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NCsoft Sued For Making Lineage II 'Too Addictive'
An anonymous reader writes "South Korean MMO game publisher NCsoft is finding itself facing another lawsuit, this time for making games that are 'too addictive.' US Lineage II player Craig Smallwood is suing the publisher for $3 million because he found himself playing Lineage II for 20,000 hours over a period of 5 years. At times, his average play session would persist for over 11 hours, crippling his life and ability to function. A federal judge is allowing the court case to go forward (PDF), stating that the plaintiff has a claim for negligence and gross negligence against the publisher."
The fact that these games do use very morally dubious techniques to create a feeling of addiction and endless time sinks to nurture that addiction. There are a LOT of people who's lives have been utterly ruined by MMORPG's and its easy to laugh at them, point fingers and call them weak but the fact of the matter is they are being psychologically manipulated. The problem is only going to get worse as developers better perfect these techniques and create deeper levels of immersion. I would have to agree that at some point a line has to be drawn and lawsuits like this could become more common until someone could actually win one.
So we should also eliminate or create legal liability for all forms of psychological manipulation? Advertising and political speech come to mind, do we want to protect against that?
Your quoting me out of context there and ignoring a lot of what I said. Try watching some of the Youtube video's on people deleting their Warcraft characters, people who have lost their jobs, homes, wives and kids. I hardly think being manipulated into buying another cheesburger or diet pepsi is going to have a similar effect. At no point did I say that this lawsuit was a good idea, in fact I think its ridiculous. I do however think that as developers get better at nutruring addiction and creating ever more immersive worlds, it's going to develop into an increasingly serious problem that will need addressing at some point.