Belgium Criminalizes Certain Lootboxes, Sends Threat To Developers


The first answer to any question of “is this legal” is “where?” Belgium has joined the growing list of countries to declare that lootboxes, in some fashion, constitute an illegal form of gambling. The Belgium Gaming Commission determined this week that FIFA 18, Overwatch, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive violate its gambling laws and has demanded that developers remove them with the threat of large fines and remarkably even prison sentences if their demands are not met.

Belgium’s Gaming Commission in its notice specifically directed at the following types of monetization. Please note that the below has been translated into English.

  • Emotional profit forecast: uncertainty loot box is linked to profit forecast;
  • A player may think that the purchase of a loot box gives an advantage, which is not always the case
  • Confusion of fiction and reality: well-known real people promote the most expensive loot boxes;
  • Use your own coin system: for a real amount, players can buy in-game coins;
  • Apparently infinite methods to deposit money on player accounts;
  • Hide from the random generator or at least its opacity.

It does not appear that any explicit timetable has been set for removal of said loot boxes.

(Source: Belgium Gaming Commission)

Daybreak Clarifies Ownership…Three Years Later


Pop quiz: Who owns Daybreak Game Company? If you answered Columbus Nova, you are as wrong as every news outlet that reported on this three years ago, including MMO Fallout. You would be forgiven for this misunderstanding considering that the news was announced from Daybreak’s PR with the headline “Columbus Nova Acquires Sony Online Entertainment,” with the first sentence straight up saying that Columbus Nova had acquired the company.

Columbus Nova, an investment management firm based in New York, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and emergent gameplay.

And then there is John Smedley’s note in the announcement that they would be joining Columbus Nova’s roster of companies.

“We are excited to join Columbus Nova’s impressive roster of companies.”

Turns out that SOE was acquired not by Columbus Nova itself but by an executive at Columbus Nova, Jason Epstein, and the company had just never corrected the record.

“It was current executive chairman Jason Epstein, former senior managing partner of Columbus Nova that acquired Daybreak, not Columbus Nova itself. That distinction was never corrected in the past, so we are correcting that now.”

The reason this is relevant today of all days is because Columbus Nova has become embroiled in US sanctions on Russian oligarchs, specifically its owner Viktor Vekselberg. The distancing between the two companies has been raising a lot of eyebrows since both Daybreak and Jason Epstein himself have said on more than one occasion, and very explicitly, that Columbus Nova as an entity has purchased SOE.

(Source: MassivelyOP)

Online Text RPG Torn Coming To Android In May


You just don’t hear about large-scale text based games these days, but Torn has been rather quietly seeing massive success on desktop PCs. Launched 14 years ago, Torn bills itself as the game that Mafia Wars was built on. It lets players build a life in the city as a business owner, mob boss, or somewhere in between. You can take part in robberies, invest in the stock market, race cars, manage properties, the sky is the limit.

Continuing its success on PC, which has seen more than 2 million players worldwide and 20 thousand daily active users, Torn will be coming to Android devices on May 8. Alternately you can play right now by visiting the link down below.

MMO Fallout should be running some preview coverage of the mobile version at some point in the future.

(Source: Torn)

[Community] Live Events? In My Single Player Games?


How do you feel about live events in single player games? I’m genuinely curious because I’m not quite sure how I feel about it myself.

I’ve been playing a lot of Far Cry 5 and Assassin’s Creed Origins lately, and both games employ a growing trend in Ubisoft titles. I am of course referring to live events in a single player game, of which I have had mostly positive reactions to.

It is my opinion that live events should be something that the developer runs at the start both to bring in new players and to keep your current base playing in the long term. For Far Cry 5 this works to both bases, since Far Cry doesn’t have a traditional RPG system so you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything from the start. The rewards are so far things that the average player wouldn’t miss if they didn’t own the game at the time, and Ubisoft may or may not rotate them back in at a later date.

Assassin’s Creed Origins on the other hand is going to demand that you be around level 40 or above in order to complete its live event quests, making it more of a late to end game activity. Thankfully leveling isn’t going to take a massive amount of time, and the events are confirmed to rotate so you’re never going to miss out on cosmetics because you didn’t buy the game fast enough, nor should you feel that the game is demanding you no-life your way to level 40 as fast as possible.

How do you feel about live events in single player games?

