30. alleged game addiction, idiotry, and more ridiculous lawsuits

20,000 hours is an extremely long time to be doing anything - even the basic function of living.  20,000 hours translates into 833 days, which further calculates out to 2.28 years.  it's enough time complete more than half of a 4-year bachelors program while maintaining a healthy social and family life.  it's enough time to finish most masters degree programs after graduation.

i think you get my point, it's enough time to do some serious things.  or play some games instead.  maybe some call of duty, or some madden.  even some world of warcraft, if you're into that.  sorry.  did i say games? i meant game, singular.  that's what a guy named craig smallwood did - over a period spanning from 2004 through 2009, the hawaii native spent 20,000 hours playing NCsoft's lineage II.  lineage II is a sequel to its namesake, one of many online games springing up from the booming south korean market.  featuring (in my opionion) incredible artistic detail, it received mixed reviews from critics.

now let's put that into perspective - for those 6 years he spent 38% of his life playing lineage II. but that's not even the most ridiculous part.  he actually sued NCsoft for an undisclosed amount of funds for negligence and gross negligence, for not disclosing the addictive nature of the game.  apparently you see, if he know the game was so addictive, he wouldn't have started playing in the first place.  i understand that game addiction is possible, as i once noted an acquaintance of mine who routinely skipped physics for guild meetings.  but this particular incident doesn't smell right to me.  these were the counts smallwood brought forth against NCsoft: (i) misrepresentation/deceit, (ii) unfair and deceptive trade practices, (iii) defamation/libel/slander, (iv) negligence, (v) gross negligence, (vi) intentional infliction of emotional distress, (vii) negligent infliction of emotional distress, and (viii) punitive damages.  but that's still not the most ridiculous part.  after NCsoft moved for dismissal, alan kay, the presiding US district judge, refused to dismiss parts of the claim - he only dismissed counts i, ii, vi, and viii.  so the counts of negligence, gross negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress, in his judicial opinion, "remain viable."

now a quick sidebar:  every computer game i've ever purchased installs with a nice long end user license agreement (EULA for short) that you should actually read before you complete the install.  i myself play world of warcraft and i sure as hell read mine -  ain't no one sneakin' a fast one on ol' nene.  it's how i know that blizzard (the warcraft people) isn't liable for loss of data, goodwill, or work stoppage (love how they threw that one in there) that i may experience.  playing the game means i agreed to that.  all games, including massively multiplayer online games, have a similar clause.  one of the big ones in MMO games is exchanging in-game goods for real world money, which NCsoft ultimately banned smallwood's account for.

so shouldn't all of this prevent ridiculousness of this magnitude from moving forward?  someone who claimed an inability to stop playing a game, but fully able to press charges once he broke the rules and wasn't allowed to play anymore?  direct EULA violations and a banned account in play?  according to the judge on record, the EULA included a "choice of law" clause that indicated that interpretation of the agreement would be governed by texas law.  and guess what texas and hawaii prevent people from doing?  that's right, they prevent them from waiving the right to claim gross negligence in advance.  well, damn.

let's be real, this guy is just pissed he got caught breaking the rules and lost his account.  and the present state of law is letting him have his way.

wired has judge kay's ruling on the counts here, and you can read a good analysis of the case from steve roosa at freedom to tinker.

23. the great escape (chinese internet addiction center edition)

probably not this cool

while i do always tout that we are living in the digital age, there is a line that can be drawn between "web enthusiast" and addiction.  a web enthusiast may be bored without his or her collection of gadgetry and digital accessories, but it's not the end of the world.  it's not going to reduce them to a slumped neanderthal that can barely function in the world.  an addict, on the other hand, is willing to stay online at all hours of the day, forsaking work, school, and personal relationships for what they find online.  sometimes it's gambling, maybe illicit online affairs, or topping all else, games.

internet addiction may sound strange, but i have seen it happen on a number of occasions.  the first time i did was when i was a sophomore in college, where a few of us on our floor shared an 11am physics class (so it's not like it was even early)  that you generally wouldn't want to skip.  one morning as i'm preparing to make the trek to the lecture hall, we noticed one of our classmates, in the same clothes he's wore for days of course, on his computer.  "you not going to physics today man?"

"no dude i can't.  i have a guild meeting."

i don't care how good the game is or the intensity of your god damn raid schedule - someone with a normal thought pattern would recognize that while you're talking strategy so you can get some experience points and gear upgrades, your school is draining your real life account by anywhere between $400-$600 per credit.  unfortunately for him, this became a pretty standard practice.  he pretty much fell off the face of the earth after that.

the case above isn't even an extreme one.  people can spend upwards of 15 hours online gaming or, well, doing whatever it is they do.  as i mentioned before, online affairs and gambling have become pretty popular pastimes - probably because the internet and network services as a whole, in my opinion anyway, facilitate these addictions in many cases, and almost act like an extension to an existing personal problem.  it's become so widespread that treatment centers are offering programs for internet addiction, right alongside alcohol and gambling.

this seems to be an even more crippling affliction in china, where estimates put the number of "internet addicted" citizens above the 20 million mark, by the china youth association for network development.  and to remedy the situation, their treatment facilities are run like military centers. officially treatment involves chinese calligraphy, philosophy, and a strict military regimen.  not surprisingly, there have been widespread reports of abuse in these centers from beatings to other forms of torture.  in august 2009, a 15 year old, well, inmate, for lack of a better term, was beaten to death by two guards who were sentenced to 10 years in prison last month.

so what do you expect when you take one of these facilities, 14 young men in jiangsu province, some of them addicted gamers (whose primary goal is always to down a boss), a steady stream of work-camp-like conditions, military grade physical training, and possibly abusive guards?  quiet acceptance?  adherence to disciplinary rules?  hell no.  without anyone giving you more details you know this all clearly spells shawshank style escape and revolution.

i imagine it was something like this

the crew of motley nerds found an opening, jumped their commander (yes, commander) and bound him to his bed, then made a break for it.  once outside, they hopped a couple of taxis in the hopes of making it back to taste sweet freedom and online logons.  but as all great escapes go, be it steve mcqueen on a stolen bike or chinese kids packed in a taxi like a clown car, their plan was foiled.  you see, the problem was that they were broke.  and the cab driver was less than understanding.  the cops were called to the scene, and all 14 youths were taken to the local 5-0 station.

but it doesn't look like this shook the parents' faith in the treatment centers and their methods, and thus the people's republic (not to mention the equivalent of a few grand they shelled out).  after picking them up from the police, out of the 14 renegades, all were shipped directly back to the huai'an center.