Gamers React to Ultima Lawsuit

The official response from Origin Systems and Electronic Arts is that they refuse to comment on pending litigation.

Gamers, however, feel little need to hold back their thoughts and comments when it comes to Ultima Online: The Lawsuit.

Gamers were quick to e-mail GameSpot News with their reaction to a class action suit filed last week in San Diego seeking damages from Ultima Online's developer and publisher Origin Systems Inc.

Here's a selection of letters that will once again alert concerned gamers to the fact that Ultima Online, love it or otherwise, has succeeded in captivating a huge segment of the computer game audience.

Letter #1: This is clearly someone trying to make a quick buck at the expense of Origin and US! If they are so unhappy with the game, return it to the place in which they bought! But to sit there and play for a half of year and then decide that the game is too buggy/laggy is idiotic. Deal with it and move on. - P. (UO Atlantic Shard)

Letter #2: Dear Sir, As a person who is always interested in the latest gaming news, your article caught my eye. I am not the most knowledgeable person about either computers or lawsuits, but I know this: those five people should get real and get over it. The vast majority of their complaints are in fact addressed on the box, and the rest are well known problems with the internet. If they are unable to play due to lag, they should get faster modems. If they are so unrealistic as to believe there will be no lag, these newbies should stay away from online multiplayer games. I have played these types of games with an ISDN connection and still had lag. It is a currently unsolvable problem and suing a company for this type of thing is ridiculous at best.

Likewise, they complain that the company shuts down the servers for a few hours a day, yet at the same time they complain that the company is doing nothing about these problems. How is Origin supposed to work at fixing these problems with the servers running and several thousand people trying to play a game? It just does not make sense.

If I may make a recommendation, I suggest that you place some sort of an opinion poll on this subject so that the loyalists of UO and the haters of UO will be able to speak out. In truth, I am neither, I have never played the game, but I have at least read the box and been online with other games. I am merely getting sick of all these illegitimate court cases in the entertainment world. Thank you for listening, - Sincerely, Jonathan D. M.

Letter #3: If this lawsuit isn't the biggest bull I've ever seen I don't know what is. Come one, give me a break. People bringing a lawsuit against a company because the company's product doesn't run perfectly? If this happened always, we would never see another game released. When was the last time that you saw a game that was released that was perfectly bug free and did exactly 100 % what the developer claimed. And, this supposed claim that Origin did not say that the game would cost $10 a month to play is just plain stupid and boils down to semantics.

>>Internet connectivity required to set up your Ultima Online player account. A monthly service charge is applicable after your free trial period ends. If you do not have Internet access, AT&T Worldnet service is included with 30 days free Internet access.<< These statements are false, and the true facts are that ORIGIN did not indicate that there would be a monthly subscription fee to use the game and a monthly fee for internet use. Nor did they indicate that the monthly subscription fee would be $10 per month. If anybody who gets on the internet does not know that there is a monthly charge then it's their problem, not the developer of some program that requires an internet connection. And it also clearly states that after the initial free trial month, a monthly service charge is applicable. If that's not stating that the game will cost money every month to play then maybe I should go back and take more English lessons.

>>Defendants falsely and fraudulently represented the minimum computer requirements as lower than what is actually required to play, or different from that which is required << This is so stupid I can hardly bring myself to comment. The minimum requirements on the box of a piece of software are exactly that. The minimum. Just enough to get the program up and running.

>>Defendants falsely and fraudulently represented that the game could be played in real time. The true facts are that 'lag' time exists, and it can take minutes for a command on the keyboard or mouse to be implemented on the screen. << Oh god, so are the lawyers saying that they actually expect real time on the internet to be "real time?" There will always be lag. Even if we all had T3s there would be lag. Granted it'll be so small to be unnoticeable there is lag. And to expect a game that is played on the internet to be 100% lagfree is just being naive. Especially if the person is playing it with his 28.8. Or 14.4 in this case as this person seemed to be having ridiculous amounts of lag.

>>The true facts are that Ultima Online servers break down daily for hours at a time on a daily basis and Ultima Online cannot be played 24 hours a day everyday. << Well, its obvious by now that these guys totally don't understand how things work on the internet. Nothing stays up and running 100% all the time, everyday. In real life, nothing works all the time, so why do they expect it to on the internet? Every one of the so-called fraudulent representations made by Origin is so much bullshit that I just had to write you and voice my opinions. I'm sorry about this long mess, but after seeing that article I've come to the conclusion that some people are really just leeches out to get money in any way they can. They'd probably sue their own parents if there were money in it. And, you know what's really sad? They might actually succeed with this lawsuit. The judges who sit on their pedestals probably don't understand most of the stuff that goes on online either. Well, this is just my 2 cents. Thanks for your time.

