Class action suit against IGE
Seems like a busy day for legal stuff.
Over here we have a complaint against IGE by a class of World of Warcraft players. In short, they claim that
- IGE causes spamming, conspires with gold farmers, and does so against the TOS
- IGE is also financially hurting the other players by devaluing their gold.
Because of IGE’s infusion of gold, virtual currency being held by honest Subscribers is constantly devalued. The devaluation of this virtual currency has an economic value in real dollars as reflected on Defendants’ website. This devaluation of Plaintiff and the Class’s gold, which was caused by Defendants’ sale of gold in World of Warcraft, is conservatively, in the millions of dollars.
I believe this is commonly termed “having your cake and eating it too.”
There’s another fun claim in there: because people can buy IGE gold, which makes them better in the game, they get better PvP Arena records, which causes honest players to miss out on the chance at real-world money prizes from the Arena Tournaments.
Quite a slippery slope here. Should Blizzard devalue their own currency, would a class action suit appear against them for that? Banking law, here we come…
Edit: some looking around for the source of this suit finds this press release and law firm.
22 Responses to “Class action suit against IGE”
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s been pretty iffy. But I think the holy trinity of guys I linked above are on to something, this could have a big effect through out the industry… Second, a Class Action lawsuit is being brought against…IGE! I know, confusing, right. What are they charging in this lawsuit? Because of IGE’s infusion of gold, virtual currency being held by honest Subscribers is constantly devalued. The devaluation of this virtual currency has an economic value in real dollars as reflected on Defendants’ website. This
[…] Makes me wonder if the plaintiff planned to sue before Affinity Media sold IGE a little while ago. Raph has comments on this as well. […]
[…] you could see Blizzard entering into the suit… on IGE’s side. Because as Raph put it in his comments, Should Blizzard devalue their own currency, would a class action suit appear against them for that? […]
I just don’t see how a TOS violation to which the other players are not a party – after all the TOS is between an individual and Blizzard can be used as the basis for a class action.
Also, if you accept Blizzard’s contention that gold has no value, then the second portion of the case disappears (after all, there is no real financial value to WOW Gold, from Blizzard’s perspective).
Given the danger of the second claim – will Blizzard take IGE’s side in the suit?
[…] you could see Blizzard entering into the suit… on IGE’s side. Because as Raph put it in his comments, Should Blizzard devalue their own currency, would a class action suit appear against them for that? […]
[…] Makes me wonder if the plaintiff planned to sue before Affinity Media sold IGE a little while ago. Raph has comments on this as well. […]
Is there something a bit more concrete to confirm this? I don’t see the case listed on the Southern Florida District Court site, other 05/30 filings are listed (though this is the government we’re talking about).
[…] u o t e: Well, can you at least link us to the story on Raph’s site please? https://www.raphkoster.com/2007/05/31/class-action-suit-against-ige/ yeah, right on the heels of Bragg v. Linden, big day for MMO legal […]
TerraNova has blogged it too:
http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/05/bragg_and_ige_c.html
They are also hosting a local copy of it though they have a few more details.
IGE is also financially hurting the other players by devaluing their gold.
Now that’s funny. I’ll have to read the actual lawsuit tonight.
I guess this is the first secret strategic attack of Affinity Media (Brock) who sold IGE to Yantis recently. And the next step would be destroying the B2C and start C2C soon like Sparter.
about time someone stepped up and said no to goldfarming! it will be interesting to see the industry operate if this guy actually wins.
will all game companies be expected to fight farming and transactions?
It’s ironic – as I type this on Raph’s site there are 2 ads immediately below the reply box selling “gold” (ISK) in Eve.
I’m of the opinion that RMT is by far the biggest threat to MMORPG’s extant today and anything that seeks to reduce it is “a good thing”. It warps game design since any in-game economic model has to cope with rampant botting,duping and farming. It also encourages criminal activity (i.e. keylogger injection via advertising), by offering real-world incentive to in-game cheating.
One thing that occurs to me: Could IGE’s activities not be compared to those of people who push “banned” (as opposed to illegal) performance enhancing drugs to athletes? Are there any other real-world comparisions that could be made?
Andy, we keep trying to block the gold sales ads, but they manage to get through anyway. I am probably leaving hundreds on the table by blocking the single largest category of ad. 😛
Class Action Lawsuit Against IGE…
Besides Blizzard’s lawsuit against Peons4Hire, the players have taken matters into their own hands by filing a class action lawsuit against IGE, citing:
IGE’s gold farming activities not only substantially diminish the enjoyment and satisfa…
If Blizzard were sincere about a solution, they would fix the in-game economics. They maintain a price structure for mounts that makes it prohibitive and drives players to an alternative means to secure gold. Also, the prices in the AH need to be regulated to avoid the massive overpricing of items. Items should be prohibited from being priced at more than 10x the vendor value, and if an item doesn’t sell the seller should receive the basic vendor rate and the item is then removed from in-game inventory instead of returned. Those are two relatively easy advances in eliminating the inflated price structure that drives the demand for gold.
[…] Zitat von Holzkohle Den hier find ich spassiger ;.-) http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc/spiel…_warcraft.html und Tsch�� https://www.raphkoster.com/2007/05/31…t-against-ige/ […]
[…] a pair of equally landmark Massive-related court conflicts. Certainly the most sensational is the class action lawsuit leveled against IGE by a player in Florida. Essentially, IGE is getting sued because they’re devaluing the in-game […]
[…] the most sensational is the class action lawsuit leveled against IGEthey’re devaluing the in-game monetary worth (pdf) of every single World of Warcraft player. […]
[…] on the grounds that the sellers were degrading the plaintiffs’ paid-for game experience. https://www.raphkoster.com/2007/05/31…t-against-ige/ __________________ ——————— The road goes ever on and on… as long as you stop at […]
[…] you could see Blizzard entering into the suit… on IGE’s side. Because as Raph put it in his comments, Should Blizzard devalue their own currency, would a class action suit appear against them for that? […]
[…] on, we have another case reported by both Lum and Raph. In a move that I can only describe as “nutty” (which is a complex legal term), someone […]