Topic: Gamer sues makers of Shandra MMO (in China) over his "virtual items"?!?!

[MysterD]

Okay, so Shanda is a MMO over in China.

And, well....just read this...

Can we say....WTF?   

Shanda Sued, Forced To Pay For 'Stolen' Virtual Items

Shanda - one of Mainland China's heaviest hitters in the MMORPG world - was asked by police to remove virtual items from a player's account during an investigation into the sale of stolen virtual items. Shanda did - then forgot to give them back like the police had told them to. When the player discovered his missing virtual items, he flipped his lid and sued them. Shanda lost and has been ordered to apologize and pay a restitution of 5,000 RMB (a little less than $700 USD) - but to add insult to injury, the player has even more lawsuits in mind:

    "The gamer surnamed Zhang discovered six virtual items, worth more than RMB1,500, missing from his game account on November 22, 2006 and contacted Shanda regarding the disappearance. Shanda said that the company had taken the items in accordance with a police investigation regarding the sale of stolen virtual items. According to the report, Shanda failed to follow police instruction and return the items after the investigation ended. Having spent much time away from the game, Zhang said he plans to take Shanda back to court. This time he plans to sue for the RMB150,000 he claims to have spent in the game during the past five years. Zhang sued Shanda in the Hunan Qiyang People's Court."

Over $20,000 USD seems excessive, to say the least. Will it fly in a Chinese courtroom? I guess we'll find out.

[Quemaqua]

Somebody should just punch him in the face and get it over with.  It has to happen.

[idolminds]

This is bound to come up when you have people paying real world money for virtual items.

[Ghandi]

Yeah, it raises real questions about property and whatnot.

[MysterD]

Yeah, it raises real questions about property and whatnot.

Yeah, about "Real property" and "virtual property"... 

[Xessive]

What a punk! I'm all for rights and retrieving what's rightfully yours and I believe in the principles of it all but this kid is pushing the boundaries! Geez I'd pay that amount of money to avoid wasting time on crap like that and having to deal with courts! The little shit should be grateful Shandra even paid him the 5,000 RMB.

[Quemaqua]

That's my thought.