by John Hoskin on Jun 01, 2007
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Are you looking for the latest industry headlines? Look no further.
Daily Column New MMOG Articles at TenTonHammer Today Hot Content Real World News - You Can't Make This UpJune has arrived, bringing with it some great events such as Summer, Father's Day and of course my birthday. Soccer fans will likely be watching the England vs Brazil friendly today. What a great start to the month!
Like Paris Hilton to a free bar, I keep getting attracted to Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising. I haven't been up close and personal with the game since my visit to Perpetual Entertainment HQ in April, but every time I peruse a new interview or article about the game I am lured back in.
GamersInfo.net recently posted an interview with Chris McKibbin, President and Executive Producer for the title. McKibbin's comments were expounded upon by Travis George, System Designer in an interview with our own resident rodeo clown, Jeff Woleslagle. You can read the Travis vs Jeff interview right here. This is really great stuff! If you haven't been fortunate enough, and most of you haven't, to see the game in person you can't really fathom how cool a game this is. Save your pennies folks, this looks like it will be a winner.
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The good folks at EA/Mythic let me know that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning beta applications are now being accepted. You can sign up here.
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I have avoided the Bragg vs Linden court case, but it appears I am now forced to mention it if I wish to keep you, the loyal readers informed. It's another in a long list of lawsuits over virtual property, but this time as Matt Mihaly, CEO of Iron Realms so eloquently put it,
"So there we have it. The ToS is not a holy document in Second Life and it is hardly a stretch to say that much of the same logic can be applied to the ToS of many virtual worlds. I just hope that whoever hears the next case on a ToS is going to be willing to make a distinction between worlds offered for entertainment and worlds in which people can make investments into (which should and will be regulated). I canât help but feel that this is an extremely important ruling for virtual worlds (for good or ill depending on your point of view, most likely), and the case hasnât even really begun yet."
I'm not a lawyer. I'm not nearly smart enough, nor do I enjoy the capacity to listen to malcontents tell me their problems all day. That said, my addled brain sees the case as follows, again, I may be way off so correct me if you see some glaring errors.
Individuals are posting all over the Internet that they are making real money via Second Life. A player (Bragg in this case) pays his money to Linden and then decides to cheat by using an exploit which gives him free or at least cheap land within the virtual world. He violates the Terms of Service (TOS). Linden does what any good developer would do, they shut him down. He is cheating at a game and affecting the play of others. Bragg sues Linden. The court finds that the TOS isn't binding on Bragg. If it isn't binding on Bragg then is it binding on anyone?How are companies going to weed out the griefers, sociopaths and simpletons if the TOS that they force everyone to agree to are not binding? Are companies expected to just let their world devolve into a chaotic cesspool? Who would play? Is this problem specific to the wording of the Second Life TOS or is it a blanket ruling that TOS in general are simply a waste of words and a 'click'?
After writing the above I find that Raph has done a far more eloquent job. I suggest that you read his take on this situation.
Up until now the biggest question about TOS has been that people don't read them and click that they have. It is understood that the vast majority of players simply don't read the TOS. Bragg is a lawyer, so the "I didn't know what I was agreeing to" defense doesn't hold water, yet here we are with the courts saying that the Second Life TOS isn't binding. What are you thoughts on this?
2. New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Custom Build - Master Of The BowThanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com
John "Boomjack" Hoskin