Blizzard's Seoul office was raided as part of an ongoing investigation into consumer complaints about Diablo 3.
Blizzard's been taking a lot of guffola over Diablo 3, but nowhere is the ride rougher than in South Korea, where an investigation into possible violations of the country's electronic commerce and commercial contracts laws is being carried out by the country's Fair Trade Commission. The FTC actually raided Blizzard's offices earlier this week, seizing documents and other evidence as it seeks to determine whether or not any laws have been broken.
The matter relates to Blizzard's refusal to issue refunds to disgruntled Korean gamers, hundreds of whom have filed official complaints with the FTC about overloaded and inaccessible Diablo 3 servers. Many of them have demanded their money back but Blizzard, citing EULA terms, has refused to do so; instead, it doubled its server capacity in the region and said it would continue to take steps to improve the service and avoid service problems in the future. But for a lot of players, that's not good enough.
"We have received many complaints from Diablo 3 users," FTC rep Kim Hyung-bae said, although he refused to elaborate. Other officials, however, said the investigation is looking into allegations that the game was sold based on an "unfair" contract and whether Blizzard was "ill-prepared" for the high traffic at launch. There's no word on when the investigation will conclude, but the expectation is that Blizzard will be ordered to issue refunds to all unhappy Diablo 3 owners in the country.
Despite its well-publicized troubles, Diablo 3 has been a huge, albeit entirely unsurprising, success for Blizzard, selling 6.3 million copies in its first week of release.
Kenjitsuka: Pretty sure those extra Korean servers got taken out from somewhere else, say Europe, where """"service"""" has sucked immensely as of late.
Tell me about it, the last couple of days the servers have been down every time I wanted to play.
I realize it would make absolutely no difference towards the success or future practices of Blizzard if they're found to have broken some South Korean commerce law.
And yet, if they are indeed found guilty, I will feel that a little bit of justice has been served. And I will laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
Tony2077: this is just as bad as the bullshit about the me3 ending when will it end.
Except this actually protects consumer rights as opposed to trying to make a game ending not suck.
the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
Except this actually protects consumer rights as opposed to trying to make a game ending not suck.
the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
Good on you, Korean gaming brothers. You were fools to buy such a silly, little, game in the first place... but at least you have the balls and good sense to say F this.
Tony2077: the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
How is wanting a game to work bullshit?
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
Tony2077: the right to be assholes are the only rights i see being protected these days
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
It'd be better than leaving it up your ass. I couldn't resist.
Tony2077: so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
How is wanting a game to work bullshit?
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
I dont own the game but isnt there plenty of places in Europe with great internet speeds and solid connections that are still having trouble owing to problems on Blizzards end?
Tony2077: so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
How is wanting a game to work bullshit?
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
Actually south Korea has better internet speed and coverage then we do here in the states, the argument from the story isn't about personal connection speed or anything, its about an investigation into if blizzard purposely didn't buy enough servers to accommodate most of the people wanting to play.
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
I dont own the game but isnt there plenty of places in Europe with great internet speeds and solid connections that are still having trouble owing to problems on Blizzards end?
i haven't seen the stories about other places so i can't say
That is a right just like any other but if you buy something than you fucken expect it to work so they have every right to complain about this and if you don't agree then you shouldn't complain about their complaining.
so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
It'd be better than leaving it up your ass. I couldn't resist.
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
Actually south Korea has better internet speed and coverage then we do here in the states, the argument from the story isn't about personal connection speed or anything, its about an investigation into if blizzard purposely didn't buy enough servers to accommodate most of the people wanting to play.
so blizzard gets screwed because people are butthurt about the lack of servers
Tony2077: the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
Actually south Korea has better internet speed and coverage then we do here in the states, the argument from the story isn't about personal connection speed or anything, its about an investigation into if blizzard purposely didn't buy enough servers to accommodate most of the people wanting to play.
so blizzard gets screwed because people are butthurt about the lack of servers
Blizz insisted on requiring an internet connection for anything in the game, which means that they are responsible for making sure that everyone can play the game, they get absolutely no sympathy from me, you wouldn't see this bitching if they had an offline single player mode but they wanted everyone connected, which means they better effing keep that connection up and stable.
Rather glad someone somewhere is taking this shit seriously. There's having a troubled launch day (Battlefield servers on day 1) and just being generally shit. How long has it been since D3 came out? And how many people worldwide are still having major problems with it?
I hope this actually does go to court to be honest. Hell I wouldn't mind if other countries started their own investigations into these shenanigans.
Maybe people will hold off on the super aggressive DRM for a while now... I don't even game on the PC that much (exclusively League of Legends atm) and i'm still annoyed by it.
Actually south Korea has better internet speed and coverage then we do here in the states, the argument from the story isn't about personal connection speed or anything, its about an investigation into if blizzard purposely didn't buy enough servers to accommodate most of the people wanting to play.
so blizzard gets screwed because people are butthurt about the lack of servers
Blizz insisted on requiring an internet connection for anything in the game, which means that they are responsible for making sure that everyone can play the game, they get absolutely no sympathy from me, you wouldn't see this bitching if they had an offline single player mode but they wanted everyone connected, which means they better effing keep that connection up and stable.
keeping a connection stable is different then the lack of servers. The servers are stable there just wasn't enough of them so unless you have info about them not planning to add servers i think this part is done
Better luck next time? With what, being the cunning and witty (not to mention handsome) devil I am? Bitch please, thanks but I clearly don't need your luck, ta.
