Those of you paying attention here at MMO Fallout know from a previous article that Blizzard is currently under investigation by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission over complaints that Blizzard did not deliver on service for Diablo III players, and refused to offer refunds for those who could not access the game due to consistent server downtime. Blizzard’s offices were raided and the investigation is currently ongoing, but likely to end up in favor of the consumer.
In France, Blizzard was given 15 days by the consumer bureau to fix connections regarding Diablo III, an issue which still plagues the game in every continent. They are also asking Blizzard to compensate players for damages accrued due to downtime, and are requesting a formal investigation into the use of always-on DRM. If the server stability is not met, the consumer bureau intends on taking Blizzard to court.
In Germany, however, the issue is a little different. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations has stated that Blizzard is being held accountable for anti-trust violations. Diablo III is being investigated for not disclosing on boxes that the game required an internet connection to play in single player, as well as not disclosing that the game was unable to be resold due to the permanent connection with one’s battle.net account. Or if you want to use the original German translation, Blizzard are being investigated for Wettbewerbsverstöße abzugeben, which sounds a whole lot more threatening.
Granted, neither of the French or German groups have the power to impose punishments on Blizzard, they will have to take the company to court and have a judge hand down a verdict.
(Source: Incgamers)
MMO Fallout 
I think WoW has one of the best set of starter areas I have eieprxenced over several MMOs. I also think it’s the most accessible in many ways that don’t relate to game design.- everyone has heard of it- if you ask veteran MMO players who prefer other games which MMO game a newbie should start with a high proportion will say WOW as will nearly all veteran WOW players.- high profile TV advertising- it’s one of the few games you can play without a credit card. You can still walk into a retail shop and buy a box and buy game cards. I think here in London it’s just about the only MMO for which this is true.- peer approval is easily gained. It’s very easy to get max level in WoW or get a fully epic geared character and casual or non-players are still impressed with this. By contrast in Eve it’s quite hard to do anything that would sound impressive to outsiders like fly a Titan or FC a serious battle.Two things that may impact the newbie hose over the next year or two- a high profile free to play game that doesn’t require a credit card. I expect to see cards for microtransaction games in shops soon where you can buy a card for cash that gives you a certain amount of cash shop points.- a high profile, everyone has heard of it, rival with an excellent soloable new player experience. Possibly SWTOR. Admittedly Age of Conan had this but couldn’t sustain. I think the target market is school age children but not with a kid’s game . Games that mainly appeal to 25+ players don’t get the newbie hose (as generally people over 25 will check it out and make their mind up relatively soon after release).