Serious gamers can spend hours in front of their favorite games, but would they consider themselves addicts? Craig Smallwood certainly does, and he has sued NCsoft, maker of Lineage II, for failing to warn him and other users that the game is highly addictive.
Hawaii-resident Smallwood played Lineage II for more than 20,000 hours between 2004 and 2009, during which time he became "psychologically dependent and addicted" to the game, according to court filings posted by Wired.
NCsoft, however, "never gave [Smallwood] any notice or warning of the danger of psychological dependence or addiction from continued play," according to the case.
A Hawaii judge recently threw out some of Smallwood's claims, but refused to dismiss the entire case, and let it proceed on claims of negligence, gross negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
It appears that Smallwood's case centers not only on his alleged addiction to Lineage II but on NCsoft's marketing strategy.
According to Smallwood, he was locked out Lineage II in September 2009, despite having paid for an additional 1.5 months of game play. A month later, NCsoft said it locked Smallwood out because he had participated in "an elaborate scheme to create real money transfers." Smallwood denied the charges, and said NCsoft's real motive was to get users locked out of Lineage II so they would upgrade to its new release, Aion.
Smallwood also accused game moderators, known as Game Masters, of not effectively policing Lineage II, and instating "banning purges" intended to "promote Aion and increase their profits."
NCsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in court documents, the company confirmed that Smallwood was locked out of his multiple accounts over allegations of real money transfers, which are prohibited by the game's terms of service.
Apparently the new game, Aion, doesn't do it for Smallwood. He said "he continues to this day to have a compulsive urge and need to play Lineage II." He has also suffered "extreme and serious emotional distress and depression, he has been unable to function independently, he has suffered psychological trauma, he was hospitalized, and he requires treatment and therapy three times a week," court documents said.
)
Facebook
Twitter