I think the photo ID is a bit excessive, but I really can't think of any replacement to ensure players are truly adults. Even photo ID isn't foolproof, because fake IDs definitely exist and I think ensuring photo IDs are legitimate for many, many international countries would be potentially difficult (and expensive). ATA is a small company (I believe 300 or less employees) and if they do implement a photo ID situation, that could potentially be outsourced but I see that also being quite costly. Not to add that requiring players to provide a photo ID could cause some players to leave over privacy concerns, like @Taylor13 stated. Especially if outsourcing. A data breach could happen at any time, and while I do generally trust ATA and don't think they would misuse it, I don't trust a photo of my government-issued ID online in general because once it is online it is out of my control.
That’s a fair question. The reason we restrict 13-17 accounts instead of immediately banning them is that banning is not always the safest or most effective solution. A banned player could create another account, while the restricted experience lets us keep age-based protections in place on the account. It also means that if someone sticks around through the restricted version and turns 18, they can move into the appropriate experience without having to appeal a ban or prove their age to support. The 13-17 experience is intentionally very limited. It exists to keep younger players out of PIMD’s adult social spaces, not to create a separate version of PIMD that we expect them to stick around and play.
So can we expect for 13-17 year olds that do somehow make it onto the "real" PIMD and are discovered, instead of being banned they would have their account restricted in this manner?
Theres ALOT of extra security that ata would need if they were to start collecting peoples personal id. Alot of people would also leave the app coz who is going to hand out their drivers license or passport just to play a phone game. Sure theres some people who mindlessly hand out everything to everyone but they need protecting from themself when they dont understand the importance of keeping personal information safe
That's the intended action - if an account is identified as 13-17, then they get placed in the restricted version. Anyone found below 13 will be banned just like before.
This is wrong though because mine has been restricted for a full day now after it’s been fixed and Im 22 if that can happen to me it can happen to other adults so not sure when ata is going to fix this problem, but i don’t think having all these restrictions is a good idea in the long run 🤷🏻♀️
Like I understand having the 13-17 age category In a restricted version, but when it’s affecting adults somehow something is wrong here somewhere.
Would you be accepting retroactive appeals for those banned for being 13-16 (since we did not previously ban 17-year-olds, to my knowledge) to get their accounts unbanned and instead restricted?
Yes, but they used to ban anyone under 17. I'm wondering if people who were 13-16 who were banned can appeal now that the rules have changed.
OMG I HOPE SO SO I CAN APEAL I was asking for friends to add me when I was 16 on the app and got banned lmao I learned my lesson
I think PIMD should be labeled 18+ so that if parents are monitoring they can just avoid the app altogether or it will be automatically hidden if theres a restriction on the child's device. Theres always ways around things tho, I understand there's only so much that can be done and at least you are trying to protect some minors if not all. Lets be real, some children will find ways to use apps they shouldn't just out of curiosity or because they simply want to, they'll find a way to go around the age thing. Before all of this, children were already on the app, like someone else said some of us who are old enough now started playing under 18. There's so many apps and websites not meant for children but they end up there anyway. The rating or even this isnt gonna stop them from viewing the content and even interacting with people 100% so imo either way there is always a risk. That's the reality and I know thats what's worrying many of us
Cause you've taken action in the past in regards to minors on game or peadophiles on game even though ample proof has been given...
What if I was to tell you all that we have already been able to not only get around the age restrictions very easily on a initially age restricted alt. We have also been able to have a conversation directly from a non age restricted account (Adult) and a age restricted account, proving the system is already exposing kids to potential predators? Have reciepts as proof btw
I was just giving a way they could do this without being predatory to kids that have lootbox addictions, since they care so much about kids and already wasted so much money and effort to "protect" them. Personally, I think lowering the rating is predatory for a game that has 0 separation between adult content and PG content, unlike Second Life. They would have to literally make a PG server for the kids/minors that doesn't have a shop or any adult themes to it (lol as if they'd do that, we know why they lowered the rating) to be able to lower ratings like this without being predatory to kids. Hell, many dating apps require an ID, phone number and email and they are more thorough with age verification in general than this... And this app is arguably so much more sexual just looking at it than a regular dating app.
Not that I agree with what's happening; but this change isn't entirely the fault of ATA. 6 US states have already made state laws about the online safety for kids, and 3 other countries have as well. Online spaces where kids can access will all be affected, not just PIMD. I hope in the future there will be a better way to do age verification. I'm not a fan of id verification because of privacy, but I am for it for the safety of kids.