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One of the MOST Pathetic Things I've Ever Seen...
nate1980
Member UncommonPosts: 2,063
Below is an article about a lawsuit against several gaming companies, including Blizzard. Link included, but I copied and pasted the article below for convenience. www.gamespot.com/news/6241266.html
World of Warcraft target of latest suit from PSN plantiffBy Staff, GameSpotPosted Nov 24, 2009 4:58 pm PTSan Jose man adds Activision Blizzard to growing list of courtroom opponents, takes issue with MMOG fees, alleges ill effects on mental health, seeks $1 million.
After being banned from Sony's PlayStation Network during a game of Resistance: Fall of Man, a San Jose, California gamer sued the electronics giant, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights. That case was dismissed in September, but the plaintiff was undeterred. In addition to filing in an appeal in that case, earlier this month he filed a new suit against Microsoft and Nintendo. In that case, he alleged that a broken Xbox 360 caused him undue stress, and that a Wii system update blocking access to the Homebrew Channel third-party program interfered with his inalienable right to pursue happiness.
Are the normal World of Warcraft fees any worse than those of the World of Warcraft Visa card?
With the big three platform holders accounted for, the same plaintiff is now turning his attention to largest third-party publisher. The gamer, Erik Estavillo, provided GameSpot with copies of his latest civil suit, a case against Activision Blizzard filed this morning in the Santa Clara County Superior Court of California. A court clerk confirmed for GameSpot that the suit had been filed.
The suit comprises a handful of complaints against Activision Blizzard, specifically relating to the company's successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. Specifically, the gamer accuses the publisher of maintaining a "harmful virtual environment" with "sneaky and deceitful practices."
He first takes exception to the game's $14.99 monthly subscription fee, calling it the highest of any MMORPG. He contends the fee is aggravated by the game requiring players to travel great distances at a slow walking or running pace, with fast travel options like teleportation stones and mounts only available to gamers who rise to an advanced level or purchase the game's expansion packs.
He also cited the game's resurrection process, in which players travel in spirit from cemeteries back to the spots where they died in order to revive themselves, as an unnecessary part of the game designed to cost gamers money. Other fees at issue include the charges (up to $25) Blizzard levies to change their characters' names, races, factions, or servers.
Beyond the monetary complaints, the suit also references the 2001 suicide of an EverQuest player, attributing it to a sense of alienation related to the game and mental health problems. The suit goes on to say the plaintiff has suffered from similar problems including major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and Crohn's disease, and he "doesn't want to end up like [the EverQuest player] did as he relies on video games heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life, via the gaming medium."
In addition to the suit, the plaintiff also wants a pair of celebrities to attest to the effects of alienation. The gamer is subpoenaing Depeche Mode's Martin Lee Gore "since he himself has been known to be sad, lonely, and alienated, as can be seen in the songs he writes." He is also calling Winona Ryder to testify, saying the actress' appreciation for Catcher in the Rye will make her a relevant witness "to how alienation in the book can tie to alienation in real live [sic] / video games such as World of Warcraft."
The gamer is asking for $1 million in punitive damages and a court order forcing Activision Blizzard to address the problems alleged in the suit. As of press time, representatives with Activision and Blizzard had not returned GameSpot's requests for comment.
Comments
California. Nice state, full of idiots though.
Depending it makes good finacial sense on his part. After all just settling before court(and paying him) is cheaper than going through the actual legal process.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
O.O
Ok all you kids out there, This is why drugs are bad. Not only will they mess you up, but they can also have a profound effect on your children.
You have to admit he has a good strategy... Take on everyone and hope to get something....
I thought the state of California passed that Friv. Lawsuit thing that allowed the state to sue you for wasting the courts time with lawsuits like this....
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Like the stupid lady who called 911 because McDonald's forgot to put something on her burger (might've been Burger King, and might've been a guy, I forgot) and wouldn't give her a refund. You can get arrested for wasting the police's time - and it's funny as hell when they charge you instead of the pimple faced teen who forgot to put pickles on your heart-attack-on-a-bun.
OMG!!!
I burst out in tears.
Really.
Holly crap.
That's funny!
if any one of those suits settles out of court the kid will be spending alot of time not working....wonder if he wins if he'll be re-suing once the cash runs out....I can see it now "you see yer honor type person, I got carpel tunnel and tennis elbow and it's Activision Blizzard's fault cuz they made them space goat girls so hot I just couldn't keep it in my pants, it's not my fault..."
was on TMZ...she ordered chicken nuggets and they realized they were out after they took her payment.
"I want my chicken nuggets"
Hopefully the next dismissal is even faster than the first.
Still sucks though. The more companies have to worry about this stuff -- even if it's dismissed quickly -- the more they have to budget towards legal nonsense.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
This little piece of shit is giving san jose a bad name.
i live here, and the majority of the newly-post-teens aren't fucktards. a lot of lesser intelligence and mindless fashion idiots, but DAMNIT.
Erik Estavillo. pathetic.
You guys have one hell of a hockey team, too.
Sound like being a depressed loser is a pre-existing condition for this guy and not related to the gaming industry. Case Dismissed. But then again it's california so you can probably sue taco bell cause it made you fart.
It's sad.
