https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:35:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/lawful-neutral-what-mmo-gamers-need-to-know-about-section-230/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/lawful-neutral-what-mmo-gamers-need-to-know-about-section-230/#comments Fri, 03 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428679 You might have seen something in the news last week about a thing called Section 230 and lots of panic over the “end of the internet” as a result of the Supreme Court hearing a couple cases, both with ties to Section 230: Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Tammneh. I’m not going to spend […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/lawful-neutral-what-mmo-gamers-need-to-know-about-section-230/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/13/lawful-neutral-recapping-2022s-mmo-and-gaming-law-dramas/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/13/lawful-neutral-recapping-2022s-mmo-and-gaming-law-dramas/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=422049 Fam, it’s been a year. I know we’ve been saying that pretty much every year since 2016, but we’ll stop saying it when it stops being true. This year was a pretty epic year for legal gaming news. Although Blizzard takes the trophy for the “Most Litigated Company” for the third year running, a lot […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/13/lawful-neutral-recapping-2022s-mmo-and-gaming-law-dramas/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/28/lawful-neutral-how-extremism-and-terrorism-slither-into-online-gaming/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/28/lawful-neutral-how-extremism-and-terrorism-slither-into-online-gaming/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=411442 Back in 2014, something happened in the gaming space, something whose impact was so damaging that even almost 10 years later, I realize that I still hesitate to use its name in print. It’s still a bit like playing Bloody Mary in the mirror, except you type this word out and you get a deluge […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/28/lawful-neutral-how-extremism-and-terrorism-slither-into-online-gaming/feed/ 61 https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/15/lawful-neutral-how-is-an-nft-mmo-even-supposed-to-work/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/15/lawful-neutral-how-is-an-nft-mmo-even-supposed-to-work/#comments Fri, 15 Apr 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=383182 Recently, MassivelyOP hit a milestone: We received our quadrabajillionth email announcing that Scammy-scammers-now-with-NFTs-and-also-metaverse-because-reasons Inc. was a proven market leader with a new scamming game and… blah blah blah. Literally everyone sends us these mostly bogus, fluffed-up press releases. Fam, it’s exhausting. But when I received the quadrabajillionth-and-oneth email, I actually wondered how they all thought […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/15/lawful-neutral-how-is-an-nft-mmo-even-supposed-to-work/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/16/lawful-neutral-recapping-the-mmo-industrys-legal-dramas-2021-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/16/lawful-neutral-recapping-the-mmo-industrys-legal-dramas-2021-edition/#comments Sun, 16 Jan 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=369721 With meatspace commitments causing no-end of stress and herculean amounts of work for me, Lawful Neutral had a bit of a slow year that I’d like to amend in 2022 (which surely has to be better than 2020 and 2021, right?). But the MMO legal news feed definitely didn’t slow down at all. If 2020 […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/16/lawful-neutral-recapping-the-mmo-industrys-legal-dramas-2021-edition/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/22/lawful-neutral-managing-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/22/lawful-neutral-managing-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=349239 When I’m playing games, I make a lot of use of the reporting function. If I see a moonkin zerg farming a spot in World of Warcraft, I’ll stop and report as many as I can. If I see toxic chat in an MMO or things I think would be offensive to me or others, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/22/lawful-neutral-managing-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/lawful-neutral-defining-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/lawful-neutral-defining-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=343797 One of my earliest memories from World of Warcraft isn’t really a positive one. It was in back in the Wrath days. My guild had just recruited a new member, who jumped into Ventrilo (heh) to hear us chat. One of my guildies was a woman. When this new member heard her speak over Vent, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/lawful-neutral-defining-toxicity-in-the-mmo-industry/feed/ 58 https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/29/lawful-neutral-the-bizarre-corporate-effort-to-buy-runescape-studio-jagex/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/29/lawful-neutral-the-bizarre-corporate-effort-to-buy-runescape-studio-jagex/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=320368 Would it really be a new year without Runescape developer Jagex being involved in some sort of weird corporate sale only to be blocked by a lawsuit that says, “You can’t sell because you don’t own it?” Well, technically, yes it would be a new year. But it’s hard to feel as if Jagex’s ownership […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/29/lawful-neutral-the-bizarre-corporate-effort-to-buy-runescape-studio-jagex/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/06/lawful-neutral-2020-was-the-year-that-wasnt-for-mmo-legal-news/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/06/lawful-neutral-2020-was-the-year-that-wasnt-for-mmo-legal-news/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2021 