Gamers Rights Law » online games

Community standards: what’s that?

jaymoffitt — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:38:10 +0000

Yes, the infamous “Banhammer”.Creative Commons attribution license, Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/powi/519822065/

The standards for banning gamers differ from community to community. But with a recent growing trend of acquisitions, is the standard changing via the takeover company? Should it? Does community standard even have a meaning anymore with worldwide gaming so predominant that you may not even have someone from your country, much less your state, in your gaming group?

Even though some games have different standards for forum banning and game banning, I’m going to group these together and be specific if there’s a known difference. Here’s some starting points from sources I’ve found in the developer or forum communities. (As a special added bonus I’ve noted the recent modding case decision).

From Forumblogger (a website devoted to running good forums), a short guide as to when/why/how to ban members.

From Techland blog, Xbox Users banned from using swastika symbol as avatar. For more, read on…

From Kotaku, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Nixed on XBox 360 Live”.

Somewhat related, from Wired: Trial of X-box modding defendant delayed again…. WAIT.. Federal prosecutors drop case… via Gamasutra

Starcraft 2 users banned, via Computerandvideogames.com

Microsoft bans COD BlackOps users for network manipulation, from Playfire website

Great article from Gamasutra about Website/game localization(squeezing it in here because it fits the topic of “universal” banning standards versus “localized” banning standards.)

OK, this one is for me. (from Bitmob) It’s the rags-to-riches story of a guy who goes from forum poster to full-time employee. (Like Kurt Warner story, but with vid-games).

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Personal commentary: these updates are just a compilation of the recent notable bans and modding decisions. They are presented without comment. My only minor addition to this would be the noting of the severe drop in these types of cases, and that gamers and developers/publishers seem to be getting closer in their idea of what is a “bannable” offense. Comments??

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Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

Communications, People! (Developers’s Corner)

jaymoffitt — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:15:23 +0000

10 things every online game should have. (From blog Imtalkingames)

Photo Credit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/; http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotologic/216182916/

Great series of articles, at “clicknothing” by a known game designer, Part 1 and Part 2 (And yes, I don’t understand it all… but thankfully it’s a series… I’m hoping there’s a happy ending at the curtain).

Gamer Entitlement, (from a game designer’s personal blog) More great articles after the jump

Executive… listens??From the always readable “gamepolitics”( Most gamers think this…. right?)

From Keen and Graev’s gaming blog; (Words to live… and design games by)

The boss battle; why? From Online magazine Resolution-Magazine (Very quirky article about game design of boss battles)

Just an opinion piece, about game developer culture in general not really a legal point, just about communication. (From Multiplaying)

Including milestones in your game developer agreement ; older article by Atty. Tom Buscaglia… (his series of articles is still the most comprehensive I’ve read about communications between developers and attorney as allies and not adversaries)

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Well, that about covers what’s out there about communication with attorneys and with your audience. Apparently it’s much more exciting to talk about design and art (I think so too). But like my “about” page says, “a necessary evil” is what an attorney is. If you need a start or a jump-start with your company; email me through the link, and I’ll provide my information (or someone in your jurisdiction) to get you some help with your game project.

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Survey of recent professional articles about Online Games

jaymoffitt — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:32:41 +0000

Photo: Flickr, from Cornell College Collection, no known copyright restrictions.

Huhh, Jun-Sok, An Economic Analysis on Online Game Service (August 28, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1335120 (A not-quite-so-recent article which talks about the nuts and bolts of running a for-profit game online. )…. a couple more articles after the jump

Kshetri, Nir, The Evolution of the Chinese Online Gaming Industry (February, 26 2010). Journal of Technology Management in China, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 158-179, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1559890 (A refreshingly non-political article which describes the growth of Chinese Online gaming.)

Garon, Jon M., Video Games, Virtual Worlds and Social Media (July 10, 2010). Jon M. Garon, ENTERTAINMENT LAW & PRACTICE, Carolina Academic Press, 2005 and Supplement 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1639493 (A very recent, freely-available synopsis of virtual worlds and social media).

Bilir, Tanla E., Real Economics in Virtual Worlds: A Massively Multiplayer Online Game Case Study: Runescape (December 25, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1655084 (A student thesis, but a very intense study of just one game, interesting case study)

Raymond, Chad, An Experiment in Teaching International Relations: The Effects of a World War I Role-Playing Simulation on Student Performance. APSA 2010 Teaching & Learning Conference Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1544609 (A self-written game, apparently; teacher studies effects of students’ attitudes about history AFTER playing a simulation regarding WWI)

Final thought: Remember, you can subscribe to get an email feed of my updates at Subscribe to Gamers Rights Law Feed by Email .

