Facebook games and why they aren't just wastes of time

CNN Tech had an interesting article up cross-linked from Time, regarding Facebook games such as Mafia Wars or FarmVille.

From the article.

Here's how it works. You join FarmVille, a game on Facebook in which you can create a virtual farm by growing crops and livestock and tilling the earth. Through your toil, you earn virtual money, but to farm more efficiently or quickly, you can also invest real cash (through PayPal or a credit card) to buy virtual goods, such as seed or a tractor. Should you not have any real cash to spare on things that after all do not actually exist, you can instead accept an offer from one of the advertisers on the game site and get virtual cash in return.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1935698,00.html?CNN=yes#ixzz0W6XzWmMN

So, a game that seems most well-suited to children is having microtransaction elements within it, for people who can least afford to pay. Surely that seems crazy? Well, maybe not. Children don't have credit cards...but they do often have mobile phones, paid for by parents. And the latest scam seems to be to allow you to take something like a bogus Facebook quiz, which requires you to then supply your mobile phone number to get the results. Once you've done that, the virtual cash for the game is provided, but you are also then signed up to the company on your mobile phone, for a subscription plan you did not want and did not ask for.

Needless to say, this is a ridiculous misuse of the online Facebook game technology. But, on the other hand, who is really doing the worst here? The designers of the games, who create such strong incentives for younger players to be attracted to such scams? The creators of the scams themselves? Or, the parents, who allow their child to have a mobile phone plan at a young age without proper supervision?

What do you think?