A Hawaii resident, Craig Smallwood, is suing NCsoft of South Korea because he became so addicted to Lineage II that he was “unable to function independently in usual daily activities such as getting up, getting dressed, bathing or communicating with family and friends.”
Wired reports that U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay has allowed the lawsuit to move forward to trial. Kay ruled that, “In light of plaintiff’s allegations, the court finds that plaintiff has stated a claim for both negligence and gross negligence.”
Smallwood claims that from 2004 to 2009, he played Lineage II for over 20,000 hours spread over three accounts. He states that he would not have started playing the game if he knew “that he would become addicted.” For perspective, five years is around 43,800 hours. 20,000 hours breaks down to 45% of those total hours.
The plantiff alleges that NCsoft “acted negligently in failing to warn or instruct or adequately warn or instruct plaintiff and other players of Lineage II of its dangerous and defective characteristics, and of the safe and proper method of using the game.”
Smallwood asking for NCsoft to pay unspecified monetary damages due to the game’s addictive nature. Anybody taking bets on how quickly this suit gets tossed out?
3 Comments
August 21, 2010
LOL! Funny! Whats that your suing me because my game is so good that it is like crack? You crack head! Oh wait did the doctor forget to stop the Oxycontin supply? hmmmmmmm....Oxycontin..sued...doctor..huuummm. WAIT!
Lets think about this. Not about the stupidity of the player but about the legal part of the case.
Why are doctors held responsible for a patient's medicine addiction, and smoking company is not held responsible for my neighbors smoking addiction? And while where at it why is the doctor held responsible for medicine addictions, and not his smoking addiction?
1 One the doctor does not supply the smoke, or access to them.
2 Two the doctor does adequately warn the patient of it's dangers, and what to do to get help.
3 Three the doctor CONTROLS the limit of the patients supply.
I bet this argument is being used in court. Three things:
1 One Ncsoft had full knowledge of how much he was playing.
2 Second Ncsoft could have cut him OFF, but didn't, just like a doctor.
3 Third he is claiming there was no adequate warning from Ncsoft about the products addictive quality.
Now what if it does NOT get tossed out? AND he wins, or even if he comes close to winning?
From reading the article linked at least parts of it is NOT being tossed out already.
Will smoking companies start requiring cash like the lottery? IS THAT the REAL reason Lotteries require cash? So they can't get sued for not cutting you off? (on a deeper side note will that be one more of the excuses for us 'need' the mark of the beast to control what is bought?)
And more importantly will they force Microsoft to make my buddy start signing off of xboxlive for 8 hours a day? Because if that happens he will be on suicide watch!
I still think eventually at some level it will get tossed, because the Judge(s) will think of the implications, not because the case is just plain stupid sounding. We will see.
August 23, 2010
rofl, so retarded.
August 23, 2010
Judge Alan Kay needs to be disbarred or what ever they do with Judges that have totally lost all perspective on the law. This is just shocking. Also I would throw the guy and his lawyer in the slam for a few weeks for wasting the courts time and the peoples tax money.