Children.

Okay, so we all know parents are doing a dismal job at supervising their spawn and thus there's a large group of 16 and unders on this app.

You can report them, and they'll get silenced and maybe banned. But for that they need to openly admit that they're under the age req which is sometimes difficult. And usually when they do, it is in wc where it could easily be missed by moderators, leaving them with not even a slap on the wrist.

The game is clearly labeled 17+ in the app stores and ATA has made it clear through their policies that those under 17 are prohibited from playing.

Unfortunately, most people don't bother to read the ToS (semi-understandably so, as the length and legal jargon can be intimidating) and the game rules aren't otherwise easily accessible ー especially not to children.

What if we had a better way to vet the little rascals before they could even start playing?

For example: when you open the app for the first time to make your account, it has your enter your birth date (month, day, year). If the corresponding birth date is under the age requirement, the user is "locked out" of further progression in making an account.

For users currently playing, this can be done simply by having this option activated next time they open the app. Users that are found to be under the age req can have their accounts disabled / banned, in line with ATA's promised consequence.

(To prevent an accidental enter of a birthdate, a confirmation screen can show up to verify that one entered the correct information.)

To make something fun of it, for those of appropriate age entering in their birthdate, have players be able to receive a small gift from ATA in their Rewards inbox. Nothing huge or outrageous, maybe like like 5 DNs or a PIM Key. It wouldn't be difficult to have this kind of data stored, I think, since players already receive achievements based on how long they have been playing.

I understand you do have children that will find ways around it ー like entering in that they are 21 when they are 12, because they've figured out why birthdate requests are usually a thing. However I think this will prevent a large percentage of underage users and thus will still be useful.

Disclaimer: This should be concurrent with more vigilant actions against pædophiles using this app to prey upon young children that do play this game.

Sorry for the long post! Lemme know what you think.

 

Thank you!

I know that as an adult I have come across people attempting to prey upon me. Minors are an especially vulnerable group, and if there are people attempting to prey on adults, I am certain there are those that will take advantage of someone more naïve.

 

Yeah, I took into consideration some underage users will fall through the cracks because they might figure out how to get around the bday verification. I'm just unsure what further steps could be taken.

I think it's easier to figure out if someone is underage on a social media app, where pictures and more personal info is being shared. On PIMD, you could more easily pass as older since personal info sharing is more discouraged.

I can't think of any ways to become more vigilant about the presence of pædos other than being more on top of silencing and banning accordingly. You can necessarily have a verifier to ask them, "Are you joining PIMD to abuse children?"