Gamer suing because he is addicted to a game

[rudder]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/lineage11-addiction/

20,000 hours of game time over 5 years. Somehow it is negligence on the part of the game publisher. Likely this will be thrown out... but with the district judge not immediately tossing the suit... I see a big old can of worms opening up.

People will get in line to sue facebook over farmville (stressing out over crops dying while at work), posting on Anandtech, anyone with more than one level 60 character in WOW, and I may just sue valve for day of defeat: source. They have logged how much time I have played and I just couldn't stop myself.

This may filter into other industries as well. Imagine a box of condoms with a big warning label that sex may be addictive. Starbucks will have to begin posting signs warning customers about caffeine.

To hell with personal responsibility!

 

[dahunan]

mother fucker logged in CONSCIOUSLY. ..

Ah well.. nice to see the judge fuck over that company.. durr

 

[JockoJohnson]

Game company needs to counter sue the lawyer who took the case and the judge because they didn't come with warning labels of stupidity.

 

[highland145]

People will get in line to sue facebook over farmville (stressing out over crops dying while at work), posting on Anandtech, anyone with more than one level 60 character in WOW, and I may just sue valve for day of defeat: source. They have logged how much time I have played and I just couldn't stop myself.

To hell with personal responsibility!

Maybe not farmville but this if it comes to the U.S.

 

[sactoking]

As I pointed out in the PC Gaming thread on the same topic, plaintiff's allegations of addiction have already been thrown out. The Judge has let the allegations of deceptive marketing practices proceed (plaintiff alleges that defendant starting handing out fraudulent bans in Lineage to get people to play Aion instead).

 

[IceBergSLiM]

they should cut his hands off for being a useless f****t . addiction treated, problem solved.

 

[HumblePie]

Silly as it sounds, it was how McDonald's was originally sued by fat people. In the case of McDonald's it was decision of the court that McD had marketed their food with the intention that people eat it 3 times a day and every day. The problem was that doing that was very bad for your health because the food was bad as there was no healthy alternatives or warnings away from not doing that. Similar to the premise of me telling someone to drink something from a bottle that I promise to be perfectly safe, but instead I filled it with arsenic or something. Sure the person drank it willingly, and were stupid for doing so, but they were also tricked.

So if the gaming companies intend for people to play continuously and don't warn them about the side affects that can cause harm, then they are at fault. It sounds silly but that is just the way it is.

 

[santz]

stupid Judge! where were the kids parents? How old is he?
20,000 hours is 834 days is 28 months is 2 years and a quarter.

WOW just WOW

 

[woolfe9999]

1. This is about the stupidist premise for a lawsuit I've ever heard.

2. It will definitely get thrown out.

3. Where can I sign up for compensation? I had about a 1/3 as much WOW time as him over a period of 4.5 years (quit early last year thankfully), which is still a shitload! Blizzard has a crapton of money. They should give me some for the privilege of me playing their game.

- wolf

 

[MotF Bane]

1. This is about the stupidist premise for a lawsuit I've ever heard.

2. It will definitely get thrown out.

3. Where can I sign up for compensation? I had about a 1/3 as much WOW time as him over a period of 4.5 years (quit early last year thankfully), which is still a shitload! Blizzard has a crapton of money. They should give me some for the privilege of me playing their game.

- wolf

4. Something needs to be done about these lawyers.

 

[Liet]

Similar to the premise of me telling someone to drink something from a bottle that I promise to be perfectly safe, but instead I filled it with arsenic or something.

I don't think NCSoft ever told people that their game wasn't good enough to make you want to play it a lot.

Whatever, this totally on the guy's own head, we all know it, and it'll be a shame if dollars are wasted on any kind of court case.

 

[woolfe9999]

4. Something needs to be done about these lawyers.

True. Any lawyer who even takes a case this lacking in merit should be subject to discipline from the Bar, and probably liability for malicious prosecution.

- wolf

 

[JockoJohnson]

stupid Judge! where were the kids parents? How old is he?
20,000 hours is 834 days is 28 months is 2 years and a quarter.

WOW just WOW

No, it wasn't WoW...it was Lineage

 

[dfuze]

Sounds like he got his monies worth