Letter #4: You should let these people know that they are just a bunch of idiots. Most of their claims are just a false as the ones they claim Origin has made and they should go home and cry to their own parents, not waste the governments time and money over this issue.

Also, now the rest of us are going to have to suffer as money that would have gone into fixing any problems is now going to have to go into lawyer fees!!!

Extremely Disappointed and Aggravated!!!- Tyrol

Letter #5: First of all, this lawsuit really pisses me off. Secondly, this is a blatant lie:

27. Defendants falsely and fraudulently indicated that Ultima Online did not require possession and/or use of a credit card by its participants.

I just checked my game box(regular edition, not charter), and it says on the bottom, black on yellow:

VALID CREDIT CARD REQUIRED FOR GAME INSTALLATION

Please let it be known that many of us support Origin through this ordeal. Hopefully, Origin will come out all right, and if so, perhaps our beloved Britannia will survive. As much as I want UO to be fixed, I do not want it destroyed by a lawsuit.- Greg I.

Letter #6: How do I get in contact with the lawyer so that I can throw my support behind the action? I would love to see Origin get slapped for grabbing cash for a product which is as bug ridden and unplayable as UO. I am one of the folks who just gave up and didn't bother playing anymore when Origin refused to refund the money I paid for their bugged game. I had purchased the Charter Edition and did not even bother using two of the three free months before I asked for my money back. Thanks for letting us know about the suit.- George S.

Letter #7: Hey , I'm 20 years old and this game is pissing me off, those people are right, they did lie! Also there is NO SUPPORT, the GM's (Game Masters ) have never helped.. They have never replied to my e-mail nor have bothered to help me in the game with problems that are their fault.. Last week the Sonoma server was broken sorta.. you could play for 4 hours and then it would crash and 4 hours of work (in the game) would be lost. The GM's say "Sorry, but I cannot refund you". This is BS. I would like to sue them too!- T1

Letter #8: I think it is far too extreme to take Origin to court. After all it is to the players discretion if he or she wants to pay the $10 or not, and if he or she decides to, then he/she has to live with the drawbacks as well as the benefits. If the person sees to many drawbacks he/she should simply cancel his/her account.

While I do find the concept of UO very intriguing and daring, it clearly needs a lot of adjusting. What I do not understand is why UO does not hire more people to handle the load of work, as there is always a backup in the different departments. And why is Origin already working on UO 2, when they haven't even gotten UO worked out yet?

I do pay for my monthly playtime and I am not complaining, I would just like to see a little more visible effort on getting the things straight one at a time, before jumping to new implements and patches, which cause more problems with lag or gameplay issues.- Grant

Letter #9: I played in the Beta, and started with the first day I received my charter copy in the mail to play UO....I was NOT under any illusions that it would be free to play UO after buying the game, either. It was clear to anyone who can read the box and follows the web sites and boards. I paid more to play Meridian 59 and Airwar....as high as $3.00 an hour for Airwar on Genie. I had to ration Airwar, and M59 was simplistic. Britannia is a full, rich, deep environment with thousands of things to pursue, and thousands of people to meet. I average 150 hrs a month and I understand there is lag on the internet. Just play warcraft or any number of games on Kali......you will experience lag. what can anyone hope to get from a lawsuit? Give them their money back and say good riddance...I bet they played more in UO then any other game they paid an equal amount of money for. I have, and that means they got their money's worth. If they don't want to play...don't pay the $9.95. I will, for as long as UO is around :)- David D. V.

Letter #10: Only in America...I hope that the people who have proceeded with legal action against the parties to Ultima Online realize that they are dragging down all other gamers around the world with them.- Cheers, Kevin C.

Letter #11: Hi, I just wanted to express my disappointment in the upcoming against Origin and EA over what I see as "nit-picking" oversights. This possibly could very well ruin the future of online gaming, which Ultima Online certainly represents, since now publishers may start to become more reluctant to do such ventures in fear of legal oversight. Ultima Online is exactly what it should have been, a pioneering game in an all but explored of sector in the gaming world. And they did a damn good job over that, in my opinion. As far as I've been able to see, Origin did nothing of what is charged against them in order to "screw" the public into buying a dud product. I've been part of OU since it started and the changes and time gone into rectifying what players thought was wrong with the game are unbelievable at best. This is not the same game but a better one now. Congrads to Origin for that! I find this lawsuit as nothing more than an irresponsible means to an end for a few overly self-righteous and perhaps selfish individuals. I mean, it's illegal to look at a moose from an airplane or any other flying vehicle in Alaska(It's true) but you don't see people being dealt lawsuits over it for any practical reasons. In the end, I can't just help feeling that they may be opening a Pandora's box... They could end up ruining everyone's fun. My advice: If you think your getting ripped off, don't play it. Let us who do, and enjoy it, alone..- J. B.