MMO News – Lawsuits and Politics
Nothing says Christmas like a good lawsuit. At least that’s the ideology of Worlds.com, as they are suing NCSoft. You may have heard of NCSoft from MMORPGs such as City of Heroes, City of Villains, Tabula Rasa, Aion, Guild Wars, etc. Apparently every single game in NCSoft’s roster violates two patents Worlds.com filed for in 2000.
So what are these magical patents? Well, the first one is a scalable chat. You know how you can re-size/move your chat window? Yeah. Worlds.com owns a concept that nearly every MMORPG uses. The second patent involves System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space. Again, another patent that every single MMORPG uses. Each patent is rather broad, as if the patent was filed for the sole purpose of nailing other companies with a lawsuit. Thankfully video game companies are not evil and have no interest in money! Right?
Not too far from the malice of stupid lawsuits is politics. Newt Gingrich (former US House speaker who is flirting with presidential bid) is going to have some workshops in both the real and virtual world. By virtual world I mean the game Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world with roughly 9.5 million members in a 3-D environment. The game is basically “real” life; you can even buy virtual real estate with non-virtual cash. Newt Gingrich isn’t the first, however, to use Second Life to promote political campaigns. Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, and John Edwards are just a few names tapping into this “resource.”
So what does this mean for gamers? Well, developers love money and politicians love to advertise themselves. Add them together and you get..
“/ooc Vote for SoandSo, Level 80 Deathknight LFG!!! TWinked! “
Those patents are going to fall to pieces. I may as well patent breathing air and file for royalties to be paid.
Worlds is also purposely taking legal action against NCSoft in Texas–an area notorious for their nationalistic attitude, as well as leniency towards plaintiffs in patent cases. I think it was Slashdot that was talking about that.
If you check Worlds.com website you’ll notice how they are talking about the “Next” generation of Worlds. I’m wondering if plans are being made for future projects with money that will “magically” fall out of the sky…the sky that is NCsoft.