Slashdot Mirror
Gamer Sues MMORPG After Losing Items
xneilj writes "According to Ananova.com, a Chinese gamer is believed to be suing Korean-based JC Entertainment, after losing in-game items in the PC MMO title RedMoon Online. As well as the return of his lost items, he is also seeking over $1200 for 'mental anguish'." The article explains: "Li, from Beijing, had built up his stock of virtual weaponry while playing RedMoon over the last two years... When he discovered all of his awarded equipment had disappeared, he contacted the provider for help, but the company refused to take any responsibility for the loss."
Commercial software vendors should be held liable for bugs in their code.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
I think it would be funny for an MMORPG to mess with their whiny users sometime. Something like roving bandits that steal items when you are asleep in an inn. It would really drive home the point that you don't "own" anything in the game.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Everyday I tell myself that people in the news can't get more pathetic. Everyday I am proved wrong. Someone help this guy find a bridge to jump off.
Greetings Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League...
Generally, I believe that in these situations, we should let the market decide what has value. However, I really don't like the idea of game developers getting sued.
My Blog Sucks.
That is an addict.
Overstating importance.
It is just a game.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
I've been playing a lot of the mainstream US-based MMOG's over the past few years. And every time a gamer doesn't get their way, they yell "I'M GONNA SUE VERANT/MYTHIC/ORIGIN/TURBINE/SOE!" But they never do, and then wonder why noone else does.
"OMG The server has been down for 10 minutes I'M GONNA SUE!!! Why hasn't someone started a Class Action Lawsuit yet???"
Because EVERYONE who wants to start one always says the same thing. "Why doesn't someone else start one?"
It's good to now see that someone actually had the balls to back up their words with a lawyer, and possibly players can be pointed to the outcome of this...Because I'm pretty sure it's gonna be thrown out of court really really fast. (Yes, I realize this is not a US or even North American lawsuit. I'm just commenting on the principal of actually doing what you threaten...Soemthing we rarely see gamers do, anywhere.)
I thought the US was the only country where the laws were screwed up enough to allow this kind of silliness.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
As the user logs in, monstrous soudns eminate from his machine. Once his avatar arrives in teh virtual world, he is greeted by level 10 demilawyers from the lands of ligitation.
"We shall smite you, puny game player for blasphemous lies that our gods have misplaced your goods"
User's avatars is dismembered by the mighty lawyers, and they perform the dance of death on the player's avatar's parts.
*** Your account has been deleted ***
*** Have a pleasant day ***
sowplz.
Or, since this is China, perhaps the court system can be convinced that this guy's hands need a good break, perhaps one or two compound fractures. This guy needs to quit whining and turn the game off. Seriously, I realize that a lot of time can go into one of these games to get some cool item, but its just a game, nothing more.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
The article gives no information on this; thus the guy gets no sympathy from me.
He lost virtual items, refund him in virtual money or simply replace the items.
According to Ananova.com, a Chinese gamer is believed to be suing Korean-based JC Entertainment... over things that don't exist. This story has no substance. That's comparable to saying, "The Lochness Monster is rumored to have eaten a ghost."
Moving on, licenses for games like that always have a clause protecting them from this. Something like, "Sew and Sow, Inc. cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen items. Press OK if you agree to these terms."
It's a little off topic, but I know something similar that I heard about once. Police were using an automated camera/radar-gun to track speeders. If they could read the licence plate they would mail a ticket, with the photo of the car and the registered speed, to the owner of the vehicle. In this one case the owner mailed back a picture of a check made out for the ammount of the fine.
I remember the anguish - the ANGUISH - of coming home from school, myself and several friends working for days...no...weeks on the ULTIMATE TRADEWARS 2002 CORPORATION PLANET and then discovering that the Crystalline Entity, an add-in, had completely wiped us out. Everything went downhill from there. The corporation fractured into two or three congolmerates and I almost lost a best friend. Those were the good old days.
Continuing with the [OT]...
With a picture of a check you have all of the necessary info to electronically debit the check. You have the routing number, account number, and a check number. Some businesses use scanners to read that information. I've seen checks get declined the same as a credit card would using this technology.
you jumped off a bridge? That should brighten up the news.
Gee, I've never played a MMORPG, but I wonder if in the service agreement(s) there are provisions for these kind of things.
It's a fact that the whole service is complex and relies on computers (just like your Bank ATM), computers FAIL (and always will, no matter what). However, you never try to sue your bank if the ATM is offline. (You might sue if they wipe out your money)
Who knows, maybe they should guard the db of items just as a bank guards the computers that have your checking account balance.
On the flip side, it may not make business sense. (Until they figure out the best model for online gaming... but that will always depend on the game!)
The fact that the guy is basically wasting time (ironic, because we do so by reading slashdot also...) by playing the game, does not mean that it's fair that he should lose 2 years worth of 'work' because of a glitch, someone should be able to restore his character stats. The nature of the game demanded the guy to work towards building your items. (We do the same playing RPG's: building levels, buying expensive armor, spells, whatever... it takes time)
Any ideas?
