Blizzard should be sued, straight up.

[Gasparde]

In theory that's true. But in reality it's not.

Because when it comes to anything involving the internet... or electricity in general... legislation is basically still stuck in 1950.
Politicians don't know shit about modern technology and they frankly don't seem to care, as they seem to prefer riding on the wave of 'video games cause highschool shootings, we should probably just band the internet and put a pricetag on net neutrality'.

Due to that, gaming companies, or software companies in general, are basically free to do whatever the fuck they want as long as they put a single clause into their 800 page EULA. Like, that one South Park episode with the human cent-iPad was actually not that far off in that regard.

Recently I heard something about Denmark (iirc) looking into actually changing some of these retarded laws and making it so that this whole 'you only own the rights to play the game, but the actual game is still ours' would finally die and you'd get the actual rights to your purchase. and not just access to their servers for as long as they allow it. But I'm afraid companies would just stop selling their games in Denmark then.

I'm afraid we're still a couple dozens of years away from politics getting to the point of being up2date with the reality of 2010, let alone 2019 - maybe we'll have such regulations by 2050.

[Big Mama]

Umm you pay for the license...like you're paying rent to use the license. You don't own anything...even if you play till the day it shuts down it is going to shut down some day so there is no keeping anything.

Anyone who plays a MMO knows this...

Well, buying the game and paying for your subscription on top of that feels like buying a house and still having to pay the rent to be allowed to live there.

I am charged monthly so I can use photoshop but I didn't have to buy it. I agree WoW's business model is quite greedy.

[kevincuomo]

I mean i think Blizzard is dumb and doesn't handle situations like this in the right way but OP you are dumb as it gets.

[ablib]

OP has an EU mentality. Only there would ideas such as this be entertained.

[Phookah]

Tbh, you need to be stupid to waste your time and money on something that is not yours and could be taken away any second lol

You should probably stop playing video games since anything short of a disk based single player game thats offline entirely is subject to be "taken" from you. I'd read a ToS sometime, you'll be really enlightened.

[ablib]

sorta like paying for acsess to a gym.
paying to go to a concert
paying to watch a movie
paying to go to a play

so on so forth, you pay to go do something but you get nothing phsyical, and if you act like a massive asshole they will kick you out with 0 refund.

What you are describing is a service. If you don't like a movie, or act up in a theater and get kicked out, you don't get your money back.

Blizzard games are a service.

OP is confused on the difference between goods and services.

[Veggie50]

By this logic, a themepark is not allowed to expell me once I start harrassing other customers. I paid for the ticket right?

[Kithelle]

Well, buying the game and paying for your subscription on top of that feels like buying a house and still having to pay the rent to be allowed to live there.

I am charged monthly so I can use photoshop but I didn't have to buy it. I agree WoW's business model is quite greedy.

I never said it is great, I'm just saying you don't really "own" anything so you can't sue them.

[jellmoo]

You purchase a physical product, its yours. You are the owner of this product and no one has the right to take it from you. Same this with virtual goods. You pay, its yours.

As a general rule, true. but physical goods can also come with terms and conditions that muddy the waters. Financing a car, for example. Or purchasing a condo.

If you purchase WoW with all of the expansions, then the characters you create and the account is your ownership. Blizzard has no right to take them from you with bans or any other means that would result you not having access to the account.

This isn't true. You may want it to be true, but it is not. You are paying to access servers and specific content, not buying anything outright.

I can’t believe people defend this. This won’t affect you now, but it might in the future. You invest your money and time towards something you own, as you paid, and then some dumbass gm with a bad day just will take your ownership of the account, without any consequences.

You are mistaking "understanding" something for "defending" it. Software licenses are a thing and functionally very similar. I don't defend the practice, but I understand the terms that I am agreeing to when sign up for the service. If I am not prepared to agree to the terms, I don't subscribe.

Blizzard Terms of service are not above the law, when you accept those terms, you are being forced to, because if you decline you wont be able to play.

They are not above the law, but you also do not get to toss them aside simply because you don't like them. And you are not being forced to do anything. You can simply choose not to agree with them and not play the game. They are not coercing you.

Ye ye many companies do same strategies, but perhaps change?

I agree that change is possible and a worthwhile goal, but it is not simple, nor is it likely. Large corporations are heavily incentivized to operate this way as it offers them protection. Not liking the methodology doesn't invalidate it. If you want it to change you have to actively attempt to create that change. Talking about it on a fan forum isn't that, though.

