Online games and bans

[Deleted]

Disclaimer: I only play League of Legends online, I don't pay meaning if I do get banned someday I won't give a rat's ass.

So, having read multiple threads from multiple games about people complaining they've been banned for X hours/days/weeks it got me thinking. I know when you accept the EULA you're basically agreeing that the game's operator can shut you down and ban you for whatever reason they deem reasonable and for how long they wish.

My question is: Is this legal? You're basically paying for a service that can be denied to you at any time and you don't have any guaranties of getting your money back. I imagine it being somewhat like you buy a TV and agree that the retailed can, at any point in time, take it back without giving a refund. Noone would stand for that, yet somehow people just let this stuff slide for online games (assuming you'll never get wrongfully banned).

If you do end up getting wrongfully banned and sue the company do you have any chance of winning the argument? Because if not, this seems like theft to me.

[Ebbikenezer]

Disclaimer: I only play League of Legends online, I don't pay meaning if I do get banned someday I won't give a rat's ass.

So, having read multiple threads from multiple games about people complaining they've been banned for X hours/days/weeks it got me thinking. I know when you accept the EULA you're basically agreeing that the game's operator can shut you down and ban you for whatever reason they deem reasonable and for how long they wish.

My question is: Is this legal? You're basically paying for a service that can be denied to you at any time and you don't have any guaranties of getting your money back. I imagine it being somewhat like you buy a TV and agree that the retailed can, at any point in time, take it back without giving a refund. Noone would stand for that, yet somehow people just let this stuff slide for online games (assuming you'll never get wrongfully banned).

If you do end up getting wrongfully banned and sue the company do you have any chance of winning the argument? Because if not, this seems like theft to me.

You already answered your own question.

By agreeing to a EULA/ToS agreement, you accept whatever they do with your account. As far as being wrongfully banned: 99% chance if they find this is true they will add the time back to your account.

[Deleted]

It depends where you live. In some places it's perfectly legal if you agree to it, but in some places, it's as legally binding as shit on a paper towel.

[yyil]

You can only get banned for thing like hacking or cheating. Yes it's legal.

---------- Post added 2012-03-12 at 07:10 PM ----------

You can only get banned for thing like hacking or cheating. Yes it's legal. Your television analogy is not very good.

[Deleted]

Account Suspension/Deletion.
BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ANY BNET ACCOUNT OR WORLD OF WARCRAFT ACCOUNT AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. For purposes of explanation and not limitation, most account suspensions, terminations and/or deletions are the result of violations of this Terms of Use or the EULA.

When you made your account you accepted this. If Blizzard wants to ban you, they can ban you and you don't have a say in court.

[Deleted]

You already answered your own question.

By agreeing to a EULA/ToS agreement, you accept whatever they do with your account. As far as being wringfully banned: 99% chance if they find this is true they will add the time back to your account.

To the average person it might seem so, but some contracts are not valid. For example even if I write and sign a contract with 'Joe' saying that if it doesn't rain for 2 days in a row Joe has to chop off his hand no court would uphold that contract as someone cannot be expected to abide by such terms, no matter if they agreed with it at start or not. But as "StarbuyPWNDyou" said I suppose it depends on which country you live.

For example... I cannot benefit from the Scroll of Ressurection (for WoW) where I live.

[Pendulous]

It's legal simply because you agreed to it. They could make a clause in there saying that a rep from their company can come to your home and beat you to death, and if you sign it, you're screwed.

[Edge-]

Totally legal. They own all the hardware and software involved with using the game. The ToS/EULA gives them significant power over "your" account as well. That being said, even though they generally can do whatever they want to your account, they won't. The whole, "YOU DON'T OWN YOUR ACCOUNT! THEY CAN BAN YOU BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE IT!" argument holds no water whenever I see people use it. If a company gets a reputation for having HORRIBLE account control/moderation, people stop paying for their games.

The same applies IRL. If you get on a train and cause problems, they can and will kick you off before you stop, even if you have paid the full way. Not the best analogy but it's close enough.

[cherb]

Disclaimer: I only play League of Legends online, I don't pay meaning if I do get banned someday I won't give a rat's ass.

So, having read multiple threads from multiple games about people complaining they've been banned for X hours/days/weeks it got me thinking. I know when you accept the EULA you're basically agreeing that the game's operator can shut you down and ban you for whatever reason they deem reasonable and for how long they wish.

My question is: Is this legal? You're basically paying for a service that can be denied to you at any time and you don't have any guaranties of getting your money back. I imagine it being somewhat like you buy a TV and agree that the retailed can, at any point in time, take it back without giving a refund. Noone would stand for that, yet somehow people just let this stuff slide for online games (assuming you'll never get wrongfully banned).

If you do end up getting wrongfully banned and sue the company do you have any chance of winning the argument? Because if not, this seems like theft to me.

You are paying to play their game, or in the case of LoL, you are paying for extras you enjoy having while playing the game. You do not own a single part of your account. They own it all, and you are simply allowed access to it at their discretion.

Video games aren't the only place where this is taking place now. Did you know that you are not legally allowed to pass iTunes that you've bought to people if you die? You never owned the song, like you would with a physical CD, you simply bought a license to listen to it as you please.

---------- Post added 2012-03-12 at 11:43 PM ----------

It's legal simply because you agreed to it. They could make a clause in there saying that a rep from their company can come to your home and beat you to death, and if you sign it, you're screwed.

I think that would fall in line more with contractual killing, which is certainly illegal. Terrible analogy.

[Flextt]

Actually, EULAs are overridden by existing law. It's not like you have to take anything from them, that is illegal even though they disclaim it.

Example: Most "terms of use" in Germany forbid partner companies to sell existing accounts from other companies. The legislative says otherwise, the term is irrelevant. Why? The term is older than the law and maybe, they are playing "catch the dummy who doesnt realize it"

[Deleted]

The problem with EULA's are that they are a condition sine qua non for playing the game. There are a lot more awful things in there than the ban clause.

It's strange really, because EULA's contain regulations we wouldn't stand for if they would be applied to bricks and mortar interaction.

[flarecde]

Maybe people wouldn't stand for some of the stuff in EULAs or TOSs if it involved real stuff, but then again, online gaming is it's own beast too. I'd rather have bans and whatnot than play games where the player base is allowed to do whatever the heck they want, other players and consequences be damned.

[Profyrion]

It's a subscription service. You buy a license for the software and then you "subscribe" to the associated service based on extremely rigid and restrictive policies that can and often do change in favor of the publisher -- the "agreements" basically exist to remove all of your rights and give the company carte blanche to do whatever it pleases.

It's a shitty system (from a consumer rights point of view), conceived by lawyers, driven by greed, that only exists in the games market. But it seems to be working for the moment... And we don't have many alternatives.