Square Enix Sued For $5 Million

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Square Enix of America is being sued for allegedly deceiving 100,000 customers for "unfair business practices, false advertising and unjust enrichment" regarding online title Final Fantasy XI.

The plaintiff, San Francisco resident Esther Leong, claims that Square Enix "lied about or concealed its monthly fees, penalties for late payments, interest, restrictions and other things that should have been fully disclosed at points of purchase" — basically, Square Enix has been "deceptive".
The court filing reads:

The deceptive advertising, unfair and undisclosed business practices, and concealment concern, among others:
i. Licensing of the online games software disguised as a sale;
ii. Monthly fees ("fees") to play the online games;
iii. Penalties for late payment of the fees;
iv. Interest charges for late payment of the fees;
v. Charges while the online game account is suspended;
vi. Termination of the right to use the online games for late payment of the fees;
vii. User restrictions and conditions related to the online games;
viii. Termination of game data for payment of the fees.



Source: Kotaku

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[Fusionist]

I feel like laughing because this is on FFXI, and I've heard a lot of people feeling screwed over about this game.

But 5 million for one guy's issues on the game? If it was a group settlement with a bunch of people, 5 million isn't THAT much of a reach, but just the one guy? >_>

I wonder how this will play out. It could just as easily be dismissed, but there could be some merit to it O.O

I still enjoy Square-Enix games *shields self from stoning*, so if this does get played out, I hope it doesn't do too much damage to the company D=

EDIT: Oh, Esther is a girl's name

 

[Rey]

Whoa wait wtf there being sued? There getting sued by who though? 5 million is a huge number. So wait just for Final Fantasy XI? What will happen to Final Fantasy XIV?

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Square Enix will be getting majorly screwed over if this goes through because people are going to be launching cases worldwide, and if this case is successful then they've set the precedent for many other people to be successful in their claims.

 

[Linnaete]

I've heard many ridiculous stories of people trying to sue others for the most hilarious and yet worrying trivial reasons. This however, seems legitimate (but $5 million! SE will just be dragged to the ground at this rate, seeing as many of their current gen games aren't very well perceived by players)

If this turns out to be true (it probably would, I can imagine SE doing this), this would be a massive wake up call to the company and Wada in particular. It seems to me that SE's reputation is falling literally to hell at each passing story. I pray for Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII to be their saviors.

Also SE, don't bother with anymore MMORPGs! Get XIV done with and leave the online market! It is becoming oversaturated with Runescape, WOW, Korean games like Aion etc. Do what you (normally) do best!

 

[Ness]

I wouldn't expect a favorable verdict for Ms. Long on this one.

Lawsuits are as easy to file in the States as...well, anything really. Find a lawyer crazy enough and collect enough of a court filing fee and you can make any half-baked lawsuit a reality. I highly doubt that after all the time that FF Eleven has been running that suddenly, now, SE is deceiving its customers about the fact they must pay monthly fees? Sounds a little implausible to me.

It's true that a big verdict would open the proverbial floodgates, but I doubt that she's going to find much success in this lawsuit. The whole thing seems pretty frivolous to me.

 

[Totoro]

This sounds utterly ridiculous. WOW doesn't advertise that you have to pay monthly fees, yet pretty much everyone knows that you do, and i'm 99.9% sure it'll tell you in all the legal bumf you get with the game.

FFXI will be no different. However USA is special. A woman sued a microwave company because she tried to dry her cat in it after she washed it (who washes a cat anyway?) and it didn't say 'No Cats' on her microwave + guide. I cannot confirm if any cats were harmed in this.

 

[Sir Kenneth]

Not saying that she has a clear case, but I've never been a fan of Square's business practices with FF XI, and I hope this'll serve as a rude awakening. Win or lose.

 

[Linnaete]

To give you all an example of how ridiculous some lawsuits filed in America can be, here is one that had Squaresoft involved:

In 2001, Linda Sanders and other family members of Columbine High school shooting victims (that occurred in 1999) sued 25 movie and video game companies for $5 billion in a class action lawsuit. They claimed that had it not been for movies including The Basketball Diaries and video games including Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Mech Warrior, Wolfenstein, Redneck Rampage, FINAL FANTASY and Nightmare Creatures, the massacre would not have happened, and that the makers and distributors of those mentioned things were partly to blame for their loved ones' deaths.

Luckily the case was thrown out and the plaintiffs were forced to compensate the movie and video game companies for their legal fees.

