4 ms·

When I buy SimCity, how long will I be able to play the game for? 30 days? 100 years? Does EA make any promises about how long they will keep their servers r

by MarkMc 14y ago

When I buy SimCity, how long will I be able to play the game for? 30 days? 100 years? Does EA make any promises about how long they will keep their servers running? If not, what would be the minimum time they would need to keep their servers running to avoid a 'false advertising' prosecution?

res0nat0r 14y ago
None? The same could be said if the WoW servers get shut down tomorrow. Game over and move on. It's probably in the Eula you agree to at first login.
- deleted 14y ago
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- ceejayoz 14y ago
  WoW is a different case. It's sold as an MMO and very clearly doesn't have a single-player version.
  - res0nat0r 14y ago
    I'm not sure if user ignorance is a valid legal claim. diablo 3 is in the same boat. You can play single player but need to authenticate with the blizzard servers. It those go away its game over.
    - saraid216 14y ago
      > I'm not sure if user ignorance is a valid legal claim. IANAL, but there is a case that can be made for reasonable expectation [1]. On the other hand, most people who complain about this actively demonstrate foreknowledge, which AFAICT immediately invalidates their legal standing for reasonable expectation. I think a talented lawyer may be able to figure out how to draw together law into a strong case where there is some obligation to make sure your game can run mostly-featured without an internet connection... but in order to set precedent, you're probably going to have to sue an indie company to have a fighting chance in terms of money (which would also probably kill said indie) or put together a large enough legal fund to go after a worthwhile target like Ubisoft or EA... and I don't rate your chances high, there. [1] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/doctrine-of-reasonable-expectations.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/doctrine-of-rea...
- MarkMc 14y ago
  Hmm...I think if the SimCity folks shut down their servers tomorrow they could be prosecuted for something like fraud.

by MarkMc 14y ago

res0nat0r 14y ago

None? The same could be said if the WoW servers get shut down tomorrow. Game over and move on. It's probably in the Eula you agree to at first login.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ceejayoz 14y ago
WoW is a different case. It's sold as an MMO and very clearly doesn't have a single-player version.
- res0nat0r 14y ago
  I'm not sure if user ignorance is a valid legal claim. diablo 3 is in the same boat. You can play single player but need to authenticate with the blizzard servers. It those go away its game over.
  - saraid216 14y ago
    > I'm not sure if user ignorance is a valid legal claim. IANAL, but there is a case that can be made for reasonable expectation [1]. On the other hand, most people who complain about this actively demonstrate foreknowledge, which AFAICT immediately invalidates their legal standing for reasonable expectation. I think a talented lawyer may be able to figure out how to draw together law into a strong case where there is some obligation to make sure your game can run mostly-featured without an internet connection... but in order to set precedent, you're probably going to have to sue an indie company to have a fighting chance in terms of money (which would also probably kill said indie) or put together a large enough legal fund to go after a worthwhile target like Ubisoft or EA... and I don't rate your chances high, there. [1] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/doctrine-of-reasonable-expectations.html http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/doctrine-of-rea...
MarkMc 14y ago
Hmm...I think if the SimCity folks shut down their servers tomorrow they could be prosecuted for something like fraud.