In Plain English: An ArcheAge Lawsuit and the Fraudulent 10% Discount


(Legal Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and as such nothing in this column constitutes legal advice. All opinions expressed are my own and based on research into case precedent and interpretation of relevant laws and statutes, as well as discussion with the MMO Fallout legal team)

It has been four long years since ArcheAge launched in the west and some people are still wondering: How did Trion Worlds avoid getting sued for its rather blatantly false advertising regarding that 10% discount for Patrons that never surfaced, and was the advertising of the game against the law?

If you’ve forgotten or just weren’t around, when Trion Worlds was initially pitching its founders packages to the west, they advertised a perk for Patrons that included 10% discounts on cash shop purchases. The page advertising the promotion had been stealthily edited close to launch to include the wording that the perk wouldn’t be applied immediately, only for Trion to throw their hands up months later and admit that not only would the perk not be coming, but that they had no concrete knowledge that it was ever going to happen. The discount was replaced with a 10% bonus to credits purchased and not applied retroactively to people who picked up their credits during the beta or to credits received from the Founder’s pack. All because Trion Worlds and XL Games no longer felt like programming it in.

I pointed out at the time that if anything in the world of forum users threatening to sue had the most weight, it would probably be this, and I was not wrong. In September 2015 a class action lawsuit was filed in California court by plaintiff Aaron Van Fleet against Trion Worlds in regards to the 10% discount as well as making claims that ArcheAge’s loot boxes constitute an illegal lottery. MMO Fallout missed this story, personally I’m blaming the editorial team who haven’t shown up for work since 2009.

1. $1000 In Cash Shop Purchases and the Digital Lottery

The lawsuit charges that the 10% bonus is an inadequate replacement as it excludes head start credit purchases, founders pack purchases, and those who buy credits through in-game purchases (APEX). Furthermore, the plaintiffs note that Trion Worlds made false statements to the existence of the 10% discount despite knowing that those claims were false, that the discount did not exist at the time, and that it may not exist at all.

This charge is a hard one to deny, and depending on how Trion Worlds makes their defense may come down to how the court views advertising. Trion Worlds mounted an early defense publicly by claiming that the page on the website and Trion’s streams didn’t constitute advertising. Someone might point out that No Man’s Sky was cleared of charges surrounding its misleading advertising, however that ruling was made by a UK court and would not have an effect on how a California court would implement differently worded state laws. This is likely going to come down to whether the court views the replacement as adequate, whether Trion’s justification for not implementing the discount is satisfactory, and how much of their claims leading up to launch can be considered binding advertising.

Now let’s talk about the illegal lottery bit of this lawsuit, which I will start with this snippet from the docket:

Many ArcheAge players have spent more than $1,000 each to purchase supply crates that offered the chance at a Rare Prize Many players have expressed in online forums that they feel they were cheated by Trion’s sale of supply crates. For example, m January 8 2015, a player posted on Trion’s public forum a message board thread titled, “Whelp this is why gambling is illegal online.” Several users complained about the amounts they spent on supply crates and Trion’s entire business model (e g, “spent almost 15k creds and only got 11 about 500G worth of useless Junk”). A true and correct copy of the thread is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

In my humble opinion as a non-lawyer, this is where the lawsuit loses its footing. The docket cites California Penal Code to try and kick the cash shop lootboxes as an illegal lottery, seeking restitution in the form of Trion Worlds being forced to offer refunds. I’m no lawyer, but I have high doubts that this charge will hold up in court given the low likelihood that the judge would qualify digital goods as property in the sense that they would be covered under California’s lottery laws. The kind of impact that this would have on the industry is massive, would effectively criminalize countless companies, and would set major precedent where it doesn’t currently exist. I don’t see the court making this kind of decision, particularly not over this lawsuit.

California defines a lottery as “any scheme for disposal or distribution of property by chance, among persons who have paid or promised to pay any valuable consideration for the chance of obtaining such property,” and I highly doubt that a loot box in a game would be viewed by the court as existing in the same category as sweepstakes and promotional giveaways. Disregarding the idea that this is clearly not a lottery system, Trion Worlds would likely be safe even classified as a lottery, as an illegal lottery would require forced payment to participate (credits can be acquired without paying real money) and a clear win-lose with the prize (loot boxes always distribute prizes). This is why all of those sweepstakes you see from TV to cereal boxes have “no purchase necessary” written on them, it’s so they don’t get caught up in state lottery laws.