Video Games: Spectator Sport?

jaymoffitt — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:55:13 +0000

Gaming: the Spectator Sport

20 years ago; there were a lot of kids skateboarding. And about a decade later, a lot of kids snowboarding.

Not a lot of people watching. AND CERTAINLY not anyone paying to watch.

Fast forward. Today, the ratings of the X-games are not the ratings of the Olympics. But you know, check the ratings against pro volleyball, American soccer, or pro bowling. Are you getting my point?

Here’s a little of the latest news of people WATCHING video games being played. An idea whose time has come?

League of Legends coverage and more after the jump

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Starcraft as Spectator Sport; by NPR

The Game Station on Youtube (launched Sept. 20)

NY Time article: Ivy League colleges join Starcraft

Pop Matters article: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/123067-making-a-better-spectator-game/

Game as Performance: published paper http://www.digra.org/dl/db/09287.52457.pdf

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=171&ved=0CDUQxQEwWjhQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fviewer%3Fa%3Dv%26q%3Dcache%3A5zC4MTxET3QJ%3Aresearch.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fum%2Fpeople%2Fsdrucker%2Fpapers%2Fspectator.pdf%2BVideo%2Bgames%2Bas%2Bspectator%2Bsports%26hl%3Den%26gl%3Dus%26pid%3Dbl%26srcid%3DADGEESgabJZII0oCW5V4v3AfV5VCTPaOSdz3LsleJKtdekdQaIgx5J3F9yc3BAP9wv1PyJHOppQ5adWk7MnByzUSIrHBwN1x2t9lBQuDT3nlWr8wJGfPcnbFAxgNPJT8wRsiGPi1RZyR%26sig%3DAHIEtbQplUGET5fxwQ-Y5-1YBstGcu6_wA&ei=R0WVTLDdIsL_lgfv-fCoCg&usg=AFQjCNG7FaQ0ThmQQ9qH5_1OoLCsPkot8Q

Spectator sport modality

HTML version

http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:9_3j-qMIhx0J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=8000000000000

Starcraft as Video Games; fourth-watched channel on ESPN

Other channels: http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens1/premiumzone/Service.php

and here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pgl-live

Total view 32,995

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Commentary: one of the most difficult posts I have ever presented. Why? No secondary data. Is it hyperbole, or fact? Are these games catching on; or are the same 500 people hitting the servers a couple of hundred times each? No Nielsen ratings, no newsletters with reliable data, no publicists pushing facts.

Read the articles and make decisions for yourself. If there were available sources making statements and taking questions; I might ask them…

1) Do the developers get paid extra if a video game nets a TV deal?

2) Do the audience members have any assurance of broadcast quality?

3) Are the participants signing away their rights for broadcast for one-time, or is it through infinity?

I can’t ask these questions because of the fragmented nature of the market; and because each of the major video-game “leagues” is insulated behind a “terms-of-use” and a log-in. There doesn’t seem to be any “front-end” information for journalists or simply interested bystanders.

Of course; if any of the “leagues” reads this and has an answer, I’ll approve that comment; or if you have first-hand knowledge (and not just a “gripe” post) I’ll gladly approve a comment with a fair-minded analysis of first-hand experience.

The “Memphis Mafia” and Running a Company

jaymoffitt — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:11:43 +0000

This is just a short news post about credit card overcharges at Warhammer Online. It’s so peripheral to the “business” of video games that I don’t have much original to add from a legal standpoint. But I do have a short personal commentary at the end(after the jump) .

Mythic Entertainment has double and triple-billed some customers. Here’s a sampling of the dozen or so blogs I’ve found that have mentioned the over-billing “issue”.

Broken Toys is always reliable to have a snarky take on a subject, and they didn’t spare Mythic Entertainment.

Massively Multiverse has a critical article about the incident(s) and the response thus far.

Grimnir’s Grudge has the actual credit card charges scanned onto the site…

Slashdot Online has a mention of the alleged overcharges.

No Prisoners, No Mercy has it’s own take.

WasdStomp Gaming Blog talks about reading about it on Twitter, and then discovering it hit him too. Favorite quote: “It only took them 23 seconds to charge my account 16 times, but I may not see my money for two months.”

And now, for the usual suspects, Kotaku has an article on this incident, as well as Gamasutra.

THE OFFICIAL RESPONSE from Mythic Entertainment. They do assert “To be clear, at no point during this event was there a security breach or was subscriber account information compromised.”

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Personal commentary: Goodwill has been characterized as “Every possible advantage that has been acquired by a firm in carrying on it’s business” (Mills v Rich, 1930, Mich). Personally, I look to the example of the “Memphis Mafia” that Elvis had around him.