...pretentious apathetic-reductionistic opinion, but... The guy's invested time and money, and they've fleeced him by their negligence of backups. He has a right to complain.
Maybe they can ruin it more realisticly by holding court inside the MMORPG.
If Chaos Theory has taught us anything, it's that we must kill all the butterflies.
I can't believe I am actually agreeing with this loser after he spent 2 YEARS living in a virtual world. The bottom line is that he paid to use their system and the expectation when you purchase a service is that it is going to function as advertised. In his case it did not. If this were a free system, such as a MUD, then I would dismiss his loses right away. The fact that he paid for the service changes everything.
http://www.tomandemily.com
In my experience the guy could have had his entire character deleted and not deserve anything. This sort of item/data/uptime loss thing has been covered in the licensing terms of every commercial MMO game I've ever played.
Heck, I've even seen the same treatment in MUDs, the imms don't want to waste time with whining players and all the lying ones that would also try to cache in as well and they shouldn't.
Chinese complains
Koreans ignore him
It's just a game
Disclaimer: If I disagree with you I'm probably trolling...
And, if we're talking about the same apocryphal story, the court mailed him a picture of a set of handcuffs, then he paid.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
It seems to me the lawsuit could be settled by either crediting this guy $1200 in his player's bank account (1200 gold pieces).
I'm suing the makers of Nethack for killing my little pet doggy.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
If you are suffering mental anguish from losing something in a game that is supposed to be for fun you need to find a new hobby.
I hope this twit gets laughed out of court, I really can't sympathize with him. Its his own fault for holding his imaginary items in such high esteem.
What next? People suing Nintendo because they can't beat super mario brothers? Suing Microsoft because of mental angusih suffered while playing online and getting owned at Mech Assualt? Should I sue Lucasarts because my KOTOR save game got ruined after 30 hours and I had to start over? Where does it end?
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
I see people here saying he invested his time and money into the game and lost it. I totally disagree. When you make an investement you are placing resources somewhere that they will grow into something better for you. This guy didn't do that. He spent some money and time playing a game. It was pure entertainment, nothing more.
Now he has paid for a service. That service has failed to live up to his expectations. If you have a magazine subscription and the magazine takes a direction you don't like do you sue them? No. You either don't renew your subscription and move on or you cancel it right away and ask for the rest of your money back. Yes the company shouldn't have ignored him but when they gave him the brush off he should have packed up and left.
In Republican America phones tap you.
Redmoon asks you to sign(err... click) an ToS agreement like most MMOs. One of the key factors is that they cannot be blamed for lost items(for any reason) characters(ditto) or even game time(so in effect, if you paid 3 months of service but they shut down the servers for 3 months the day you paid, you couldn't even sue for your money back, although the guys at redmoon are pretty nice and would most likely reimburse you anyways)
Hope this clears some things up.
what... the hell is that. I mean I remember seeing a anti-drug spider-man comic that mentioned spidey being sexually abused by his uncle ben, but to touch upon the great light of the bib.... I mean 3.0 that is just horrid.
Is that you got modded "funny" instead of "insightful". It is not a joke, folks.
what a loser.
I don't know about RedMoon, but most companies i"ve dealt with have Terms of Service with specific clauses for this kind of thing. So the whole discussion of sueing other companies becomes moot (unless there is another stupid company out there with similar terms).
Hmm, is mental anguish possible if one lacks a brain?
Nah, in the US he would have claimed $100,000 for mental anguish and lost playing time.
The problem with such ToS: contracts are only valid if both sides get something of value. Paying for a service (even an entertainment service) and getting nothing because they offlined the servers the day you signed up would be a violation of basic contract law. Any court based on common law would entitle you to getting your money back despite what the ToS claims.
Therefore, ToS documents are only legal claims made by the seller. Some or all of those claims can be invalidated by a court because in a disagreement, the law trumps a legal claim the way "paper covers rock." On the other hand, the court can put more weight behind some or all of the ToS terms just by issuing a decision--regardless of whether it is for or against the particular plaintiff.
--- Nothing clever here: move along now...
THAT was disturbing. Where the hell did you find that?
http://www.chick.com
there are lots of them
As per Kevin Smith: We're talking about Fictional Items, Fic-tion-al i-tems am I getting through to you at all?
Some people need to get a life and discover the difference between fantasy and reality. Moreover, I fully expect future games to have grand disclaimers such as:
"Characters and good attained in this game are completely fictional and have no value outside of the game itself. XXX Entertainment Corp is not responsible in any way for any monentary loss due to this game, including the loss of said fictional items/characters, social life, sleep deprivation, or medical/bladder issues arising from continuously playing the game for-frickin-ever.
In summary, we are glad that you enjoy our product, but believe that your increasingly large ass off the chair, get some fresh air and perhaps even bathe at some point in time. And no, your "medallion of +10 sexiness" will not get you laid in real life if you don't shower, no will we be held responsible for such problems.
I'm going to sue. I'm going to pick up this phone, contact my lawyer, and sue their asses into oblivion. I'm going to hit them so hard that... oh wait, "sexychic49" is online again. Maybe she'll be interested in my +10 long staff of endurance... I'll think about sueing again later.