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=316374 It seems surreal, but it is that time of the year again when we wax nostalgic about the year that was. Well, maybe this year is a bit less “wax nostalgic” and more of a “kill it, kill it with fire” kind of response to the particular year that 2020 turned out to be. In […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/06/lawful-neutral-2020-was-the-year-that-wasnt-for-mmo-legal-news/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/28/lawful-neutral-the-epic-vs-apple-lawsuit-when-titans-are-tweens/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/28/lawful-neutral-the-epic-vs-apple-lawsuit-when-titans-are-tweens/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=306995 The MassivelyOP Golden Yacht was anchored someplace off the coast of Maine when the first news about Epic suing Apple hit. We had sailed north to avoid the hurricane from our normal anchorage much further south. I burst into the galley, fax bulletin clutched in my hand, and delivered the news to a bemused Bree, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/28/lawful-neutral-the-epic-vs-apple-lawsuit-when-titans-are-tweens/feed/ 29 https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/15/lawful-neutral-no-really-who-owns-jagex-and-runescape/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/15/lawful-neutral-no-really-who-owns-jagex-and-runescape/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=291208 RuneScape is one of those games that always seems to fly under my radar. It’s not intentional, and I don’t have anything especially against the game, but I’ve never played it and never had the strong urge to play it. Judging the ongoing financial success of RuneScape and Jagex, I’m in the minority here. Of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/15/lawful-neutral-no-really-who-owns-jagex-and-runescape/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2020/04/17/lawful-neutral-leakers-trade-secrets-and-lawsuits-in-the-online-gaming-world/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/04/17/lawful-neutral-leakers-trade-secrets-and-lawsuits-in-the-online-gaming-world/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2020 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=278127 In recent years, you might have noticed a new type of lawsuit coming out of game companies, as some of the more litigation-happy studios have been suing people who leak details about a game or a patch ahead of release. We’ve covered a few of the Epic Games cases here, and a few other notable […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/04/17/lawful-neutral-leakers-trade-secrets-and-lawsuits-in-the-online-gaming-world/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-copyright-law-and-the-wow-glider-lawsuit/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-copyright-law-and-the-wow-glider-lawsuit/#comments Fri, 28 Feb 2020 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=270923 I have fond memories of using the Game Genie on my NES. To my seven-year-old self, it was a godsend. So many Nintendo games were fun but punishing to my young sensibilities, and I wanted to win. I also wanted to show my older brother I was as good at video games as he was. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-copyright-law-and-the-wow-glider-lawsuit/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/14/lawful-neutral-examining-the-infamous-mmo-lockbox-2020-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/14/lawful-neutral-examining-the-infamous-mmo-lockbox-2020-edition/#comments Fri, 14 Feb 2020 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=268619 I have a soft spot for paranormal horror. I love movies about demons, ghosts, hauntings, possessions. There’s one particular movie from the early aughts called The Possession. The movie takes a Jewish myth about the “dybbuk box,” a powerful evil spirit that takes possession of people to do bad things that exists in a wine […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/14/lawful-neutral-examining-the-infamous-mmo-lockbox-2020-edition/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/31/lawful-neutral-examining-ddos-attacks-and-their-impact-on-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/31/lawful-neutral-examining-ddos-attacks-and-their-impact-on-mmos/#comments Fri, 31 Jan 2020 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=266515 When I was younger, used to play with LEGOs with my cousins all the time. We’d spend time creating huge houses and vehicles that could fly and have big battles. It was so much fun… most of the time. Every once in a while, one cousin would get angry with what we were building and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/31/lawful-neutral-examining-ddos-attacks-and-their-impact-on-mmos/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/21/lawful-neutral-examinging-the-archeage-class-action-lawsuit-and-what-it-means-for-gamers/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/21/lawful-neutral-examinging-the-archeage-class-action-lawsuit-and-what-it-means-for-gamers/#comments Tue, 21 Jan 2020 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=264353 Gamers threaten lawsuits a lot. Most of the time they threaten lawsuits over things that aren’t really something they can sue over, usually due to misunderstanding what some legal concepts are – like false advertising or bait-and-switch. In almost every case, these allegations of lawsuits are just bluster. But every once a while, something actually […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/01/21/lawful-neutral-examinging-the-archeage-class-action-lawsuit-and-what-it-means-for-gamers/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2019/12/31/lawful-neutral-a-look-back-at-the-mmo-industrys-law-dramas-of-2019/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/12/31/lawful-neutral-a-look-back-at-the-mmo-industrys-law-dramas-of-2019/#comments Tue, 31 Dec 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=261659 It’s hard to believe that 2019 is almost over. Not necessarily unwelcome, but hard to believe. 