Kingsisle: Kids Play, Parents Pay

Kingsisle, developer of the popular online game, Wizard 101, has made it far too easy for children to spend their parents money without them knowing. Not too long ago my friend had hundreds of dollards stolen from him when his son got hold of his credit card and made multiple purchases of Crowns, the in-game currency for Kingsisle's online games. This article explains why Kingsisle and other companies like them should take some of the blame for these problems occuring.

[Sephris]

I have a 7 year old that has been into gaming for about a year. He is mature enough to be able to handle Halo Reach, though I keep it supervised and make sure he doesn't take Halo into the real world. However, when the first map pack came out he ordered it without permission. I had my credit card info set up so I wouldn't have to worry about pulling my card out all the time. It turns out any account can use that card as long as it is associated with your IP address. Fortunately it wasn't too costly and I was able to work the parental controls so he can't do it again. And he got a good lesson in working for what you get. But he could have easily spent thousands and I wouldn't have known about it. This is a very good article and will hopefully wake up parents before they find themselves on the losing end of a big bill.

[TiM_FeRNo]

You're one of the good ones, Sephris.

[Sephris]

Giving me a good image on here? How quaint. I should invite you over for dinner tonight. We are having succulent honey roasted nun, garlic potatoes with a side of right-wing terrorist sauce for dipping. I'll even pull out my 1937 Cosson Suel Clos Des Lambrays Pinot Noir. At $2.5k a bottle it is the perfect thing to serve with lost faith. :)