Unfortunately, a couple of the issues he raised in his original lawsuit need to be addressed (Sony banning him from their entire network based on bad behaviour with one product and keeping prepaid funds).
Sadly, all that is masked by the idiot parts of his suit (freedom of speech, 1st Ammendment Rights).
He should hae just picked one thing (getting a refund on prepaid funds) and focused on that.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Right there, I can see this is made of phail. First Amendment guarantees that your right to free speech will not be abridged by the government. It does not obligate any third party to aid your free speech. Is the government trying to censor you? If not, then shut the fuck up about the First Amendment.
Depends. Some corporations (IBM springs to mind; you can ask SCO about that) have a policy not to buy out idiots like this, in order to discourage any other idiots who might have similar ideas. This policy gets more common the bigger the company, because a) they're more likely to become targets for other idiots and b) they probably already have lawyers on retainer, or even on staff, so they might as well make them work for their salaries.
Dam this making me want to try this court thing out.
Not even that, if you ask me. One, it was undoubtedly part of his user agreement that Sony has the right to do this. Two, he's an annoying moron, and was banned by Sony for being one. Anything that helps get annoying morons offline has my support; there's too many of them as it is.
Not even that, if you ask me. One, it was undoubtedly part of his user agreement that Sony has the right to do this. Two, he's an annoying moron, and was banned by Sony for being one. Anything that helps get annoying morons offline has my support; there's too many of them as it is.
While I have little doubt that the guy is a twit who broke the ToS of the game, this issue goes into the validity of EULA/ToS as a contract. Under contract law if one party breeches the contract the other party generally cannot keep any payments it received if the work was not actually done. That's what specific penalty clauses are for and they have to be reasonable or a court will throw them out. MMORPG companies reserve the right to ban you for any reason they seem fit. They generally will not ban anyone if they do not have a valid reason because if they are unreasonable about it (in the legal sense) a judge can deem them to be in the breech of contract instead and/or invalidate their ToS.
So a MMORPG company in principle cannot ban you and keep the remainder of your subscription money unless they can show a breech of contract and that the monetary penalty is justified and reasonable. However, the actual parameters and guildelines for this type of action have not been set by a court when it comes to MMORPGs so it is a troubling grey area.
Where are cyber bullies when you need them ...We need them now to "take care" of the situation lol
Some people are just stupid, need I say more? America has gone sue happy our judicial is being abused and some judges actually are in favor of the tards that sue. Like that one lady who spilled coffee on her and sued because she didn't know the coffee was hot. I mean how fucking retarded are you lady? if you don't know coffee was hot you shouldn't even be driving, hell me 3 year old niece knows coffee is fucking hot.
Not even that, if you ask me. One, it was undoubtedly part of his user agreement that Sony has the right to do this. Two, he's an annoying moron, and was banned by Sony for being one. Anything that helps get annoying morons offline has my support; there's too many of them as it is.
While I have little doubt that the guy is a twit who broke the ToS of the game, this issue goes into the validity of EULA/ToS as a contract. Under contract law if one party breeches the contract the other party generally cannot keep any payments it received if the work was not actually done. That's what specific penalty clauses are for and they have to be reasonable or a court will throw them out. MMORPG companies reserve the right to ban you for any reason they seem fit. They generally will not ban anyone if they do not have a valid reason because if they are unreasonable about it (in the legal sense) a judge can deem them to be in the breech of contract instead and/or invalidate their ToS.
So a MMORPG company in principle cannot ban you and keep the remainder of your subscription money unless they can show a breech of contract and that the monetary penalty is justified and reasonable. However, the actual parameters and guildelines for this type of action have not been set by a court when it comes to MMORPGs so it is a troubling grey area.
EULA/TOS are not legal contracts in the court of law due to you never signing anything. By you clicking Accept or agree you are not legally signing anything.
Every been to an arcade and they have signs up saying "play at your own risk" . These signs are not a legal agreement and you can sue and get your money back.
Unless you physically sign something it is not a legally binding contract. Some expections are verbal contracts but we can all agree that EULA/TOS are not verbal contracts.
A good lawyer will be able to prove in court that a EULA/ToS are not binding contracts their for are more like guide lines then a contract.
As for this kid, he is a moron that will be laughing all the way to the bank because its always cheaper to make these kind of people disappear.
Sooner or Later
lol just read some of the posts in this thread haha...just like the 1st post.. these people are EVERYWHERE!
are we allowed to bash this guy? I hope so hes not an mmorpg member so.. What a fucking royal twatbag. If ever it was said with meaning, it was now. DIAF, you fucking douche
i bet, if he wins, he'll spend the money buying wow gold
LOTRO player
lol, wow....
this is why it's always a good idea to actually read the laws and the constitution before filing a lawsuit. The persuite of happiness is not an inalienable right, lol.
LOL! Aren't there clauses in the TOS for the games? I know there was one heck of a long one for Xbox LIVE and assume they have the same on PSN. Now I have never taken the time to read them personally but it stands to reason that they have considered this possibility when writing the TOS's. Due to the length of them resembling a Stephen King novel it stands to reason they are covered.
Now if this man wins.... I will have lost all faith in the legal system (more so than already). Anyone remember when that lady sued McDonalds for not having a "Warning: Coffee is hot" on the side of their coffee cups? We have all seen the most pointless lawsuits be won by the plaintiff.
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