Final Fantasy is highlighted there. I was damn surprised to see that on the list. I guessed that it didn't matter what the game was. They just wanted to sue the companies behind every game and film the two murderers ever played and watched.

 

[Mehaha]

Damn that is a bit much... Though it[sorta] seems like a legit case when they hid the penalties and what-not but still. Talk about beating a dead horse they should have filed sooner. Now SE will have simply the time factor on their side.

 

[Ilyena]

The rules and regulations for the game are stated clearly on the game's website. Maybe she should have read them before she purchased the game. It's pretty much standard that any MMORPG that you purchase in a store has a monthly fee. And it's also pretty much standard that when you don't pay your monthly bills, your service is cut off. Isn't it also standard with PC software that when you purchase it, you're really just purchasing a license to use the software. I'm pretty sure this is why most game stores don't sell used PC games.

I seriously doubt she will get anywhere with this lawsuit. I don't see how they were concealing anything when everything is stated on the website. It's not like they're going to include a Rules and Regulations manual at the checkout when you purchase the game.

 

[Stoic Hero]

I'm confident that she doesn't have a good case. Like Freddie said, everything is included on the website, and I'm sure the LICENSE AGREEMENT she signed stated everything. It's really her fault for not paying her bill, anyway.

 

[Ashe B'nargin]

Hope this puts SE off from making FF14..

Also hope that this makes SE go back on a good path and not a bad road..

If they get sued too much then it will the end of the series..

Don't want the series to end, that would be bad news..

It might end up being like Disney though..

Once somebody tries to sue them then everybody else tries to have a poke..

 

[Sir Kenneth]

Hope this puts SE off from making FF14..

Also hope that this makes SE go back on a good path and not a bad road..

If they get sued too much then it will the end of the series..

Don't want the series to end, that would be bad news..

It might end up being like Disney though..

Once somebody tries to sue them then everybody else tries to have a poke..

14 has been in development for years though, so I doubt they'll throw everything overboard because of a single lawsuit. Square is a huge company, and $5 million is a relatively meagre amount to them. I bet you that a lot more money than that has gone into making FF14 so far.

 

[Ben]

Square Enix will be getting majorly screwed over if this goes through because people are going to be launching cases worldwide, and if this case is successful then they've set the precedent for many other people to be successful in their claims.

It most likely won't go through. Almost every game case like this never does. It's like the Wii getting sued because some guy threw a diagram together that looked like the Wiimote around 6 months after the Wii came out, and then said that he made it first. I feel like that's comparable to this case.

This sounds utterly ridiculous. WOW doesn't advertise that you have to pay monthly fees, yet pretty much everyone knows that you do, and i'm 99.9% sure it'll tell you in all the legal bumf you get with the game.

FFXI will be no different. However USA is special. A woman sued a microwave company because she tried to dry her cat in it after she washed it (who washes a cat anyway?) and it didn't say 'No Cats' on her microwave + guide. I cannot confirm if any cats were harmed in this.

Yes, but if WoW did NOT state that you had to pay, then they could get sued by someone saying that they didn't, and the case would go through fine. It doesn't matter if you know personally, or not. A lady sued McDonalds because the coffee she spilled on herself did not have a "Warning-Hot" label on it. Sure, she knew better, but she still got the money.

The rules and regulations for the game are stated clearly on the game's website. Maybe she should have read them before she purchased the game. It's pretty much standard that any MMORPG that you purchase in a store has a monthly fee. And it's also pretty much standard that when you don't pay your monthly bills, your service is cut off. Isn't it also standard with PC software that when you purchase it, you're really just purchasing a license to use the software. I'm pretty sure this is why most game stores don't sell used PC games.

I seriously doubt she will get anywhere with this lawsuit. I don't see how they were concealing anything when everything is stated on the website. It's not like they're going to include a Rules and Regulations manual at the checkout when you purchase the game.

Your right. As long as its stated somewhere on the site, she can't sue them.

EDIT:

Hope this puts SE off from making FF14..

Just because YOU don't like a game, doesn't mean that they should stop making it.

 

[Ashe B'nargin]

I

Just because YOU don't like a game, doesn't mean that they should stop making it.

Oh whatever.

Dislike the idea of Final Fantasy I4 coming by, because not many people will be able to play the game during today's money recession ..
And also worry that it's bad timing and the game may not do so well for Square-Enix.

FF XIV might turn out to be really good.. ^-^

SE doesn't know everysingle of it's fans personally, that is called being a stalker.