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Square Enix Facing Class Action Suit Over FFXI "Hidden Fees"
A class action lawsuit has been initiated against Square Enix over the fees they charge for subscription-based MMO Final Fantasy XI. The court filing alleges "deceptive advertising, unfair practices, and fraudulent concealment" of information about the game's pricing model, essentially saying Square Enix doesn't clearly advertise that there is a monthly fee, and that failure to pay can result in late fees and account termination. The plaintiff is seeking a settlement in excess of $5,000,000 and including "all persons who purchased or played the online games four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit."
Yeah, I was going to say something similar, but you've pretty much nailed it. FFXI may have some dumb policies, but they're up-front about it. Some of the complaints this lawsuit makes are just plain stupid though. What a waste of the court system's time.
Santa's suicide mission go!
To be honest, Your debunks 1 & 2 don't hold any merit for me.
Just because others do it didn't get me any slack in kindergarten, I don't see why it should for companies.
3 & 4 sound horrible, but not particularly illegal. They would convince me not to play the game, even though I pretty much always pay on time.
5 is outrageous I think.
6. Sounds reasonable
7. I don't know what the the restrictions and conditions are. That it's their game, doesn't mean they can legally put in any condition or restriction they would like.
8. Is more interesting in my opinion, because I don't believe the character should (legally) be or remain property of the MMOG.
'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' II Corinthians 5:7
but it's the idea of paying "late" fees and interest fees for "missing" payments after they stop you from paying that will draw the courts ire.
Say you stop playing and max out the card so the account doesn't clear. In most games like WoW, they run the card a few days early and if it doesn't clear before your time runs out you're cut off until you fix the payment info. After all, you don't sign a lease or contract for a full year of subscription payments (most MMORGs are always Pre-paid, you pay up FIRST then play).. most MMORGs are "pay as you go" with no strings beyond you continuing to put the money in.
Late fees and interest only apply to thing you sign some kind of official contract, like to Gyms or the Columbia Record Club and they continue to provide services when you are "late". You can't put those kinds of things in a pre-paid month-to-month EULA "click-thru" agreement. The company is offering month-to-month pre-paid play... there's no expectation given they'll do something after you stop playing, so they should get their money up front like everybody else.
The question in court is how the "contract" was presented... I'd venture it was presented like any other pre-paid MMORG account until they started deducting extra fees from players beyond the monthly fees and pointed to the fine print. That's something nobody else running MMORGs does, why would people expect to look for it if it's not on the "front page" before you click OK to sign up? Seems like pretty important non-standard terms somebody should know about, hum? Courts aren't friendly to "contracts" that take a $15 per month pre-payment from a million people then start tacking on 100%+ fees in the "fine print" and taking it electronically without prior notice... it's about who has the upper hand and the company controls the account, the user access and the payment application... just because you "clicked OK".