Korean Officials Raid Blizzard

[Uratoh]

snip

I'd just like to give our friend Tony his award.

http://myspace.roflposters.com/images/rofl/myspace/1235388714405.jpg.[roflposters.com].myspace.jpg

 

[Matt Dellar]

I fought against the always-online crap when I first heard about it and didn't buy the game when it came out with the always-on DRM intact.

I'm not surprised in the slightest. Sad for the people who actually have good enough Internet to play online games and still can't play, yeah. Mad at Blizzard for even considering such a dumb system, even more so.

Good luck, Diablo 3 players. Honestly, good luck.

 

[Tony2077]

this is just as bad as the bullshit about the me3 ending when will it end.

Except this actually protects consumer rights as opposed to trying to make a game ending not suck.

the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days

That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.

so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?

How is wanting a game to work bullshit?

the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic

What? Really? They payed 60 bucks for this thing, it doesn't work like it's supposed to, and you're defending that? You are the reason that consumers get screwed.

you want to defend people that think just because the server doesn't work the way they want it to without making sure to check everything then whining about it fine defend away

how many do you think have real problems and aren't just joining the mob

 

[Mahoshonen]

This...could get interesting.

You see, the whole "you don't own the game, just a license to use it" bit in most EULAs these days has never been challanged in high court.

There is a probability that whatever is the Supreme Court of South Korea would declare that language in the EULA to have no validity.

Now this wouldn't have any immediate bearing outside of South Korea. But depending on the nature of S.Korea's legal system (is it common law?), judges in countries that use the same legal system could in theory use that as a point of reference (it's not binding, but when there is no other precedent it can be a strong argument).

 

[fish iron4]

If I was blizzard after this incident I would just turn to Korea and say "don't want our Diablo eh? well then I guess you don't want our star craft as well!" *insert smug face here*

 

[Do4600]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

 

[Tony2077]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

I'd see if there was other problems first before i did anything instead of going there evil

 

[Do4600]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

I'd see if there was other problems first before i did anything instead of going there evil

Okay, it's plugged in, still doesn't work.

 

[Tony2077]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

I'd see if there was other problems first before i did anything instead of going there evil

Okay, it's plugged in, still doesn't work.

does the plugin work or did it short out because its old

 

[Inkidu]

this is just as bad as the bullshit about the me3 ending when will it end.

Except this actually protects consumer rights as opposed to trying to make a game ending not suck.

the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days

That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.

so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?

How is wanting a game to work bullshit?

the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic

Actually south Korea has better internet speed and coverage then we do here in the states, the argument from the story isn't about personal connection speed or anything, its about an investigation into if blizzard purposely didn't buy enough servers to accommodate most of the people wanting to play.

so blizzard gets screwed because people are butthurt about the lack of servers

Blizz insisted on requiring an internet connection for anything in the game, which means that they are responsible for making sure that everyone can play the game, they get absolutely no sympathy from me, you wouldn't see this bitching if they had an offline single player mode but they wanted everyone cDonnected, which means they better effing keep that connection up and stable.

I get you, good man, but as my mom always said (and I'm paraphrasing the gist of it), "Don't feed the trolls, they win when you do."

 

[Do4600]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

I'd see if there was other problems first before i did anything instead of going there evil

Okay, it's plugged in, still doesn't work.

does the plugin work or did it short out because its old

Works fine with everything else that's been plugged into it, why shouldn't it work with the toaster?

 

[Tony2077]

they have the right to a refund if its problems on the server end if those problems can't be fixed ever.

It doesn't matter if it can be fixed, the problem is that it was broken in the first place. If I buy a pair of pants and they fall apart after being worn once, I don't care if the store can re-mend them, I want my money back so I can go buy pants that won't fall apart in the first place.

so i deserve a refund because the servers were broken the first day doesn't make sense to me

If you bought a toaster and the first day it didn't work and the second day it only worked intermittently, how would you react?

I'd see if there was other problems first before i did anything instead of going there evil

Okay, it's plugged in, still doesn't work.

does the plugin work or did it short out because its old

Works fine with everything else that's been plugged into it, why shouldn't it work with the toaster?

poor toaster no one like the toaster

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Did they get good loot, I wonder?

[small]I couldn't help it...[/small]

Part of me wonders if this is a cover for South Korea's true objective:

Steal copies of Starcraft!

 

[MDSnowman]

this is just as bad as the bullshit about the me3 ending when will it end.

Except this actually protects consumer rights as opposed to trying to make a game ending not suck.

the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days

That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.

so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?

How is wanting a game to work bullshit?

the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic

Actually, I live in Oxford, an area which has almost perfect connection (thank you to the universities). I've never had a problem with my internet connection in all the time I've been living here, and there have been numerous occasions in the last couple of weeks where I've been kicked out of a Diablo 3 game in which I was the only player. I try logging back in only to be told the servers are busy.

Entitled? Yeah, sure, but I kind of have a right to be. I'm basically being denied the right to play this game I've spent over £60 on (yeah, I got the collector's edition), if that isn't cause to be entitled, then nothing is. That's what differentiates this from the Mass Effect 3 fiasco (which really was fanboy bitching taken to the nth degree); the Mass Effect 3 ending was just a matter of taste, some liked the ending, others didn't. The ending didn't actually break the game on a technical level and make it impossible to play.