2019 has been a year in more ways than any of us wants to consider. It feels like we are approaching 2020 the same sense of inevitable trepidation when we notice too late we are about to step a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/12/31/lawful-neutral-a-look-back-at-the-mmo-industrys-law-dramas-of-2019/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2019/11/22/lawful-neutral-when-marvel-sued-ncsoft-over-city-of-heroes/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/11/22/lawful-neutral-when-marvel-sued-ncsoft-over-city-of-heroes/#comments Fri, 22 Nov 2019 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=256284 One of the biggest MMORPG genre stories over the last year has been the ongoing saga/drama around the bizarre but very much welcomed rebirth of City of Heroes. If our more vocal commenters are any indication, it was a much-loved game run by an unloved publisher – and old-school MMO gamers to have no problem […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/11/22/lawful-neutral-when-marvel-sued-ncsoft-over-city-of-heroes/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/25/lawful-neutral-whats-china-really-worth-to-the-western-gaming-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/25/lawful-neutral-whats-china-really-worth-to-the-western-gaming-industry/#comments Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=250513 You know what we never talk about these days? China and video games! We should do that more. For example, did you know that as far back as 2011, Chinese “Re-education through Labor” prisons included 12-hour shifts for prisoners grinding gold in various online video games — and that it was actually more profitable than […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/25/lawful-neutral-whats-china-really-worth-to-the-western-gaming-industry/feed/ 42 https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/04/lawful-neutral-endorsements-disclosures-and-the-games-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/04/lawful-neutral-endorsements-disclosures-and-the-games-industry/#comments Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=246886 Infomercials are the worst. There’s nothing quite as infuriating as turning on the TV only to find a 30-minute commercial about how people can’t put Tupperware into a cupboard without it cascading out and drowning them in a flood of dingy plastic. In fact, the only redeeming feature of infomercials is that you know with […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/10/04/lawful-neutral-endorsements-disclosures-and-the-games-industry/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2019/09/13/lawful-neutral-examining-ashes-of-creations-controversial-referral-program/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/09/13/lawful-neutral-examining-ashes-of-creations-controversial-referral-program/#comments Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=242653 I have a really hard time taking anything seriously that refers to money as “bucks.” You’ll recall that I opened the Lawful Neutral column on virtual currency a while back with a Spongebob reference and parallel to Mr. Krab’s Wacky Bucks. The inspiration for that reference? Well, that was none other than Intrepid Studios’ Intrepid […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/09/13/lawful-neutral-examining-ashes-of-creations-controversial-referral-program/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/16/lawful-neutral-the-long-fall-of-project-copernicus-38-studios/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/16/lawful-neutral-the-long-fall-of-project-copernicus-38-studios/#comments Fri, 16 Aug 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=238892 There are some MMO stories that are just unbelievable. They are so warped convoluted and confusing that we think there’s no possible way it can be true. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Curt Shilling, the baseball player whose game studio implosion was so notoriously cataclysmic you could see it from space, is in the news […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/16/lawful-neutral-the-long-fall-of-project-copernicus-38-studios/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/09/lawful-neutral-money-laundering-and-micro-laundering-in-the-mmo-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/09/lawful-neutral-money-laundering-and-micro-laundering-in-the-mmo-industry/#comments Fri, 09 Aug 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=237971 Previously on Lawful Neutral, we talked about currency and how video game companies try very hard to not be classified as a currency because of the regulatory overhead it creates when a company is a money services business (MSB). Being a MSB means that they are subject to the regulatory requirements of the Banking Secrecy […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/08/09/lawful-neutral-money-laundering-and-micro-laundering-in-the-mmo-industry/feed/ 25 https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/26/lawful-neutral-mr-krabs-wacky-bucks-and-currency-in-online-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/26/lawful-neutral-mr-krabs-wacky-bucks-and-currency-in-online-games/#comments Fri, 26 Jul 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=235925 I used to watch Spongebob religiously. I loved the days when I could put on Nickelodeon and have Spongebob on for hours. One of my favorite jokes from the show is Mr. Krabs’ ongoing quest to fleece more money out of Spongebob for the work he was doing while paying little to nothing in return. