Square Enix being sued by FFXI player News
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by
Oli Welsh
According to the Courthouse News Service, Square Enix is being sued by a customer for not being open about the fees and late-payment penalties for playing its MMO Final Fantasy XI.
Esther Leong from San Francisco has brought a class action lawsuit against the US arm of the Japanese RPG giant, claiming that Square Enix deceived 100,000 customers by lying about or concealing "its monthly fees, penalties for late payments, interest, restrictions, and other things that should have been fully disclosed at points of purchase".
The suit seeks damages of over USD 5 million on behalf of players and alleges "unfair business practices, false advertising, and unjust enrichment".
There's a copy of FFXI on the desk here which says "subscription fees required to play" in small but quite legible print on the front of the box. That's all we're saying. Thanks to 1up for the spot.
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Comments: 1-19 of 19 in total
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+2
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised about the mention of "late-fees". Been playing FFXI off and on for the last 5 years and have never come across a situation where they would be demanded. If your CC expires it just refuses your login until the details are updated.
As for POLl being confusing, its not that bad really after the initial setup where you need to bind the content id's, set up mail etc. Although if you opt for the new SE ID and security token, that can be a bit of a minefield! |
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wellzy4eva
25/06/09 @ 09:04
+2
concealing monthly fees? wouldn't alarm bells start going off when the game openly asks you to enter your credit card details?
Most people do not read terms and conditions upon anything; loans, games, insurance and so on... but it sickens me that people try this, all it takes is a stupid jury and this could be used as an example against a lot of MMO's and paying systems. Can I sue Microsoft because I bought a XBOX360 and didn't know you had to pay to play games online? one day they won't have pictures and synopsis on the back of games, they'll just have legal small print (Like packets of peanuts needing allergy warnings that it contains nuts) |
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Grogmonkey
25/06/09 @ 09:59
0
@wellzy4eva
Was thinking a similar thing. I always read the T&Cs for anything new that I'm signing up to; jobs, games, insurance forms, all that jazz. It's just common God-damned sense! You're signing your name (and potentially account details) to it! That stuff is important. |
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Bravestinsane
25/06/09 @ 10:19
+1
For some unknown reason i wasn't supprised it was an American.
This lawsuit is ball i havn't played the game but if its like every other mmo perhaps he should look into the word "Recurring" as it's at the end of most monthly based subscriptions the fucking retard. The T&C would explain the rest as well... Damages to all players bollocks, i bet he wont pay them all back.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 25/06/09 @ 11:21
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wellzy4eva
25/06/09 @ 10:45
+1
If this succeeds, you can kiss goodbye to 30 day trials.
lol, picture a ticker tape going across the top of the screen (You are now paying for this game, by paying for this game you have agreed to all terms and conditions) I'm waiting for someone to try to sue computer games for the advertising you get in them corrupting their children or something. anyway, after 1up boasting that Final Fantasy VII has sold over 100,000 copies on PSN and Square Enix owning one of the biggest franchises in gaming history, I doubt they are that bothered by this, a drop in the ocean. Square Enix Legal official: We're being sued by yet another american. Square Enix mangagement: Release another Final Fantasy on...the DS, yea that'll cover it, oh and punish the English speaking fools by making them wait a year for this one...
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 25/06/09 @ 11:49
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0
The only thing that pissed me off was them taking my money towards the end of a month, only to get eight days subsciption. Now that is a shitty subscription model for the consumer!
I learnt my lesson though, just didn't re-subscribe "during" the month. Still... will be their bitch again when XIV comes out. |
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Slipstream
25/06/09 @ 22:39
0
Wow couldn't she have waited until Final Fantasy XIII was released, selfish moo!
But seriously, she does sound selfish, because if it is truly stated as people are saying, and she's still blindly going ahead with it? Well, karma will have its way with her. |
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0
I support this to be honest. I've been screwed over by their horrible billing service and customer support. So apparently before a billing month their billing servers go offline for many hours beforehand. So i went to cancel my subscription before they were due to go offline yet the system told me it couldnt be done as they were offline. Ended up being billed for a month of not playing what so ever. Tried arguing with the usual foreign customer "support" person on the end of the line but got nowhere. And since then I have never played FFXI because of it. Worst company ive ever had to deal with for online gaming.
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Comments: 1-19 of 19 in total
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