Many online games are very enjoyable entertainment. However, game players should be aware of the rules and charges set by the game operators before taking part in those games to avoid unnecessary loss.
Last year (2012) the Consumer Council recorded 136 complaints concerning online games, an increase of 53% as compared with 89 cases in the previous year (2011).
Some online games can be costly. Among the cases handled by the Council, there was a case in which the players opened several accounts under different roles and incurred charge dispute up to a quarter of a million Hong Kong dollars.
Consumers are advised to first check the game rules and details of all charges before participating in any online game. Disputes between consumers and online game operators commonly arise for the following reasons:
- The game operator may unilaterally suspend or even terminate a player's account if the player is found to have violated the game rules such as making use of the bugs in the programme or using externally plugged-in programmes to gain advantages.
- Some consumers are dissatisfied with the belated validation of game points or playing right after payment. Others may find difficulties in adding game points to their accounts, or that the actual points added to their accounts do not match with what they purchased.
- Some consumers may have spent a large sum of money to purchase tools or upgrade the player's power in a game, only to discover to their disappointment that the additional power acquired is not as strong as expected.
The Consumer Council advises that consumers should avoid over investing in online games. It would be difficult to claim compensation in case the online game shuts down or game operators unilaterally change the game settings, the configuration of the players' roles or the functions of the in-game items.
Consumers should also beware that some games are advertised as free games, but players may be required to make additional purchases of in-game items to continue playing.
Consumers may take notes of the following grievances from Hong Kong online game lovers:
Mr. Chui participated in an online game which required participants to destroy a thousand monsters to reach the next level. To accelerate the upgrade, he spent a total of HK$15,000 to purchase "points cards", and eventually he reached level 132. However, to his disappointment, he found that his in-game power was worse than that at level 122. He was displeased with the descriptions of the in-game items, and felt being misled into spending a lot of money for the upgrade. He raised his dissatisfaction with the operator but to no avail, he turned to the Council for assistance.
Miss Chin was an online game lover who often purchased points cards for the game she played. During a promotion, she bought some points cards worth 492 points each, which originally valued at 246 points only. However, she found that the extra points could not be credited to her account so she contacted the company many times to fix the problem. Eventually she got the points, but at 442 points instead of 492 points as promised. She lodged a complaint to the Council and at the end, recovered all the points due to her.
As a keen player of online games, Mr. Chow was much dismayed by the way a game company handled an in-game item. The game which he played had game servers set up in different parts of the world, such as South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. He found the operator in Hong Kong, imposed many unfair restrictions for the sale of one in-game item, such as limited time period and quantity for sale, but such restrictions did not exist in other places. So he lodged a complaint to the Council and hoped that the restrictions could be lifted. The game operator replied that the specific item which Mr. Chow referred to was not a critical item in the game, but solely for increasing interest to the game. Hence, the operator refused Mr. Chow's request.
The Consumer Council reserves all its right (including copyright) in respect of CHOICE magazine and Online CHOICE ( https://echoice.consumer.org.hk/ ).