Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wizards of the Coast Sues Rumor Site

Posted by Zonk on from the they-were-doing-so-well-there-for-a-while dept.

foo fighter writes "Wizards of the Coast is suing the owner of MTG Salvation, a site that posts rumors and spoilers about upcoming releases of Magic: the Gathering. This suit has come as a disappointing and disturbing shock to Magic's large and diverse community and raises several questions too familiar to Slashdot readers: Do leaks of upcoming products really hurt sales of those products? Do these kind of lawsuits damage the companies initiating them more than they help?"

5 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. From the article... by Orrin+Bloquy · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...Apparently WoC is in talks with Fark to integrate all the user-made cards played in Fark discussions, including "Summon Bevets" and "The Goggles."

    --
    "Made up/misattributed quote that makes me look smart. I am on /. and I must look smart."
  2. And... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 4, Funny
    And more importantly, how many lands did they have to tap to initiate this lawsuit?

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    1. Re:And... by SeekerDarksteel · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm not sure how many, but I think they were probably swamps.

      --
      The laws of probability forbid it!
  3. Re:Too different to compare, I think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    my friends would laugh at me if I tried to play with Xeroxed cards

    Don't worry, you'll be laughed at playing with real cards too.

  4. was that rhetorical? :) by Xtifr · · Score: 3, Funny

    > "Do leaks of upcoming products really hurt sales of those products?"

    Well, in my case, the chance that I would buy the product has gone from zero to zero, so I would say no. The sales have not been affected at all.

    > "Do these kind of lawsuits damage the companies initiating them more than they help?"

    Well, in my case, the chance that I would buy the product has gone from zero to zero, so I would say no. The company has not been affected at all.

    Sorry, couldn't resist. :)

    In the general case, yes, leaks CAN hurt, if it causes people to hold off on current purchases while they wait for the next release with the new features. This is known as the "Osborne effect," in honor of computer pioneer Adam Osborne, who apparently destroyed his own company by announcing "next version" features too early. As for the second question, well, that's going to have to be judged on a case-by-case basis. Trying to make it into a simple "yes or no" question is naive and silly.