Easy. Step 1: Find where your parents leaves their wallet lying around because they don't expect their child to attempt credit fraud. Step 2: Punch in the numbers on the card into the appropriate boxes in the app because tech companies really don't have a interest in putting up any real barriers to prevent kids from spending money. Step 3: Profit!
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  It's easy when you put it that way. But I suppose that implies a breakdown of a lot of barriers that were setup early for me. 1. My parent was careful with money. every transaction would be tracked, so anything unusual like Robux would show up quick. 2. 99% of the time a CC would be in a purse or bedroom. Both strictly off limits unless permission was granted (or emergency) 3. I was on general pretty much only allowed to use any allowance (which wasn't much) for food or the occasional school supply. Anything else would require permission. Money given was for necessities, not leisure. It could just be the outliers popping up in news. But I just can't imagine so many social barriers breaking down over a video game.
  - isk517 2y ago
    I think it has less to do with social barriers and more to do with carelessness. Parents will give their kids video game console and tablets without thinking to turn on any sort of parental controls. Additionally there are any number of YouTube videos that easily findable without any actual effort that will show you the entire Robux purchasing process which means children who you would think might be to young to figure out the process end up figuring out the process. Finally, a lot of people don't go over there CC bill unless things look really out of sorts. I don't think this is a major break down of society type of thing, more of something modern parents need to be aware of since making a lot of ill advised app purchases seems to be becoming one of those things all children end up doing at least once before being taught not to (or finding out the consequences of disobeying).