Gamer Sues MMORPG After Losing Items

xneilj writes "According to Ananova.com, a Chinese gamer is believed to be suing Korean-based JC Entertainment, after losing in-game items in the PC MMO title RedMoon Online. As well as the return of his lost items, he is also seeking over $1200 for 'mental anguish'." The article explains: "Li, from Beijing, had built up his stock of virtual weaponry while playing RedMoon over the last two years... When he discovered all of his awarded equipment had disappeared, he contacted the provider for help, but the company refused to take any responsibility for the loss."

bleh

[Anonymous Coward]

According to Ananova.com, a Chinese gamer is believed to be suing Korean-based JC Entertainment... over things that don't exist. This story has no substance. That's comparable to saying, "The Lochness Monster is rumored to have eaten a ghost."

Moving on, licenses for games like that always have a clause protecting them from this. Something like, "Sew and Sow, Inc. cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen items. Press OK if you agree to these terms."

Game VS. Service

[Metroid72]

Gee, I've never played a MMORPG, but I wonder if in the service agreement(s) there are provisions for these kind of things.

It's a fact that the whole service is complex and relies on computers (just like your Bank ATM), computers FAIL (and always will, no matter what). However, you never try to sue your bank if the ATM is offline. (You might sue if they wipe out your money)

Who knows, maybe they should guard the db of items just as a bank guards the computers that have your checking account balance.
On the flip side, it may not make business sense. (Until they figure out the best model for online gaming... but that will always depend on the game!)

The fact that the guy is basically wasting time (ironic, because we do so by reading slashdot also...) by playing the game, does not mean that it's fair that he should lose 2 years worth of 'work' because of a glitch, someone should be able to restore his character stats. The nature of the game demanded the guy to work towards building your items. (We do the same playing RPG's: building levels, buying expensive armor, spells, whatever... it takes time)

Any ideas?

He won't win, here's why

[Anonymous Coward]

Redmoon asks you to sign(err... click) an ToS agreement like most MMOs. One of the key factors is that they cannot be blamed for lost items(for any reason) characters(ditto) or even game time(so in effect, if you paid 3 months of service but they shut down the servers for 3 months the day you paid, you couldn't even sue for your money back, although the guys at redmoon are pretty nice and would most likely reimburse you anyways)

Hope this clears some things up.