When Elvis and Priscilla split up in the 1970s, there were not to my knowledge a ton of tabloid articles about the subject. Rumors, innuendo, but there were no “inside sources”. You can look it up, I could be wrong, but my point is that Elvis, as the king of rock and roll, had “his people” who ran “his business” and there were mistakes, sure, but those mistakes were taken care of internally. You can read the Mythic Entertainment official statement and see that it seems they did everything right, yet “somehow” people were billed hundreds of dollars (each) in a mistake that has never happened before or will again.

That’s a relief. It shows great resolve they’ve immediately made a move to repair the overcharges and immediately refund the money. But where is the resolve that “heads will roll” and people will “get a good talking-to”? I read a commentary that said people who a $300 charge would overdraft them should stop playing MMOs anyway. With the way debit cards are set up, and the lack of consumer protections built into them, I would hope no one has thousands of dollars available on an online-used debit card! A couple of hundred unexpectedly disappearing SHOULD cause you an issue on a simple debit card; at least enough to make you notice. I’ve read the full “official notice” on the site and it’s a little more sympathetic than some of the blogs would have you believe; but it’s not the words but the “follow-through”. I’ll update this news item whenever there’s a significant change; keep in mind this is a dated post, and the online gaming blogs are your best source to follow developments on a day-to-day basis.

Photo Courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninette_luz/3413779145/ ; Creative Commons, some rights reserved.

Being There

jaymoffitt — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:50:28 +0000

I believe I read it in the intro to a science fiction novel. “Who will mourn the earth when she is gone?”

It just goes to show: when you hear complaints, and compliments, and rivalries, between games, or pasttimes, in online discussions and blogs, it seems to continue forever. Yet “There.com” is shut down, March 9th, and I read hardly anything about it. Where are all the “Citizens There” going to go? Discussions and links after the jump….

It was a groundbreaking world, a direct competitor for Second Life (and I can read the chuckling Sl-izens, thanks very much) and yet… there it goes. Closed down without so much as a barbed-wire fence or a “by-your-leave”. First, I offer to you several links of esteemed sources which describe the demise and effect of the loss:

Official Announcement from There.com

Real-world woes shuttering virtual world There (CNET blog)

Makena closing There.com on March 9th (WorldsinMotion.Biz Industry blog)

And here is what I found to be the best commentaries on the subject of There’s closing:

5 Lessons Unlearned by the MMO industry (from the excellent blog Pop Culture of Destruction)

Another World bites the dust (Fatfoogoo blog, discussing the difference a year makes)

My own take on this follows after the break: __________________________________________________________________________

The explanations are very nice, very detailed, seemingly very open. But as the last article points out, the companies that run the virtual worlds insist upon their great health until the bitter end. The announcement of the end of a virtual world that had been running for the better part of a decade is…. ahem, March 9. (That would be less than 2 weeks notice for your non-math-majors out there).

With all due apologies to the great developers, industry people, and those with great foresight within there.com – are they serious? A world that is built of conversation, openness, and social interaction of what I’ve been told is some of the better minds (to engage in avatar chat) they couldn’t figure out a better end than that?

This is the second major virtual world within the past 3 months to close, and each of them has given less notice than is required for a tenured employee at any small employer? I’m amazed that the second There.com closed its doors, they shuttered their forums. If There.com participants wanted to complain, they had to find another forum. See article on Virtual Worlds News. Noted at the bottom of that article, is that those who had the forums closed, had a place at Utherverse to vent their grief or try to reconnect with old friends (and Frenzoo also is running a promotion). Even though the closure of Metaplace was criticized in some circles as being fairly short notice, at least Raph Koster and his team did give an aura of dignity to the termination of Metaplace by allowing the citizens to interact, grieve over the loss of the world, and have a final get-together in the same venue and same forums.

This is purely commentary of course, and I welcome and will respond to citizens from There.com who feel I’m being a little harsh: but the whole purpose of a virtual world is immersion. I would think many at There.com would have loved to hear about the financial difficulties; try to participate in a solution, get some transparency from the developers, and do everything, everything in their power to save There.com before an announcement had been made. Maybe that’s naive of me to believe, but so was the belief only a couple of years ago that the majority of your social interaction would happen online; and that’s true for most people today. And that’s not a direct criticism of There.com, but just a statement that these large publishers and developers are building something more important than even they realize.