Exhibit A is literally about 50 pages of threads from the ArcheAge forums of people complaining about the cash shop, a notion that not only strikes me as a massive waste of the court’s time but also irrelevant to the case at hand, potentially damaging to the plaintiff’s argument, and one likely to be ignored by the court. It paints a picture that the plaintiffs are merely attempting to stretch the definition of California’s penal code to include the loot boxes because they are feeling buyer’s remorse, not out of genuine belief or concern that the loot boxes violate the law.

2. Binding Arbitration and the Supremacy of the Terms of Service

Here is where the lawsuit gets interesting.

We know from Bassett v Electronic Arts that generally arbitration clauses are accepted by the courts as binding (at least in New York they do), but what happens when one agreement contradicts another? Trion Worlds has an End User License Agreement and Terms of Use, two separate documents. It came out during the proceedings that while Trion’s TOU compels arbitration, that their End User License Agreement states that the venue for any claims is the San Mateo district court. Trion in turn attempted to compel arbitration, citing its Terms of Use.

Unfortunately Trion wrote themselves into a corner, as the court ruled that not only does the Terms of Use state that the use of Trion’s game clients is governed by the EULA, but that the specific language used in the EULA makes the venue mandatory under California law. Trion further tried to claim that its EULA agreed to upon creating an account does not apply to its games, which the court rejected as the EULA contains several pages referring to the purchase and use of digital goods. The court did find that Trion’s belief that the Terms of Service applied to the claims was reasonable, albeit incorrect, so nothing malicious was going on here.

Despite this ruling, Trion Worlds attempted to have the case dismissed and taken to arbitration. The two parties held a hearing with the presiding Judge on April 8, 2016 and on June 8 the court rejected the claim for arbitration. As ruled previously, Trion’s End User License Agreement, which stipulated that any claims must be taken to San Mateo County Court, superseded the Terms of Use which called for forced arbitration.

Additionally, the court rejected Trion’s claim that the EULA and TOU are agreed as part of the same transaction, noting that the EULA is agreed upon at account creation and the Terms of Use not until the user downloads the game, meaning the former can be agreed to without the latter. The decision goes on to note that some parts of Trion’s Terms of Use may be illegal as they conflict with state laws regarding liability, which Trion acknowledged.

In August 2016, Trion Worlds appealed the court’s denial of arbitration and now we slide on out of the San Mateo District Court and into our new home in the First District Court of Appeals.

3. The First District Court of Appeals Says No

Trion Worlds’ appeal regarding their motion to compel arbitration took us to the California 1st District Court of Appeals and since then, well, not much has happened. Both parties were given a ten minute oral argument and on the second of April, just over a week ago, the court ruled against Trion Worlds. Apparently the explicit instructions that the EULA supersedes the Terms of Service translates exactly the same no matter what California court you happen to be in.

But don’t take my word for it, read this statement from the court:

“Trion’s Terms of Use does contain an arbitration clause, but it also provides it is “in addition to, and does not replace or supplant” the ArcheAge EULA, and, in the event of a conflict or inconsistency, the ArcheAge EULA “shall supersede” it. Based on this provision in the Terms of Use, we conclude the parties did not agree to arbitrate their dispute, and we affirm the trial court’s order denying the petition to compel arbitration.”

In its appeal, Trion Worlds attempted to claim that the EULA incorporates the TOU, which the court promptly ignored and didn’t answer as it had already ruled that the governing document, the EULA, demanded trial in the San Mateo County court and the burden of proof is on the party demanding arbitration to prove otherwise.

“Thus, when addressing the threshold question of whether the parties agreed to arbitrate their dispute, which relates to purchases associated with the ArcheAge game, the Terms of Use provides we must start with the ArcheAge EULA. It does not provide for arbitration. Based on the clear language of the applicable agreements, the agreement to litigate any state law cause of action relating to the ArcheAge EULA in San Mateo County supersedes the agreement to arbitrate other kinds of disputes. Trion cannot satisfy its burden of proving the existence of a valid agreement to arbitrate this dispute.”

4. Back To County Court We Go

Unfortunately this is where the story ends for now. It looks like we’ll be heading back to San Mateo County Court to continue the lawsuit as both sides prepare their arguments. MMO Fallout will have more details on this case as it appears.

Rift Prime First Month A “Rousing Success”


One month has passed since Trion Worlds first launched Rift Prime, a progression server that attracted enough players to be called a “rousing success.” In a post on the official website, Trion Worlds noted that in the past month, players have completed more than five million quests and tens of thousands of dungeons. The server population has remained high since then, and players are gearing up for the launch of the first raid.