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/26/lawful-neutral-mr-krabs-wacky-bucks-and-currency-in-online-games/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/12/lawful-neutral-dance-studios-canvas-bags-and-false-advertising-in-the-mmo-industry/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/12/lawful-neutral-dance-studios-canvas-bags-and-false-advertising-in-the-mmo-industry/#comments Fri, 12 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=233812 As I was writing our Lawful Neutral expose of Nerd Kingdom a few weeks ago, I was pretty bothered by the conduct of the company. For an MMO studio that had sold itself to crowdfunders as being different and not like those other companies, it ended up being significantly more shady than most of those […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/12/lawful-neutral-dance-studios-canvas-bags-and-false-advertising-in-the-mmo-industry/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2019/06/28/lawful-neutral-tugs-nerd-kingdom-is-the-real-slim-shady/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/06/28/lawful-neutral-tugs-nerd-kingdom-is-the-real-slim-shady/#comments Fri, 28 Jun 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=231732 I hate being disappointed. I doubt I’m alone. In general, I try to temper my expectations and accept negative outcomes just as much as positive outcomes. But it doesn’t always work. One particular case is with Nerd Kingdom and TUG. I am very disappointed that TUG never really saw the light of day. The vision […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/06/28/lawful-neutral-tugs-nerd-kingdom-is-the-real-slim-shady/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/31/lawful-neutral-why-josh-hawleys-senate-lockbox-regulation-bill-is-dead-on-arrival/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/31/lawful-neutral-why-josh-hawleys-senate-lockbox-regulation-bill-is-dead-on-arrival/#comments Fri, 31 May 2019 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=227537 There’s a special place in my heart for lootboxes and exploitative monetization, and that place is somewhere below the revulsion I feel for Martin Shkreli or going for a swim with the shit demon from the movie Dogma. Lockboxes and other exploitative monetization mechanics have had a demonstrably negative impact on gamers by relying on […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/31/lawful-neutral-why-josh-hawleys-senate-lockbox-regulation-bill-is-dead-on-arrival/feed/ 55 https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/18/lawful-neutral-what-dmca-exemption-victories-really-mean-for-mmo-preservation/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/18/lawful-neutral-what-dmca-exemption-victories-really-mean-for-mmo-preservation/#comments Sat, 18 May 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=225342 You might remember back in October, we covered how the US Library of Congress granted expanded DMCA exceptions for preserving online games. The Library of Congress’ decision was lauded as a win for preserving online games, and it certainly was. But it’s not exactly the sweeping victory for emulators that it’s so often touted as. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/18/lawful-neutral-what-dmca-exemption-victories-really-mean-for-mmo-preservation/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/03/lawful-neutral-the-war-over-star-citizen-in-crytek-v-cloud-imperium-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/03/lawful-neutral-the-war-over-star-citizen-in-crytek-v-cloud-imperium-games/#comments Fri, 03 May 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=223139 Hello citizens! Today, I’m going to talk about a little game that’s been flying under the radar and I think deserves some air time: Star Citizen. I’m obviously being a bit facetious here as Star Citizen is no stranger to the limelight or drama. This week I want to review the Crytek v. Cloud Imperium […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/03/lawful-neutral-the-war-over-star-citizen-in-crytek-v-cloud-imperium-games/feed/ 42 https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/19/lawful-neutral-is-it-safe-to-play-on-city-of-heroes-inevitable-rogue-servers/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/19/lawful-neutral-is-it-safe-to-play-on-city-of-heroes-inevitable-rogue-servers/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2019 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=220849 You CAN play on the City of Heroes rogue servers you're about to see springing up. But should you? Our law columnist looks into the legalities of the City of Heroes emulation situation.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/19/lawful-neutral-is-it-safe-to-play-on-city-of-heroes-inevitable-rogue-servers/feed/ 71 https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/05/lawful-neutral-the-future-of-mmo-game-design-in-a-streaming-gaming-world/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/05/lawful-neutral-the-future-of-mmo-game-design-in-a-streaming-gaming-world/#comments Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=218419 It’s been an interesting few weeks for gaming. We saw the announcement of Google’s game streaming service, Stadia, and then Apple’s subscribe-to-access game service, Apple Arcade. The services differ, but they get to the same basic place: pay a flat fee and get access to all these games. Google and Apple are not the only […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/05/lawful-neutral-the-future-of-mmo-game-design-in-a-streaming-gaming-world/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2019/03/22/lawful-neutral-dancing-around-fortnites-copyright-lawsuits/ https://massivelyop.com/2019/03/22/lawful-neutral-dancing-around-fortnites-copyright-lawsuits/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=215381 Welcome friends to the inaugural post of Lawful Neutral on Massively OP. I’m Andy, but you know me better as Serrenity, writer of comments too long by half and not nearly as clever as I hope. I’ve been wanting to up my writing game for a while, so when the call went out, I decided […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2019/03/22/lawful-neutral-dancing-around-fortnites-copyright-lawsuits/feed/ 20