If Blizzard must insist on making an internet connection mandatory, regardless of whether you're playing in a multiplayer game or not, the very least they can do is guarantee crap like this doesn't happen.

Agreed.

ME3 was whining entitled fans (and yes the ending needed WAY more closure, and I'm not complaining that the whining will eventually get me a proper ending).

The Diablo 3 thing... completely and utterly justified on every level. If your game's restrictive DRM requires us to be logged into the servers at all times to play then it is up to you to make sure your servers can handle the demand that eleven freakin' years of people chomping at the bit for this game has created. You should have made some favorable projections for the copies you sold (and gave away to keep people on the world of warcrack pipe) taken those projections a several steps further just to be safe, and then set up the servers and the loads they could handle. That goes double for South Korea, which for all we know has shut down under the weight of two major blizzard releases in as many years.

 

[rapidoud]

I'm surprised that people didn't fight against the 'Always Online' feature before launch (the actual complaining was at a all time low), and now gamers are bitching about the fact that you get dropped from your own game if you aren't online, or unable to connect to full servers. In the end, it was the gamers and the fans who dropped the ball, not Blizzard. WE are the ones who should've stepped up and said "Blizzard, this is just a bad idea", it's because nobody stepped up that Blizzard just continued to go "Duuuuuuuur, lets make a decision that is functionally retarded in all practical senses...huuuuuuuuurrrrp aaaaa deeeeeeerp".

So by buying the game, and then wanting your money back you're making yourself look like a moron by having bought a product that you KNOW is going to have problems (Especially on launch, EVERY game has Launch problems).

I fought against it tooth and nail and vowed never to buy it, as Blizzard are notorious for crappy servers and extraordinarily high latencies amongst anyone not from the US. I was also against the RMAH as that crap is only allowed in f2p (Eve Online actually have a dedicated fanbase who fought religiously against it) for pay-to-win.

It was gifted to me by a friend :\. Captcha: agree to disagree

 

[Callate]

Personally, I think it's kind of refreshing that somewhere there might still be consequences for a game company failing to live up to their side of the bargain (i.e., provide a playable game.) The deck is so increasingly, ridiculously stacked against the consumer with every passing year.

 

[JMeganSnow]

Mm, yeah, they should give refunds to the Korean gamers. And then delete their accounts.

 

[Urameshi13]

I can tell you right now, if I were the head of Blizzard and was forced to refund all those butthurt whiners, it would be the last bit of business I'd ever do in Korea.

Which is why you're not the head of Blizzard. South Korea is one of the two countries you should be working your ass off to please, seeing how one of your games is their unofficial national sport.

Sure, you can refuse to acknowledge your screw-ups and haughtily withdraw all business from the one country that has nearly religious devotion to one of your franchises... but again, that's why you're not the head of Blizzard.

Here's what I am: a businessman. So allow me to show you where you're wrong.

When a government raids your offices, it's time to go elsewhere. This was a complete and total overstep of authority on the part of the South Korean government, and it should be protested by any reasonable means.

As you so aptly pointed out, there is a religious devotion to Blizzard's games. As such, they already have a firm hold on that market. So shutting down shop might piss them off in the short term, but odds are that the consumer base would miss you after a while. Is it a risky move? Of course it is. But taking calculated risks is what being in business is all about.

 

[Brockyman]

Glad to know this is all the South Koren government has to worry about.. It's not like they have a neighboring nation that is ruled by a man child unbalanced communist dictator with nuclear weapons and has his fathers desire for unification

Oh wait...

 

[lacktheknack]

I can tell you right now, if I were the head of Blizzard and was forced to refund all those butthurt whiners, it would be the last bit of business I'd ever do in Korea.

Which is why you're not the head of Blizzard. South Korea is one of the two countries you should be working your ass off to please, seeing how one of your games is their unofficial national sport.

Sure, you can refuse to acknowledge your screw-ups and haughtily withdraw all business from the one country that has nearly religious devotion to one of your franchises... but again, that's why you're not the head of Blizzard.

Here's what I am: a businessman. So allow me to show you where you're wrong.

When a government raids your offices, it's time to go elsewhere. This was a complete and total overstep of authority on the part of the South Korean government, and it should be protested by any reasonable means.

As you so aptly pointed out, there is a religious devotion to Blizzard's games. As such, they already have a firm hold on that market. So shutting down shop might piss them off in the short term, but odds are that the consumer base would miss you after a while. Is it a risky move? Of course it is. But taking calculated risks is what being in business is all about.

Considering how pissed off customers is the reason that Blizzard's offices were raided in the first place, it seems uncomfortably likely that they'll just clamp down on all their copies of Starcraft and tell you to sod off for a depressingly long time.

And considering all the money-grabbing tactics being used by companies recently at the expense of goodwill, I'm forced to assume that game development is a barely profitable industry and losing one of your main consumer bases would be a truly withering blow.