pokoko said:
I've got to disagree. This isn't about the game being good or bad, it's about using a sneaky way to deceive people. Micro-transactions are one thing when they're right up-front but this is something more twisted. Although, reading the source, it seems the OP didn't post all the details: Note that when you choose 5-stars, the game takes you to the Google Play store, so you can potentially still choose a different rating -- and you can, of course, still rate the game less than 5 stars via Google Play. So it seems you CAN rate it lower, you just have to go through hoops to do so. Still obviously very sneaky. |
Yes, the OP skipped that. In Android SDk, you can't redirect directly give a rating or even send people to the rating page with a default rating. What you can do is open the Google Play app in code and the person still have to roll down, click the rating button and give the rating that he wants, the developer doesn't have the minimal control about these process.
The point is that most people are lazy to review an app. After the download, people exit Google Play and test the app and hardly will come back just to rate your app. So most apps have a direct link to stimulate ratings. What EA does here is asking if you will give 5-stars and, in positive case, redirect you and in negative case simply don't redirecting you and counting that you won't go there by yourself and give a low rating. Of course you can say that you will give 5-stars and only give 1 and they won't be able to stop you.
Besides that, even if it is somewhat unethical, it probably isn't against any Google rule and will remain like that. Most consumers can't tell/don't care, so it is. Mobile apps and games, as AAA games too, are heavily based on collecting user behaviour data (what he does in the app/game, what he likes, what he don't) and use that data to improve monetization. Business as usual.