Activision/Infinity Ward Studios Dustup: THIS COULD BE THE ONE

jaymoffitt — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:07:22 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jorgemiente/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Yes, the one that hits the mainstream media. Allegedly security called, developers dismissed from their office, power struggles, money struggles, the biggest one-shot in gaming history (bigger than movie Avatar). This could be “THE ONE” that the mainstream media reports on as if it were a movie star or a rock star. Anonymity goodbye? More after the jump…

This disagreement is not about money, this is about power. Within the past month Activision has taken major personnel moves at 3-4 studios they control, and also announced the possibility the next Call of Duty Title (which has always been done by Infinity Ward; all 6 versions) would be a subscription-based MMO.

I’ll provide a couple of links to the core news story; and then I’ll conclude with a couple of my own thoughts as to why THIS IS HUGE!

In sequence:

Security called to Infinity Ward (from Maximum PC)

Lawsuit filed by Infinity Ward (from Kotaku)

Infinity Ward suing for unpaid royalties (from Kotaku)

Activision accused of conspiracy (from Escapist Magazine)

Legal Warfare Break out over Modern Warfare (from Barrons)

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Now, to the commentary part. This isn’t about money. This isn’t about whether Activision is paying a king’s ransom (which I’m sure they are) to keep the developers happy. This isn’t about whether the developers are giving the best efforts to produce a good product and other good products for Infinity Ward and Activision (they obviously have, and obviously have done that… in a groundbreaking fashion). As pointed out in the Barron’s article, this is about control. Control of the Future of THE BIG ONE, THE ONE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING.

This is parallel in the Gaming Industry to the legacy fights over the Tolkien books, to the final editing fights about “The Godfather” between Robert Evans and Francis Ford Coppola; this is parallel to the “Palimony” case in the 1970s in California. THIS IS THE BIG ONE.

Drama, Security Called, The biggest retail gaming franchise launch (by far) in gaming, and entertainment history, and now this? All the mainstream media, not just Joystiq, Gamasutra, G4, and the other gaming magazines, but Barrons, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, and yes, even Newsweek, the New York Times, and CNN and Fox News will have their say about this. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the one that changes everything and “Gaming” will no longer be a niche industry; behind Movies, Publishing, and Network TV.

Hasbro means Christmas

jaymoffitt — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:09:00 +0000

(Lawsuit, that is).

Apparently the holiday seasons were an excellent time for Hasbro to sue. This story from Industrygamers says Hasbro ” today (Dec 17) announced its intentions to file a lawsuit against Atari, accusing the game publisher of fraud and five separate licensing agreement breaches of the Dungeons & Dragons brand.”

Here is the text of the lawsuit, from the incomparable Courthouse News.

I would urge my readers to peruse this. 176 counts? really? I enjoyed the fact that it did recount the emails, phone calls, contradictions, and internal friction that preceded the lawsuit. It asks for damages plus an accounting, among other other things.

Here is another take on the lawsuit, from 1UP.

Yet another, very clean synopsis, here at play.tm.

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In a somewhat similar lawsuit, Turbine announced earlier it was suing Atari for damages. Here is another article from Big Download about that lawsuit over the game Dungeons and Dragons.

You can read the full text of the August lawsuit here.

Any comments on either of these suits are welcome. As the details become more fleshed out I will follow this dispute.

Lump of Coal(for some MMOs)

jaymoffitt — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:55:34 +0000

This is the best definition of “Griefing” that I have found. Buy Mortal Gold calls it ” the act of chronically causing grief to other members of an online community, or rather, intentionally disrupting the immersion of another player in their gameplay.”

There aren’t any lawsuits for griefing, or glitches, or general screwball hatefulness that goes on in MMOs or online worlds. But I’m always taking emails if you’ve found one or know of one. Here’s a list of the different types of Griefing articles I’ve found lately.

Pixels and Policy has a very interesting article about antisocial gaming.

Ten Ton Hammer discussesThe Seven Types of Spies, Like the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, but for internet sociopaths.

Play No Evil discusses the Ten Ton Hammer article along with its own persepctive on dissension.

Not quite an other-gamer issue with fun, but a game-based complaint. The blog In Between the RPG has a great article about the disappointment of an MMO. Not a rant, but a thoughtfully written interesting article that you should read for perspective and hopefully your feedback on your disappointments of the past year.

Offline play really stinks in the MMO world(From Anyway Games Blog).

Griefing for Academia; Univ. of Loyola professor reviled in City of Heroes Older article, but still one of the best in-depth pieces on Griefing. And ironically, it’s told from the “Griefer’s” Standpoint.

And finally, a currently hilarious article in Destructoid Magazine about The Five Stages of Griefing.

Lost Garden discusses Games as Government, the surrogacy that each online world must project and administer.

