All checklists

Unit 06-1
How to use these

The lists below are the same ones that close each step. They are gathered here for two reasons. The first is practical: the course is meant to be done over a week or two, and carrying one sheet of paper around is easier than reopening six pages. The second is that seeing all six lists together shows you the shape of the thing — about sixty small actions, none of which takes more than a few minutes.

Print the page if you can. The print layout drops the navigation, the side panels and the footer links, prints black on white, and keeps each list on one page where the paper allows. A pencil works better than a pen, because several of these items get revisited at the six-month review and you will want to change the answers.

You do not have to do them in order, but the order is not arbitrary. The pre-start list exists so that you do not discover halfway through that the computer belongs to somebody else or that nobody can sign in to the email address. Step 1 produces a number that steps 2 and 5 both refer back to. Step 3 produces notes that step 4 and step 5 both use. If you skip ahead, expect to come back.

Three items on these lists are worth doing even if you never register for anything. Writing down a yearly figure in dollars before you have something you want to buy is a habit that travels to every subscription you will ever consider. Knowing how to read your own computer's five specifications saves you from a shop assistant's opinion. And knowing which four clauses to search for in a terms page works on any service, not just games.

If you do not finish, that is not a failure state. There is no enrolment here, no record of progress and nobody to answer to. Keep the sheet, come back when it suits you, and re-read the step the list belongs to if an item no longer makes sense on its own. Each list links back to its step.

One caution about the items that point outwards. Classifications, published hardware requirements, terms pages and regulator guidance all change. Where a checklist item tells you to look something up, look it up at the time rather than relying on a note you made two years ago — especially the classification and the requirement table, which are the two most likely to have moved.

Unit 06-2
Before anything else

From the course index. About fifteen minutes.

• Write down which computer you intend to play on, and whether anyone else uses it.
• Find that computer's operating system and version: Windows, macOS or Linux.
• Check the free space on the drive where programs are installed, in gigabytes.
• Decide, in writing, the most in Australian dollars you will spend on this over twelve months. Zero is a valid answer.
• Decide which email address you will use for game accounts, and confirm you can still sign in to it.
• If children share the computer, agree with the other adults who may register for what.

Unit 06-3
Step 1 — What "free to play" actually costs

From step 1. About twenty minutes.

• Write one figure: the most, in Australian dollars, you are prepared to spend on this game in the next twelve months.
• Write a second figure for the first three months. It is allowed to be zero.
• List any recurring charge the game offers, and multiply each monthly price by twelve so you see the annual version.
• Decide now whether recurring charges are permitted at all in your household.
• Find the game's own statement on whether purchases affect performance against other players. If there is none, note that.
• Identify whether the game sells randomised items, and if children use the computer, decide who controls purchasing.
• Look the game up on classification.gov.au and note its Australian classification.
• Check which payment method is saved on the computer you will play on, and whether it asks for confirmation each time.
• Add a line to your figure for hardware, marked "unknown until step 2".
• Put the sheet somewhere you will see it again in three months.

Unit 06-4
Step 2 — Will your desktop run it

From step 2. About fifteen minutes, at the computer.

• Confirm the computer runs a desktop operating system: Windows, macOS or Linux.
• Write down the operating system and its version number.
• Write down the full processor line, model number included.
• Write down installed memory in gigabytes.
• Write down the graphics hardware name, and note whether it is integrated or a separate card.
• Write down free space on the drive where programs install, in gigabytes.
• Open the game's published requirement table and compare all five lines in one pass.
• Mark each line as meets minimum, meets recommended, or falls short.
• If any line falls short, write which response you are choosing and why.
• If new hardware is even possible, add its cost to the yearly figure from step 1.
• Note who else uses this computer; step 5 will need that.

Unit 06-5
Step 3 — Reading the account, privacy and purchase terms

From step 3. About twenty-five minutes.

• Open the terms page on a computer and read the headings before any body text.
• Search for "inactive", "dormant" and "terminate". Write one sentence on what happens to an unused account.
• Search for "modify" and "change". Write one sentence on how you would learn about a change.
• Search for "refund" and "virtual". Write one sentence on purchases and one on what happens to items if the account closes.
• Note whether the page says anything about the game being discontinued. "Not stated" is a valid note.
• Note the date on the terms page.
• Open the privacy page separately and note what is collected, why, who receives it, and whether it goes overseas.
• Find and write down how to close the account, and whether closing deletes data.
• Find the minimum age stated for an account.
• Look the game up at classification.gov.au and note its Australian classification.
• Read the ACCC's consumer guarantees material once, so you know what a terms page cannot take away.
• Keep all of these notes with your step 1 sheet.

Unit 06-6
Step 4 — Creating and activating an account

From step 4. About twenty minutes.

• Confirm you can sign in to the email address you intend to use.
• Prepare a long passphrase used on no other service, and decide where it will be stored.
• Choose a public display name that does not identify you.
• Reach the registration page through the publisher's own site and check the address bar.
• Complete only the required fields; leave optional personal details empty.
• Read every consent box and set each one deliberately.
• Check that the region and currency are the ones you intend.
• Open your mailbox directly and verify the sender of the activation email.
• Follow the activation link and confirm the account is active.
• Turn on two-factor authentication and store the recovery codes off the computer.
• Set profile visibility and who may contact you.
• Turn on purchase confirmation, especially if the computer is shared.
• Re-check marketing preferences inside the account.
• Write down the recovery path and how to close the account.

Unit 06-7
Step 5 — Time, money and house rules

From step 5. About thirty minutes, four weeks later.

• Put a four-week review date in the calendar on the day you activate the account.
• At the review, read the actual payment statement rather than estimating.
• Add up everything spent so far and compare it with the yearly figure from step 1.
• List any recurring charge, confirm its renewal date, and set a reminder a week before it.
• Convert one in-game currency purchase back into Australian dollars to recalibrate the prices.
• Decide a weekly pattern of slots rather than an hourly limit.
• Check whether play is costing you sleep, and treat that as the signal to act on.
• If the computer is shared, create a separate operating-system user account for each person.
• Confirm purchase confirmation is still switched on.
• If a young person plays, read the eSafety material on gaming and keep purchasing on an adult's account.
• Check the game's Australian classification at classification.gov.au if you have not already.
• Decide and write down what would make you stop, pause or close the account.
• Set the next review date six months out, on the same sheet.