Tony2077: so if i don't agree with bullshit i should just stick my head in the ground?
How is wanting a game to work bullshit?
the thing is the game does work just because you live where there is a lousy connection doesn't change that basic
Actually, I live in Oxford, an area which has almost perfect connection (thank you to the universities). I've never had a problem with my internet connection in all the time I've been living here, and there have been numerous occasions in the last couple of weeks where I've been kicked out of a Diablo 3 game in which I was the only player. I try logging back in only to be told the servers are busy.
Entitled? Yeah, sure, but I kind of have a right to be. I'm basically being denied the right to play this game I've spent over £60 on (yeah, I got the collector's edition), if that isn't cause to be entitled, then nothing is. That's what differentiates this from the Mass Effect 3 fiasco (which really was fanboy bitching taken to the nth degree); the Mass Effect 3 ending was just a matter of taste, some liked the ending, others didn't. The ending didn't actually break the game on a technical level and make it impossible to play.
If Blizzard must insist on making an internet connection mandatory, regardless of whether you're playing in a multiplayer game or not, the very least they can do is guarantee crap like this doesn't happen.
Tony2077: so blizzard gets screwed because people are butthurt about the lack of servers
Blizz insisted on requiring an internet connection for anything in the game, which means that they are responsible for making sure that everyone can play the game, they get absolutely no sympathy from me, you wouldn't see this bitching if they had an offline single player mode but they wanted everyone connected, which means they better effing keep that connection up and stable.
keeping a connection stable is different then the lack of servers. The servers are stable there just wasn't enough of them so unless you have info about them not planning to add servers i think this part is done
I'm saying if they want to force the player to constantly be connected even if they are playing single player then they better make damn sure they player can get in game when they want and that the connection is stable and with very little lag. Blizz was really retarded when it came to this, they forced it even in single player and they will be stuck paying these server costs forever, they will never not go away.
Blizz insisted on requiring an internet connection for anything in the game, which means that they are responsible for making sure that everyone can play the game, they get absolutely no sympathy from me, you wouldn't see this bitching if they had an offline single player mode but they wanted everyone connected, which means they better effing keep that connection up and stable.
keeping a connection stable is different then the lack of servers. The servers are stable there just wasn't enough of them so unless you have info about them not planning to add servers i think this part is done
I'm saying if they want to force the player to constantly be connected even if they are playing single player then they better make damn sure they player can get in game when they want and that the connection is stable and with very little lag. Blizz was really retarded when it came to this, they forced it even in single player and they will be stuck paying these server costs forever, they will never not go away.
well we're both set in our ways so i say i'll be over there if you need me playing d3 haha.
Tony2077: keeping a connection stable is different then the lack of servers. The servers are stable there just wasn't enough of them so unless you have info about them not planning to add servers i think this part is done
I'm saying if they want to force the player to constantly be connected even if they are playing single player then they better make damn sure they player can get in game when they want and that the connection is stable and with very little lag. Blizz was really retarded when it came to this, they forced it even in single player and they will be stuck paying these server costs forever, they will never not go away.
well we're both set in our ways so i say i'll be over there if you need me playing d3 haha.
And Ill be playing something better that also doesn't require me bending over for someone.
I'm saying if they want to force the player to constantly be connected even if they are playing single player then they better make damn sure they player can get in game when they want and that the connection is stable and with very little lag. Blizz was really retarded when it came to this, they forced it even in single player and they will be stuck paying these server costs forever, they will never not go away.
well we're both set in our ways so i say i'll be over there if you need me playing d3 haha.
And Ill be playing something better that also doesn't require me bending over for someone.
bending over really that's what your going with. what's this better game
Tony2077: well we're both set in our ways so i say i'll be over there if you need me playing d3 haha.
And Ill be playing something better that also doesn't require me bending over for someone.
bending over really that's what your going with. what's this better game
Its pretty much what your doing, bending over and taking it, there are more than a few publishers who are watching what blizz is doing very closely since they really want to force this always online thing also.
Startrek online, binding of issac, gratuitous tank battles, take your pick.
Korean Officials Raid Blizzard
Blizzard's Seoul office was raided as part of an ongoing investigation into consumer complaints about Diablo 3.
Blizzard's been taking a lot of guffola over Diablo 3, but nowhere is the ride rougher than in South Korea, where an investigation into possible violations of the country's electronic commerce and commercial contracts laws is being carried out by the country's Fair Trade Commission. The FTC actually raided Blizzard's offices earlier this week, seizing documents and other evidence as it seeks to determine whether or not any laws have been broken.
The matter relates to Blizzard's refusal to issue refunds to disgruntled Korean gamers, hundreds of whom have filed official complaints with the FTC about overloaded and inaccessible Diablo 3 servers. Many of them have demanded their money back but Blizzard, citing EULA terms, has refused to do so; instead, it doubled its server capacity in the region and said it would continue to take steps to improve the service and avoid service problems in the future. But for a lot of players, that's not good enough.
"We have received many complaints from Diablo 3 users," FTC rep Kim Hyung-bae said, although he refused to elaborate. Other officials, however, said the investigation is looking into allegations that the game was sold based on an "unfair" contract and whether Blizzard was "ill-prepared" for the high traffic at launch. There's no word on when the investigation will conclude, but the expectation is that Blizzard will be ordered to issue refunds to all unhappy Diablo 3 owners in the country.
Despite its well-publicized troubles, Diablo 3 has been a huge, albeit entirely unsurprising, success for Blizzard, selling 6.3 million copies in its first week of release.
Source: Korea Times
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