More serious lumps of coal:

Metaplace is closing down. Official letter can be found here. Key points, ” over the last few months it has become apparent that Metaplace as a consumer UGC service is not gaining enough traction to be a viable product, requiring a strategic shift for our company. We’re sorry to announce today that Metaplace.com will be closing to the public at 11:59pm on January 1st, 2010. ”

Personal note: I have an account on Metaplace.com, and I also subscribe to Raph Koster’s blog (for about 2 years). I love open-form MMOs/Games (no rules) and it’s a shame to see it close.

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Below the fold, the indepth viewpoints:

An Avatar’s Day in Court: A Proposal for Obtaining Relief and Resolving Disputes in Virtual World Games
by Farnaz Alemi, cite as 2007 UCLA J.L. & Tech. 6. You really should read this to see her suggestions on alternative in-game courts sytems for expedited relief.

Virtual Parentalism: (In a way criticizing too much energy used on becoming a “virtual parent” instead of a games publisher/administrator). Cite as Fairfield, Joshua, Virtual Parentalism (September 30, 2009). Washington & Lee Legal Studies Paper No. 2009-08. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1480701

As always, any suggestions, comments, or ideas for upcoming articles are welcome.

Danger in Online Worlds

jaymoffitt — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:45:24 +0000

FTC’s report on adult content in online worlds

A full story from PC Mag says report claims adult content still viewable by children, despite precautions. Notably, “It is far too easy for children and young teens to access explicit content in some of these virtual worlds,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. ”

One short thing to note in the virtual worlds’ defense, in the reports’ Footnote 26: “In visiting each online virtual world studied, the Commission’s researchers did not put themselves in 45. the place of an average virtual world user. Instead, the researchers were specifically instructed to search for as many different types of explicit content as possible in the time allotted, performing key word searches using explicit terms, looking for explicitly-themed discussion forums and chat rooms, and observing explicit avatar chat.” I only have an opinion as an attorney, not a researcher, but that kind of testing would seem much beyond the pale of unbiased researcher and would go towards “ghost hunting”(i.e. if you go looking for ghosts you’re going to find them).

From Ypulse, a Website focused on youth worlds, “The FTC report brings to light the challenges facing companies trying to cash in on the virtual world phenomenon.Unlike traditional pre-packaged products, online virtual worlds are driven partially (and sometimes primarily) by user-generated content.”

A family-friendly Website, Netfamily news says “This is a great start. As purely user-driven media, virtual worlds are a frontier for research on online behavior.”

A social games Website article notes “Given important First Amendment considerations, the Commission supports virtual world operators’ self-regulatory efforts to implement these recommendations.”

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Here is a representative sample of the many Websites attacking the content or methodology of the Study.

Ars Technicais critical of the FTC study. It says “That’s on top of the fact that the biggest threat to kids online is… other kids. According to a 2009 report by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the percentage of children being sexually targeted by adults online is very low compared to kids targeting other kids

Massively (features on Massive Multiplayer Online games) reported the results were to be expected. They pointed out ” some elements of the study’s methodology are a bit questionable, especially as their list of explicit material included words common to anyone with a history of playing video games. (Or cable television.)”

PlayNoEvil, predomimnatly a developer and security Website, talks about the difficulty of the type of age verification proposed in the government report. ” One suggestion that is solid is to use an “Age Neutral” request for a new user’s age – e.g. “Enter your birthdate” rather than “Are you under 13″.The other is to tag a computer as being used by a minor if they try to login again with a different age.”

A difficulty that’s not discussed is online access through simple devices, Nintendo DSi, Iphones, and other platforms that aren’t really computers but allow net acess. I would predict that to be a “hot point” of the next government report following up on this report.

Last note: one recommendation by the report would seem to be unanimous to both sides of the argument. “The report recommends that parents and children become better educated about online virtual worlds, and affirms the FTC’s commitment to ensuring that parents have the informationthey need to make informed choices. A consumer alert, Virtual Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risks, is available at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt038.shtm.

As always; a couple of intellectual discussions which further the brief discussion above, for those wishing to inform themselves:

Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds, cited as Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational and Social Benefits, Benjamin Duranske, Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, Robert J. Bloomfield, Cornell University – Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, October 13, 2009
Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 66, 2009

Social Networking and Age Verification, cite as Thierer, Adam D., Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions (March 21, 2007). Progress & Freedom Foundation Progress on Point Paper No. 14.5. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=976936

A related but interestingly similar argument: a Supreme Court case related to delivery of another contraband, tobacco products, to a minor, and the expectation that online delivery measure up to the standards of actual in-person delivery of product.

I encourage comments upon this topic, pro or con, as I consider this one of the most important issues facing online games.