[Nnyco]

Tbh, you need to be stupid to waste your time and money on something that is not yours and could be taken away any second lol

So if i rent an appartment i should just let it rot and not waste my time and money because i dont own it?

[Dundebuns]

Tbh, you need to be stupid to waste your time and money on something that is not yours and could be taken away any second lol

Hi people rent houses.

[PelinalWhitestrake]

The corporate dicksucking in this thread is hilarious.

It feels like im watching a gameplay of Syndicate

[Loveletters]

One reason it is this way is because what exactly do you own? The character? What does that mean exactly? You own the data on the server? I think you’d agree you don’t own the copyright to the artwork so do you just own access to it? So they have to let you play even if you don’t pay your subscription? Or just “access” to it which what does that mean anyway? What if you could only see the data. Or you could get into game but you’re stuck in a small room where you only see your bags, bank and character. Is that access? see where this is going?

[Big Mama]

I never said it is great, I'm just saying you don't really "own" anything so you can't sue them.

That's true and I agree.

[Biomega]

You purchase a physical product, its yours. You are the owner of this product and no one has the right to take it from you. Same this with virtual goods. You pay, its yours.

If you purchase WoW with all of the expansions, then the characters you create and the account is your ownership. Blizzard has no right to take them from you with bans or any other means that would result you not having access to the account.

I can’t believe people defend this. This won’t affect you now, but it might in the future. You invest your money and time towards something you own, as you paid, and then some dumbass gm with a bad day just will take your ownership of the account, without any consequences.

Blizzard Terms of service are not above the law, when you accept those terms, you are being forced to, because if you decline you wont be able to play.

Ye ye many companies do same strategies, but perhaps change?

Without trying to sound offensive, you literally don't know what you are talking about. There are no "goods" involved here. You're paying for access to a service. You agree to certain terms in order to use that service, and those terms include your agreement to getting banned and having your access revoked without reimbursement if Blizzard decides to do so.

Think of it this way: you're buying a ticket to an amusement park. You go in there, use the rides, even play in the playground and build an amazing sandcastle of your own. That doesn't mean you OWN the sandcastle, and if you get drunk and throw a fit, you get thrown out of the park and banned from getting in again - even if your ticket was an annual pass. And you don't get to keep the sandcastle you built either.

All that being said, local legislation may differ in some of the details. Digital rights is still a nascent area of law, and there's gaps in the legislation in many places. You can try and challenge some of the aspects if you so choose (and have the money to go up against a corporation's legal team) but the general idea of the transaction is sound in most parts of the world by now. You are not paying for a product, you are paying for the (revocable) right to use a service.

[Destinas]

The corporate dicksucking in this thread is hilarious.

It feels like im watching a gameplay of Syndicate

Not really. It's not like people are stating that they love the ToS/EULA, it's mostly people stating facts as they are. People even encouraged the OP to try and sue Blizzard for being banned if they feel that strongly about it.

[tacoloco]

Blizzard Terms of service are not above the law, when you accept those terms, you are being forced to, because if you decline you wont be able to play.

This is working as expected.

[THEORACLE64]

You purchase a physical product, its yours. You are the owner of this product and no one has the right to take it from you. Same this with virtual goods. You pay, its yours.

If you purchase WoW with all of the expansions, then the characters you create and the account is your ownership. Blizzard has no right to take them from you with bans or any other means that would result you not having access to the account.

I can’t believe people defend this. This won’t affect you now, but it might in the future. You invest your money and time towards something you own, as you paid, and then some dumbass gm with a bad day just will take your ownership of the account, without any consequences.

Blizzard Terms of service are not above the law, when you accept those terms, you are being forced to, because if you decline you wont be able to play.

Ye ye many companies do same strategies, but perhaps change?

Incorrect. It works the same way you'd pay to rent a film/something - you pay to use the service and pay you access certain content. That's all. You own zero ownership over the game and your account - you're paying for access, that's all. Blizzards ToS adhere to the law perfectly, seeing as paid lawyers (something which you are clearly not) have made sure they do.

[Karlz0rz]

One thing that I hope becomes a reality when it comes to digital goods/licences, is the ability to resell them. No ideas why this isn't a thing already to be honest!
Just like with most any other product in this world, if you want to sell it, you can. But for some reason digital keys you don't have that option.

[glowpipe]

Best you can do is to become French citizen and wait for a law that will help you with that. Steam is already in hot water with them.

steam will simply stop selling to france. Nothing good is coming from this