Oh gah... please don't listen to this.
I know you mean well, but you have two very simple things that you're confusing:
1. FDCPA DOESN'T apply to third party lenders. i.e.- Your auto finance company. You go to the dealer, and the dealer finances your car. Ford Credit (let's just say...) then buys the paper (contract) from the dealership. They're a third party lender. And THEY don't have to follow the FDCPA. I should know, I work for one.
2. The Mini-Miranda ("I am a debt collector...") only has to be stated in a few states. CT, the 5 boroughs of NY, etc.
As for the poster who said to write a letter: that's good advice. Write a letter stating that they may not contact you BY PHONE at your place of business or your home. If they do, then you have a case. However, don't expect them to phone you, because despite the poster's comments, companies DO take those things seriously. They don't want a lawsuit.
You're more likely to have a case based on the mini-miranda than anything else. Everyone forgets to say that.
Also, remember that no collector can contact you more than once a day, unless you request for them to do so.
I think everyone here would be surprised by how many people still PBEM. Just in the Star Trek realm alone (which, admittedly, probably carries the large majority of these players) you've got thousands of RPGs out there. And even more surprising, they're not/all/ crappy. starbase118.net has been around for 10 years and carries about 125 active members. A small community, but a prolific one.
I think the difference between a PBEM RPG and graphical games is the same as the appeal to popular fiction against movies. Movies are great, and we all enjoy them, but it's also fun to read and stretch your brain every now and then.
Anyone with a mild interest in the Uru community will see that this is going to be a hit "in the meantime" (between now, when they launch Myst: Revelations, and when another Myst-online game is launched). Uru had a rabid (if small) following, just like any other MMORPG, and there has been some serious grieving for the loss of the Online version of the game.
From what I can tell, Uru just didn't have time to get off the ground. It suffered from an extremely poor launch, due to clerical errors and unpreparedness, and then the producing parties just gave up too fast. If the community can do some grassroots work and really push this halfway-there version of Uru Online, I think Cyan will put more into the development of the Myst-Online Something-or-other they hinted at developing within the past few months.
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Oh gah... please don't listen to this. I know you mean well, but you have two very simple things that you're confusing: 1. FDCPA DOESN'T apply to third party lenders. i.e.- Your auto finance company. You go to the dealer, and the dealer finances your car. Ford Credit (let's just say...) then buys the paper (contract) from the dealership. They're a third party lender. And THEY don't have to follow the FDCPA. I should know, I work for one. 2. The Mini-Miranda ("I am a debt collector...") only has to be stated in a few states. CT, the 5 boroughs of NY, etc. As for the poster who said to write a letter: that's good advice. Write a letter stating that they may not contact you BY PHONE at your place of business or your home. If they do, then you have a case. However, don't expect them to phone you, because despite the poster's comments, companies DO take those things seriously. They don't want a lawsuit. You're more likely to have a case based on the mini-miranda than anything else. Everyone forgets to say that. Also, remember that no collector can contact you more than once a day, unless you request for them to do so.
I think everyone here would be surprised by how many people still PBEM. Just in the Star Trek realm alone (which, admittedly, probably carries the large majority of these players) you've got thousands of RPGs out there. And even more surprising, they're not /all/ crappy. starbase118.net has been around for 10 years and carries about 125 active members. A small community, but a prolific one.
I think the difference between a PBEM RPG and graphical games is the same as the appeal to popular fiction against movies. Movies are great, and we all enjoy them, but it's also fun to read and stretch your brain every now and then.
Plus, you can't play HalfLife 2 at your 9-5.
Anyone with a mild interest in the Uru community will see that this is going to be a hit "in the meantime" (between now, when they launch Myst: Revelations, and when another Myst-online game is launched). Uru had a rabid (if small) following, just like any other MMORPG, and there has been some serious grieving for the loss of the Online version of the game.
From what I can tell, Uru just didn't have time to get off the ground. It suffered from an extremely poor launch, due to clerical errors and unpreparedness, and then the producing parties just gave up too fast. If the community can do some grassroots work and really push this halfway-there version of Uru Online, I think Cyan will put more into the development of the Myst-Online Something-or-other they hinted at developing within the past few months.