Gaming Company Sued for "Addiction."

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That's right. All I can say is the guy must be a complete dumbass loser. I can't believe the lawsuit is even allowed into a courtroom.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30501433/vp/38790916#38790916

 

The link didn't take me to an article.

 

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/lineage11-addiction/

 

The first link worked for me.

I see this as an epic fail in the courtroom. The real precedent I see isn't fast food companies, but drugs. Drugs seem to be allowed to advertize themselves as 'not habit forming' if they don't have any chemically addictive substances in them and the effect is itself not inherently addictive. For example, many sleep aids these days advertize themselves as 'not habit forming'. That all being said, anything can become a habit, and strong habits can become obsessions and, in some cases, even something not entirely unlike addictions. Gaming is just like this. Neither the game itself nor the experience it provides is inherently addictive (as proven by the millions of people who play these games and don't become rabidly obsessed fanatics). This guy probably just has an addictive personality. He could get addicted to gambling, to street racing, to shopping, even to a particular type of cereal. Anything that provides any kind of reward whatsoever has the potential to do this to him.

 

This is truly stupid. Unless he can prove that there are subliminal messages forcing him to play (and why there isn't an army of zombies like him) I don't see how he has case.

 

its the USA... nuff said

 

Wow.... 20,000 hours in a 5 year period. That averages out to almost eleven hours a day. (Assuming he played every day for the entire 1825 days of the 5 year period)

 

Proof that in the USA, ANYTHING can get to court.

Thanks, USA. You entertain us constantly with **** like this.

 

Looks like nobody told him about Ragnarok, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Counter Strike, Cabal, and etc. He could have sued more companies. Hehe.

 

'Among other things, he alleges he would not have begun playing if he was aware “that he would become addicted to the game."'

BS. He would have played regardless. Everyone knows crack is addictive, yet people still do it. Hell, I've smoked crack before. Not my proudest accomplishment, mind you, but I knew what I was getting into.

 

[wishfull thinking]
Take it easy folks. The judge is actually pretty shrewd dude. He's allowing this to go to court just so that the guy can accrue a few metric tons worth of debt from the legal assistance alone, and THEN forcing him to pay for it all from his very own pockets when it is proven that he's just a lazy idiot.

Either he ends up penniless or commits suicide, both of which I deem as positive outcomes.
[/wishfull thinking]

 

Not that I agree with the actual idea of bringing a lawsuit for addiction but I can kinda see how they could make a case. Every addition, every change in a MMO game is designed to increase the allure or to entice a gamer to play "just one more time." While this may not be such a big deal for most of the gaming population those with addictive personalities can be caught up in a cycle of "Just one more quest" that will never end. While I personally don't see the lawsuit resulting in any fines for the gaming company, there could be ramifications in other areas. There could be a move to diagnose an addictive personality as a disability (Which could lead to even more problems like the current issue) or there could be a move to regulate or restrict who could play the type of game in question or a limit on daily useage. Perhaps I am just paranoid and nothing will come of this but the possibilities are disturbing.