I get a weekly email note from
http://www.gamespot.com which is of
interest to me mainly because they use our same Yapp software that runs
the Spring conferencing. But this week and interesting piece came in
about a very high profile Austin game company:
Greetings:
Late last week, a class action lawsuit was filed against Origin
Systems and Electronic Arts, with charges including "negligent
misrepresentation" and "breach of express and implied
warranties." The subject of the case was the much-disputed
Ultima Online. The lawsuit contends that issues such as lag and
server crashes have made Origin's claims that the game would be
playable in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week untrue.
Despite how you feel about Ultima Online itself, it's impossible
to deny the implications of a case like this, not just for
online gaming, but for gaming in general. While the outcome, if
the case makes it to trial and if the judgement is for the
plaintiffs, could be positive - companies will think twice
before advertising features that actually won't be implemented -
it could have resoundingly negative effects as well.
GameSpot News has been on this story from the moment the papers
were filed. We have the announcement of the case:
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_03/09_uo/index.html
The actual text of the lawsuit:
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_03/10_uoone/index.html
And some passionate reader responses:
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_03/10_react/index.html