Posted on 11/19/2005 1:28:39 AM PST by nickcarraway
Blizzard faces a lawsuit from Chinese parents, who say World of Warcraft caused the death of their son.
In the latest saga over online gaming addiction in China, the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy are suing the makers of World of Warcraft, blaming the game for the death of their son, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The parents filed a suit against Blizzard Entertainment on Wednesday, saying their son jumped to his death while reenacting a scene from the game, the report said. The parents are backed by the anti-Internet addiction advocate Zhang Chunliang.
Mr. Chunliang has spoken to 63 parents whose children have allegedly suffered from online gaming addiction and plans to file a class-action suit, according to the report.
Blizzard executives weren’t available to comment to RedHerring.com about the lawsuit.
The high-profile backlash to China’s booming online game market reflects the growing size of the industry. World of Warcraft alone has 1.5 million paying players.
China’s online game market brought in $580 million this year, and is the fastest-growing market in the world, according to research firm DFC Intelligence. That market is set to nearly triple in size to an estimated $1.7 billion by 2010.
Blizzard Entertainment developed the game and works with The9 in China as the local distributor. The9 already posted second-quarter revenue of $6.7 million, up from first-quarter revenue of $1.5 million.
Some analysts estimate the game is raking in more than $30 million per month in basic subscription fees.
Vivendi Universal Games, the parent company of Blizzard, recently said that through the first half of 2005, World of Warcraft brought the company’s revenue up 61 percent from the year before to €238 million ($290 million) (see World of Warcraft Storms Asia).
But the company, which now counts 4.5 million World of Warcraft players worldwide, must contend with the backlash of parents concerned with addictive behavior.
Many Chinese parents contend that their children spend hours gaming in Internet cafes at the risk of their health, work, and school (see Wang-ba Crusade).
China Clocks Gamers
The Chinese government is looking into how to respond to its own citizen’s concerns.
The Chinese government has already said it plans to restrict gamers to three hours of consecutive play, using a “fatigue technique” in games. After three hours of play, the online game would lose some player power, and after five hours, the player would lose most power. After that, there would be a delay of five hours before the game could be accessed to its full capacity.
Analysts and industry execs are concerned the restriction might dampen the growth of the Chinese online game industry.
Analysts like Elias Glenn with Shanghai-based Pacific Epoch think the regulation will have a major effect on the industry. “It has the potential to have a serious impact.”
But beyond government restrictions, other factors like piracy and an increasingly competitive market could throw a wet blanket on the industry’s growth.
“There are huge potentials, but there are also a lot of pitfalls,” said Alexis Madrigal, a DFC Intelligence analyst who recently authored a study on the industry.
And StarCraft and Counter-Strike got people killed in South Korea, murder in the case of Counter-Strike.
Blizzard and Valve aren't culpable, but it's nice to know frivolous lawsuits don't only happen in the US...
Game didn't cause their son's death. Stupidity did.
It's guys like this that are gonna get 'holosuites' banned someday....
Heh, I'm playing WoW right now while surfing FR.
They're already doing that in China. No joke.
Darwin?
that....and gravity
PC gaming is a victum of their game designers politically correct education coupled with a for-profit bottomline.
The same mindset that gave us little league baseball with no score, foot races with no finish line, and competition without insentive have given rise to games without end paired with a high speed or automatic respawn key.
And no coach to call a recess except for fatigue.
In the 1950s the girl who lived next door to me climbed up on the garage with a tablecloth tied around her neck and tried to fly like Superman. She ended up with a broken leg and was not allowed to watch Superman again until her leg healed, and everyone laughed at her.
I can't see how this case is any different. I don't think Doris' parents ever considered suing anybody, by the way.
I remember a character I had in the original "Diablo" series. I named him "TimeSuck" because he sucked 2-4 hours of my own life away each time I played. When I finally stopped playing it, it was only because the character was so powerful the challenge was gone. I understand that problem has been solved on the newer versions. :-|
If it isn't Warcraft, it's Everquest. Or Half-Life. Or Doom III. Or Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge ...
"Foot races with no finish line" ROTFLMAO What a great idea! I'd like to recruit all the liberals in my Oh So Politically Correct town, point them at the Western horizon and fire the starting gun!
As far as the kid with the video game is concerned, we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., we've got to get some obsessive/compulsive therapy . . ., ...
Used to be Warcraft (love it in Disco mode, "I am a medieval man...why do you keep touching me?...Gabu, gabu". Then StarCraft. Then Age of Empires.
Now it's just Free Republic. Sigh.
Who comes up with these goofy ideas? Technically, I don't see how this is remotely possible, for WoW in particular. It's my understanding that Blizzard owns and maintains all the game servers. They recently created a couple more to cater specifically to the "Oceania" region (big Australian following), but it's my understanding that they're still located & administered in the U.S.
A mod like this would almost certainly require a special software build on the server side, not client, and as such would be impossible for the Chinese government to implement without Blizzard's complicity. Not likely, IMHO.
Plus, the entire draw of "Chinese Farmers" to a MMORPG like WoW is to play on the SAME servers as us dumb capitalists who are willing to pay real money for play money. If the Chinese farmers are consigned to their own servers with other Chinese peasants, for instance a Chinese government approved & fatigue-restricted server, one of the main draws and reasons for many Chinese playing in the first place will be gone.
Unless I'm missing something, this is just another silly proposal by technically illiterate nanny-state control freaks and do-gooders. The obvious answer is self-control, common sense and, for minors, parental supervision. These are all liberties & responsibilities that we must continue to fight to the death for (against the nanny state "do-gooders") in a free society. And, I sincerely hope US-based corporations like Blizzard don't begin to cave in to the demands of repressive socialist/communist governments just because their subjects represent are large potentially untapped market.
That being said, my wife & I are WoW "addicts" as well, although we've somehow managed to accumulate enough common sense & self control (because we grew up in a free society?) to limit play to a few hours at a stretch & not to go jumping off of roofs.
Zhang has an intriguing occupation.
China may not administer the servers, but they probably can restrict the box sales in their country, requiring that the copies sold in China are altered to only connect to servers specially set up for Chinese players with this implemented.
Of course, it would be hacked open in very short order, especially by the type of person who this law is trying to make spend less time playing.
You couldn't be more wrong. The obvious answer is to get a couple of the Chinese overlords, and some members of the US political classes (Joe Wilson and/or Al Gore come to mind) to try the games. Once they get hooked, they won't have time for their shenanigans, and they'll gain respect for the common man.
Full Disclosure: Besides, it'd sure be refreshing to taunt AlGore as an effing noobie. :-)
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