“We couldn’t be happier with how RIFT Prime is performing, and we’re definitely not resting on our laurels,” said Fry. “We’ve got a ton of content that will be releasing regularly for RIFT Prime players, so if you haven’t taken the plunge yet, now is the perfect time!”

Rift Prime is a progression server launched last month that will start with launch-day content and then slowly unlock expansion content as it progresses. For more information, check out the link below.

(Source: Trion Worlds)

RuneScape Finally Gets Around To Cleaning Up Edgeville


If you follow RuneScape like I do, then you know that things take a lot of time to progress in the world of Gielinor, with Jagex just recently finishing up quest lines that have been in progress for over a decade with others that still haven’t seen a conclusion. In the case of Edgeville, parts of the town were blown up at the conclusion of the quest Ritual of the Mahjarrat, where the Dragonkin go on a rampage, burn a couple buildings down, and kill a few people.

Ritual of the Mahjarrat released over six and a half years ago, back in September 2011, and the town has remained smoldering ever since. Now you finally have a chance to get in and scrub up, repair the buildings burnt down, and clean up the skeleton of the poor guy who got roasted seven years ago and nobody bothered cleaning up. As a reward, you can look forward to a heaping helping of experience in various skills.

(Source: RuneScape)

[Not Massive] Radical Heights’ Unique Concept: Persistent Money


Following the commercial failure of its take on the Overwatch-style hero shooter, Boss Key Productions is coming back swinging by taking on the Battle Royale genre with Radical Heights. In production for the past five months, Radical Heights is set to go live on Steam Early Access very soon. Tomorrow even, as in April 10. And why not take a look at the game when it does release? It’s free, after all. Radical deadlines.

Radical Heights is aping on 80’s aesthetic and radical, tubular dialogue to cosmetically set itself apart from the competition, but one aspect that is rather new to the genre is the idea that player-held cash is persistent between matches, allowing players to hoard cash to hopefully make the next match easier.

Can Boss Key pull out a hit? We’ll find out when the game goes live tomorrow.

(Source: Steam)

[Column] PUBG’s Ridiculous Ownership Claim on the Frying Pan


PUBG Corp has finally decided to pull up its britches and sue NetEase for copying Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, a move that will certainly make for some monumental court precedent. While I do have coverage coming for this 155 page complaint once I get done reading it, one bit that caught my eye was on PUBG Corp’s list of concepts it claims copyright ownership of, the frying pan as a weapon.

Especially the part where PUBG Corp claims that ‘previous shooter games did not include the use of a frying pan.’

“One very beloved aspect of creative expression in BATTLEGROUNDS is the game’s iconic frying pan. Previous shooter games did not include the use of a frying pan… When
so equipped, as a purely artistic and creative expression injecting humor into the game, the frying pan is the only indestructible armor in the game (i.e., armor that can absorb infinite hit points without deteriorating), providing complete protection against projectiles aimed at a character’s posterior. “

Right, except the frying pan has been a comedic weapon in literature popular media for decades, if not longer, likely longer than many of the PUBG Corp employees have been alive. If you want to keep the conversation strictly limited to video games, the frying pan as a humorous weapon has become iconic as far back as 1996 with Princess Peach and the release of Super Mario RPG but can be found in games like Earthbound (1994), Fable (2004), and Conker’s Bad Fur Day (2001). Dead Rising had a frying pan weapon and Dead Rising 2 even utilized the mechanic of having said frying pan block bullets.

Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) had a frying pan as arguably its most powerful melee weapon, which was then transplanted to Team Fortress 2 in 2010 with the sound effect of a successful hit meant to be both humiliating for the player on the receiving end and humorous for the game as a whole.

Full coverage of the lawsuit is on its way, but this is just one of a large number of concepts that PUBG Corp is claiming copyright ownership of that it had veritably no hand in creating, including the phrase “winner winner chicken dinner,” and the concept of starting with nothing and building up an arsenal, or virtually every RPG since the 80’s as well as the Unreal Tournament games, to name two examples.

PSA: Crusader Kings II Free On Steam


Crusader Kings II is free on Steam, and if you pick it up right now you’ll be able to keep it forever. Just head over to the Steam store page and activate the game to your account. You don’t need to download it right away to keep it. Crusader Kings II was released in 2012 by Paradox Interactive and currently holds a 77% “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam. As of this posting, there are nearly 30,00 people playing concurrently.

Granted, you’ll still need to throw down a pretty penny to get every one of the game’s DLC packs, which are currently on sale at 50% off.

(Source: Steam)