Solid Theory

All checklists

The six lists from the course, gathered in order. This page is built to print: the menu, footer and links drop away, and the boxes come out as empty squares you can tick with a pen.

How to use them

Each list belongs to one step, and the items make most sense after you have read that step. They are written so that each one is a single action with an obvious finishing point — something you can do in a few minutes and then stop. That is why none of them says "research your options" or "consider your needs".

Nothing on this site records which items you have done. The boxes are printed shapes rather than controls, and the site stores nothing in your browser, so refreshing the page will not lose anything because there was never anything to lose. If you want a record, print the page or copy the items into a note of your own.

The order matters more than the pace. The pre-course list produces the three facts the rest depends on. Step 2's hardware figures are needed before any download decision. Step 3's email choice has to be made before a form is open. Step 4's spending note only works if it is written before you start playing rather than after. Beyond that, take as long as you like; the course is not going anywhere and there is no reason to finish it today.

Two items appear deliberately twice in different forms. The email address decision shows up in the pre-course list and again at Step 3, because it is the one thing people most often decide by accident. The spending figure shows up at Step 4 and again at Step 5, once to write and once to check — a limit nobody ever looks at again is just a note.

If a line does not apply to you, cross it out. A household with one adult and one computer does not need the shared-computer items; someone on an unmetered connection can skip the data allowance line. The lists are a prompt, not a standard, and nobody is marking them.

Before you start

Pre-course list

  • Find out which operating system your computer runs, and which version.
  • Check how much free space is on the drive where programs are installed.
  • Decide which email address you will use for game accounts.
  • If anyone under 18 uses the computer, agree now how spending decisions will be made.
  • Set aside forty-five minutes across the week.

Step 1 — What "free-to-play" means

Step 1 list

  • Write down, in your own words, what you expect the game to cost you over the next three months.
  • Open the store or vendor page for a game you are considering and find the exact wording it uses about price.
  • Find whether that page discloses in-game purchases, and note which of the four types they appear to be.
  • Find the vendor's own one-paragraph description of the game and read it instead of a review.
  • Note the supported operating systems.
  • Note whether an account and a confirmed email address are required to play.
  • Decide whether this is a game you would play if nothing in it could ever be bought.

Step 2 — Will your computer run it?

Step 2 list

  • Record your operating system, its version, and whether it is 64-bit.
  • Record the full processor line, including the model number.
  • Record the installed memory in gigabytes.
  • Record the graphics hardware, and note whether it is integrated or a separate card.
  • Record free space on the drive where programs install, and compare it against the game's stated install size.
  • Confirm your operating system appears on the game's supported list.
  • Check whether your internet plan has a data allowance large enough for the download and ongoing updates.
  • Agree with anyone else who uses the connection when a large download may run.
  • Keep the six figures somewhere you can find them next time.

Step 3 — Accounts and email confirmation

Step 3 list

  • Choose the email address this account will use, and write the choice down.
  • Confirm you can still receive mail at that address today.
  • Create a password that is not in use anywhere else, and store it safely.
  • Open the sign-up page by typing the vendor's address into the browser.
  • Complete only the fields marked as required, and answer any required age or location field accurately.
  • Before using a confirmation link, check the sender's domain and the link's destination.
  • Where a typed confirmation code is offered, use it instead of the link.
  • Log in once to confirm the account works.
  • Turn on two-factor authentication if it is offered, and store the recovery codes away from your phone.
  • Note the vendor's privacy page so you can find it again.

Step 4 — Classification and in-game spending

Step 4 list

  • Look the exact title up on the Australian Classification Board website and read the consumer advice as well as the classification.
  • Find the vendor's own page describing in-game purchases, if it has one.
  • Work out what one bundle of the game's token currency costs in AUD, and write the figure down.
  • Decide whether you will buy randomised items at all, and record the decision before you play.
  • Write down a specific spending limit, with an amount and a period.
  • Decide where that limit will be checked: the game's purchase history, your card statement, or both.
  • Do not save a card in the game account on a shared computer.
  • Turn on transaction notifications with your bank.
  • If anyone under 18 uses the computer, agree who approves purchases.
  • Note where you would go if a charge were wrong: the vendor, your card issuer, and the ACCC for consumer guarantees.

Step 5 — First sessions and settling in

Step 5 list

  • Open the settings menu before playing, and set picture quality low to begin with.
  • Set the game audio and any voice-chat volume to something comfortable.
  • Decide who may message you, who may send friend requests, and who can see your profile.
  • Decide whether voice chat is on, especially if the computer is in a shared room.
  • Check that your display name does not connect to accounts you would rather keep separate.
  • Find the mute, block and report controls and remember where they are.
  • Note where to report serious online abuse: the eSafety Commissioner.
  • Set the game and your operating system to update on a schedule that suits your connection.
  • Log out at the end of a session on a shared computer.
  • Confirm the account's recovery email address is one you still use.
  • Put a reminder three months out to compare your spending note against the purchase history.
  • Find out, before you need it, how the vendor handles account deletion.