Gamer’s Rights
Yeah, I said it. Listening, Activision/Blizzard? EA? Linden Labs? Yes, the gamers are the people that pay the bills. So how are the gamers achieving their rights in games, and I’m talking now of specifically computer games, online or otherwise.
The three main avenues are public/peer/media pressure, legislation, and the efforts of game publishers, distributers, retailers, or developers. Today’s discussion is informal and formal pressure from gamer’s rights groups, media outcries, and peer pressure among gamers to force change.
The first I ever heard of a “movement” was when I started writing a professional paper about a gamers’ bill of rights. First quick search, “Gamer’s Bill of Rights”, found something right on point. Another called, “Bill of Player Rights”, with similar though not identical content. And an actual organization calling for the Fight for Gamer’s Rights with the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA)
In quick order, a midsize software company, a blogger, and a nonprofit organization. So where are the masses rising up to protest the state of PC and online gaming? We’ll talk about legislation later, but for a quick look, go toJoystiq for a listing of significant political legislation in the news the last half-decade.
Why should the game-makers of PC games have an obligation more specifically than console-game makers? It is pointed out by blog The Age that it is an idea whose time has come, specifically because console makers act as “gatekeepers”. The software designers have development kits and minimum standards of playability and honesty in publishing the games, in PC games it is simply “caveat emptor”. The purchaser of software must know their brand of computer, processor type, processor speed, video card type, video card capacity, hard drive remaining space….. and the specs on the box could simply be WRONG. There is no punishment for the publisher for this, most stores will not take even an exchange for a different game…. because the BUYER MUST BEWARE. What other purchase is simply a license? Which? That, my friend, is why gamers simply clamor for their rights, because no other form of merchandise in the consumer world is so narrowly discriminated against as to be prohibited from exchange or refund. This is why the cry for truth in advertising and “specs-on-the-box” is so loud.
The one that lately causes a lot of pressure from industry groups is the “activation” phase of computer software. As pointed out in a great discussion at Glide Underground many software packages now not only require activation from the internet for first play, but require a constant internet connection in order to function. Unfortunately, there is no warning for most software packages, and many of us have one or more computers that we play games on that are not connected to the internet. In fact, many of us have a “stripped-down” machine that is not using resources for networking, instant messaging, just for that reason.
I really, really thought this would be a longer post. Thought I would have so, so many complaints, outrages, consumer organizations to list, that I would have to break this up… no such luck. Let me list just one more really, really great article by Mia Garlick in the Yale Law Journal that outlines rights for the online game player. It is from several years ago, but the principles hold true today, and are relevant for PC games as well.
Here’s a short list of blogs listing their different perspectives on Gamer’s rights:
Beefjack; One listing from China, a very vigorous protest , and a statement by a software company that described how all of their products will comply with the Gamers Bill of Rights.
If there is some conclusion to be drawn, it would be that these “pressure groups” or “online petition groups” are young, but there is a sentiment growing. The difference now from 10 years ago is that the choice you make as far as your online gaming is something you are tied to for years and years, rather than a couple of months. If people are not informed in the beginning about the expectation of the life-span of the online world they are investing hundreds of hours in, or the software they will be playing on their home computer for the next 9-12 months, then people’s displeasure will rise in accordance with the amount of their own lives they have invested.
Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney. This blog does not consitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is established. Jay Moffitt does not claim certification in the subject matter, and no subject matter certification is listed in TN for this subject.
Tags: consumer groups, gamers rights
