4 ms·

I'm interested to find out that this is where my 12 year old son sunk about $25 into in-app purchases ("bag of gems") over 2 days of playing this game (Clash of

by damian2000 14y ago

I'm interested to find out that this is where my 12 year old son sunk about $25 into in-app purchases ("bag of gems") over 2 days of playing this game (Clash of Clans) on his iPod Touch. He says its an awesome game, but this seems way too overpriced to me. All his friends from school are also playing it, and probably also sinking cash at a high rate into this company (and Apple).

mdonahoe 14y ago
I spent lots of money on video games growing up. The only difference I see between my spending on nintendo games and your son is that I used cash instead of an credit card attached to an itunes account. The problem is that it is too easy to forget we are spending real money. Clicking YES on a popup is a lot easier than physically removing a 20 dollar bill from your wallet and handing it over. After a cash transaction, I reflect on my empty wallet. After a credit card purchase, I have to check my balance... if I even remember. I dont blame the game companies for trying to make addicting games any more than I blame restaurants for asking if I want to try the specials or if I have room for dessert. tl;dr, credit cards are dangerous. As they always have been.
- damian2000 14y ago
  Good points, in my son's case he uses pre-paid iTunes cards - which are widely available these days. Same effect - once the initial purchase is made and the card loaded onto the account, its almost too easy to make in game purchases.
mst 14y ago
Compare to how much people would put into the 'new machine' at the arcade during their first day or two of playing it. Admittedly, I thought they were wasting money at the time, but they didn't seem particularly upset about it either.
masklinn 14y ago
> He says its an awesome game As a data point, I think it's a nice game indeed. > but this seems way too overpriced to me. Technically, the price is $0, as far a I've seen gems are solely accelerators. However it takes more effort (and time, but that's mostly time spent not playing the game) to play that way of course.
- flyinRyan 14y ago
  If his son paid $25 then that's the price of the game/experience for him. One should always consider total cost of ownership of anything, not the initial outlay.

mdonahoe 14y ago

I spent lots of money on video games growing up. The only difference I see between my spending on nintendo games and your son is that I used cash instead of an credit card attached to an itunes account. The problem is that it is too easy to forget we are spending real money. Clicking YES on a popup is a lot easier than physically removing a 20 dollar bill from your wallet and handing it over. After a cash transaction, I reflect on my empty wallet. After a credit card purchase, I have to check my balance... if I even remember. I dont blame the game companies for trying to make addicting games any more than I blame restaurants for asking if I want to try the specials or if I have room for dessert. tl;dr, credit cards are dangerous. As they always have been.

damian2000 14y ago
Good points, in my son's case he uses pre-paid iTunes cards - which are widely available these days. Same effect - once the initial purchase is made and the card loaded onto the account, its almost too easy to make in game purchases.

mst 14y ago

Compare to how much people would put into the 'new machine' at the arcade during their first day or two of playing it. Admittedly, I thought they were wasting money at the time, but they didn't seem particularly upset about it either.

masklinn 14y ago

> He says its an awesome game As a data point, I think it's a nice game indeed. > but this seems way too overpriced to me. Technically, the price is $0, as far a I've seen gems are solely accelerators. However it takes more effort (and time, but that's mostly time spent not playing the game) to play that way of course.

flyinRyan 14y ago
If his son paid $25 then that's the price of the game/experience for him. One should always consider total cost of ownership of anything, not the initial outlay.