I’m not aware of any lawsuit, at least reported, against a game company for an MMO or online world being “unfair”. For commercial reasons, it seems self-serving to be as fair as possible, but no reported cases of unfairness being legally actionable. And the comment asked specifically about comments made on a forum of an online game. Let’s not get too complicated: what is said on the forums, chat rooms, etc. of the game company PAYING for those servers….. most wouldn’t question that the publisher/developers/administrators have extremely wide leeway as to moderating those posts. What is said as opinion on a person’s own blog, gaming forum, or online chat room not in control of the game company…. as long as you obey the libel laws in your applicable jurisdiction, well then that would be your business. I wouldn’t characterize that as Wild, Wild, West…. though it’s the internet, these general concepts date all the way from Old English common law.

Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney. The statements here are not legal advice, and no attorney/client relationship is created. Jay Moffitt claims no certification in this specialty, and TN does not offer a certification in this area of law.

My second answer is, this is a very good question and one that strikes to the root of what I’m talking about. Of course, I’m glad you didn’t name names as I wouldn’t have approved your comment, and the three million users narrows it down to a dozen plus MMOs and virtual worlds, depending upon whether you’re counting registrations, regular users, or accounts.

Let me take one thing you said, and expound upon it just a little. ” It is a subtle thing but definitely cheating as they are advertising themselves as being fair and equal whether or not you spend money.”
The issue of fairness when it comes to a commercial gaming experience is still being fleshed out in practical terms. In legal terms it is still a totally open ballgame. What is fair, what is actionable, what is the goal (an immersive fair experience, or the optimization of income for the gaming publisher) are constantly being questioned.

As noted, if you want to off-line (through my listed email address) give the name of the game’s publisher, and what jurisdiction you reside in, then I can possibly point you in the direction of an intellectual property law attorney who might give you some advice. But one caveat always in play with a possible lawsuit or statement, in any circumstance, is what you have personally to gain, and what you have to lose. That’s not legal advice, that’s just life advice.

Final thought: if someone just comes across my blog by accident, they might not understand such hard-core feelings from a game fan… but I’m there with you. I’ve got every game system in my house plus a computer in three rooms…. and a good game is hard to find and you develop an allegiance to it, so I empathize with your pain.

Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney. The blog posts and comments do not create an attorney/client relationship and are not legal advice. Jay Moffitt does not claim certification in this specialty, and TN does not certify attorneys in this specialty

I read a few of your articles concerning players rights and have a few questions regarding the deliberate cheating by the administration of an on line game to increase their profits at the expensive ( unbeknownst ) of the clients.

I became involved in this game as a player about a year ago.

I quit once but went back on as another player.

There was some pretty rough bullying going on and another player had had quite a negative experience with the moderators and the administration.

My experience with the moderators and administration was equally negative. So I started a forum on the game and became some what of a thorn in the side of administration trying to get them to implement stronger anti-bullying measures and to implement some customer relations training for the moderators. However, I tried to keep it fairly civil and offer constructive suggestions and well researched evidence to support my request. I developed quite a following. I received a lot of letters from other players who were treated unfairly. I wrote to their customer relations company, and received no reply, I wrote to the games owner and received no reply. The administration however stepped up an extremely negative campaign against me. Banning, warning and harassing some of my friends not to mention myself. Well their reaction to my forum and what I was asking of them seemed rather over the top. So I began to look to see if there might be some other reason they were so interested in my being gone. Well I found it. I found they are deliberately stacking the deck in favor of certain players and against other players who are in direct competition with the favored players. The favored players are players who spend thousands of dollars on the game, annually. They are tweaking the gains made in play toward achieving top player status in favor of the heavy spenders. It is a subtle thing but definitely cheating as they are advertising themselves as being fair and equal whether or not you spend money. So this leaves players who spend money but not as much as the favored players being taken for a ride on a game they will never be able to win in. Now I know that this is wrong but is it legal and if I expose it will they have legal recourse against me? This is an international game with over 3 million players. It is advertised for all ages and promotes itself as fair, free and somewhat educational.

I am collecting the evidence needed to prove this now with the help of another player. The proof is there it just needs screen shots to show it.