Category: News

IPE Update: Epic Games Brings Financial Suplex On Counterfeiters


It may not surprise you, the enlightened MMO Fallout reader, to hear that none of Epic’s roughly one thousand (Chinese and otherwise) defendants showed up or even answered the summons to appear in court regarding a lawsuit for Fortnite counterfeit merchandise. I talked about this briefly at the end of April and haven’t issued much in the way of updates because there hasn’t been anything substantial to talk about.

By the way, I’m not joking that this lawsuit started with roughly a thousand defendants. 923 in fact of which nearly 200 are included in this judgment. Over the course of the last two months, Epic has been slowly dropping defendants from the list, presumably the random accounts that could never be tied to an actual person. They were successful in forcibly transferring domains, freezing assets, and more.

The good news for Epic is that none of the thousand defendants bothered to answer the summons or show up, making it a whole lot easier to get the judge to sign an order of default judgment which Judge Guzman did on June 27. Far from simply imposing a permanent enjoinder on defendants from counterfeiting more of Epic’s products, and good luck enforcing that on some pop tent company in Shenzhen, the order goes quite a bit further. Judge Guzman awarded Epic Games $1 million in damages from each defendant.

He also ordered that Western Union must within two days permanently block all money transfers to the defendants. Ebay, Paypal, ContextLogic, and AliPay (and all of its related entities) have been ordered to permanently restrain all accounts associated with the defendants from transferring any money within two days. All monies within the accounts connected to the defendants has been seized and will be paid out to Epic and until the judgment amount is fully paid all new accounts created by the defendants will be seized and funds transferred to Epic as well. Epic also has the authority to serve any financial institution that is identified to have been accessed by the defendants, with the financial institute required to freeze their assets, remove their ability to transfer funds, and release all monies held on the accounts to Epic to ensure full payment.

As always, the legal documents have been uploaded to the MMO Fallout Google Drive, at our expense, for your perusal.

IPE Update: Paid Account Boosting Now Illegal In South Korea


A South Korean law passed last year has gone into effect, and it threatens to throw paid account boosters in prison.

Last year the Korean government passed a new law banning the use and advertising of powerleveling services. The provisions of the law, below in their original Korean, were translated by Reddit user Evenstar6132 and notes that prosecution is based on whether or not the developer allows such practice, whether there was payment, and the frequency of the act. The law is not retroactive and of course people who don’t live in South Korea are not under its jurisdiction.

It is worth noting that the prison sentence is apparently a “suspended sentence” of two years and a fine of up to $18,000. A suspended prison sentence for those unaware would not actually put the defendant in jail but acts as a type of probation. If the person does not commit a crime during that period, the jail sentence is dismissed.

Source: Reddit

MapleStory Adds Pathfinder Class Today


The Pathfinder is here! Nexon has announced the release of the much anticipated bowman class to Maplestory and now you too can finally log in create one of your own. The Pathfinder joins the ongoing fire leveling event offering 3x leveling speed for new characters, as well as the Adventure Island activities.

More information is available at the official website and in the preview trailer above.

Source:

[Video] Shai Character Class Comes To Black Desert


Pearl Abyss today announced that the latest character class Shai is now available in Black Desert on the Xbox One. Shai wields a florang (boomerang) and a Vitclari, a powerful ornament that heals and protects her allies. Shai is an expert in gathering and alchemy and is the first class to be able to create a bonfire to heal allies, as well as the first class to be able to tame and ride donkeys.

Notable Shai skills include:

  • One-Two-Three — Shai throws the Florang up to three times, knocking back all enemies that are hit.
  • Eat This! — Shai powerfully throws her Florang in a long-range attack.
  • Over Here! — Shai creates a shielded area that can protect her allies from enemy attacks.
  • Come Out, Come Out! — Shai reveals hidden enemies using her Vitclari.
  • Play Dead —  Shai can ‘play dead’ and trick other players, but it may not work against monsters…

Pearl Abyss also noted in today’s update that the Shai pre-creation event was a massive success with 80% of players participating. Players with the Game Pass can give the standard Black Desert edition a go with no additional purchase necessary.

Source: Pearl Abyss Press Release

The Division 2 Joins Twitch Rewards Starting Now


The Division 2 is the latest game to join the Twitch Prime reward factory, and you can get your hands on the first round of goodies starting as early as now.

Over the course of the next few months, Twitch Prime members will be able to redeem a series of four apparel sets and a mask. You will of course need a copy of The Division 2 and Twitch Prime. The first outfit up for grabs is the Spears Sports Team Fan & Baseball mask. All you need to do is link your Ubisoft and Twitch accounts and you are ready to go.

The outfit won’t be around forever, so make sure to get in and pick it up ASAP.

Source: Twitch.tv

Entropia Universe Brings In Summer With New Event


Summer is the warmest season of the year, and why not spend the warmest season beating monsters to death?

Starting now and running until July 1, Summer Mayhem 2019 tasks players with stopping the evil Mulmun ritual, gaining points, and scoring some sweet loot. Upon entering the ritual area, players will be timed with the best scores earning some of Entropia’s most coveted prizes. A full list of events can be found at the official website.

Source: MindArk Press Release

EA’s Loot Boxes Are ‘Quite Ethical,” Says EA


If there’s a company at the forefront of predatory and unethical business conduct in the gaming industry, it has to be Electronic Arts. From the company that brought about the high profile disasters of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem to the wholly panned monetization schemes originally present in Battlefront II, Electronic Arts has become the poster child for various governments looking to put an end to what they perceive as video game publishers coercing children into gambling habits.

But Electronic Arts doesn’t consider what they are selling to be loot boxes, as noted by the VP of legal and government affairs at EA Kerry Hopkins. Speaking to the UK Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee, Hopkins referred to loot boxes as “surprise mechanics” and stated that they are indeed quite ethical. It’s hard not to see this as a company desperately defending its questionable and highly lucrative business practices in the face of increasing threat of government regulation around the world.

Then again, perhaps we don’t need to hear about ethics from the company who patented a method to make subtle adjustments to a game’s difficulty in order to encourage more microtransaction purchases.

Source: PCGamesN

Black Desert: Pre-Create Your Shai Character, Get Rewards


Pearly Abyss has announced that the Shai class is officially available for…creation.

Starting today, Black Desert players are invited to participate in an in-game event to create and customize their Shai character for when the class officially becomes available on June 26. If you create your character before that point, you’ll be eligible for a number of rewards once the character goes live. The Shai is a boomerang-wielding support class, the first to be added to Black Desert.

  • Limited Edition title for Shai, `The Adorable Trickster`
  • Peek-a-Boo Black Spirit Cube Earring
  • Asula’s Accessory Box
  • Inventory +8 Expansion Coupon
  • Weight Limit +50LT
  • +2 Silver Embroidered Clothes Box
  • Extra Life EXP Scroll x10
  • Gold Bar 1kg (100,000,000 Silver)

Neverwinter: Undermountain Arrives On Consoles


Perfect World Entertainment announced today that the latest expansion Undermountain is available on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The expansion is accompanied by five new adventure zones, endgame dungeons, feat overhauls, a level cap of 80, class overhauls, a revamped loot system, and more.

To celebrate the game’s anniversary, players can take part in the Protector’s Jubilee from June 20-27. Take part in limited activities and obtain unique rewards only available during the festivities.

For more information, check out the official website and take a gander at the launch trailer below.