back to article 'Alienated' gamer sues WoW for ruining life

An obsessive World of Warcraft player is suing the makers of the game for ruining his life, quoth a gleeful Grauniad this week. Erik Estavillo is seeking $1m (£600,000) in damages, claiming the orc-tastic roleplaying game has turned him into a blank-eyed basketcase who can no longer function in the real world (as the lawsuit …

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  1. Jacqui

    made me smile

    "** Yes, we know this isn't usually how this paper is referred to. What of it?"

  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    R'tard

    Pretty much sums him up

  3. Stef 4
    Go

    Jesus wept

    Sues MS because he can't play, now sues Blizzard because he plays too much.

    This guy is a genius.

    If the US legal system is so crooked and screwed up that he can get away with this sort of thing, then good luck to him.

    1. Steven Knox
      WTF?

      Get away with what?

      He's filed a civil lawsuit. He hasn't won any judgment, and he's actually not very likely to. Anyone can file a civil suit; most of the clearly bonkers ones simply get dismissed. Yes, it means extra work for clerks, etc. but I'd rather that to a system which restricts your ability to petition a court for redress.

  4. JohnG

    Erik Estavillo

    Is his lawyer working pro bozo?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    I like America

    Retards and morons are allowed to breed, given jobs and even allowed access to legal parties.

    What next. People suing Ninendo for losing weight on the Wii "all those hours I put in playing tennis, I want my five stone back"

    Chlorine - meet Gene pool, Gene pool. Chlorine.

    1. Gav
      Thumb Down

      Taking leave of the gene pool

      "Retards and morons are allowed to breed"

      I seriously doubt that this guy is in any danger of breeding.

  6. The Original Ash
    Paris Hilton

    Idnuraag?

    Gaarniud

    Udrianag

    Augirdan

    Raudigan

    Digauran

    Irdugana

    Arduagin

    Naridaug

    Do I win the prize? Haris Pilton's Gigantique bag will suffice.

    1. skeptical i
      Pirate

      Arauding ... like Marauding, but without the Mmmmmm.

      Yaaarrrrrrr.

    2. Mark Monaghan
      Paris Hilton

      @idnuraag

      Raid a gnu?

      <-- Loin Harpist or possibly Lost Hairpin

  7. Rob
    Stop

    Stupid

    He's going about this all wrong, he shoudl clearly being suing the IT industry as a whole for turning him into an insufferable twat, unfortunately the only problem with this plan is that a court of law doesn't officially recognise the term 'insufferable twat'.

    1. Stoneshop
      Pint

      Then he should

      sue the judicial system for not recognizing the term "insufferable twat", thereby somehow restricting his right to, um, something.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What a litigious society we have become

    It beats clubbing each other the head for bananas, though the jury is out on that one.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    FOR

    FUCKS SAKE

  10. doppleganger
    Unhappy

    There, there...

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/unhappy_32.png

    Never mind, this magic potion should take away the pain, take one eye of toad, tongue of frog.., sorry I'm from the real world, I almost forgot myself.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      I'd like to check out the link

      but since I'm too lazy to type it in full and I can no longer copy text off the comment pages I guess I will never get round to seeing it.

      Fail for El Reg - Let us copy text off the comments please

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        I can copy text off the comment page

        But then, I suppose I'm not a retard...

      2. Jamie Jones Silver badge
        FAIL

        haha

        1) I can easily copy text off the comments page.

        2) That's just the URL to the sad face icon, obviously!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Badgers

    Addicted to lawsuits?

    Could it possibly be that the gaming angle is just a pretence to hide his real addiction: Issuing nonsense lawsuits to get El Reg's media attention?

    1. Inachu
      WTF?

      LOL!!!!!!

      Reminds me of that guy who was interviewed by a 60 minute reporter who reported on him because he was making lawsuits against everybody and getting away with it.

      When the report was they made a side comment that the man had a lawsuit against 60 minutes!

      Total fools!

  12. George Nacht
    Unhappy

    Yesterday´s news

    Between all these people suing McDonalds for their obesity, and people suing casinos in Las Vegas for gambling losses, this one is relatively timid (Save for the celebrity invovement).

    Which is actually a very sad thing to say.

    Um, and how long before someone posta a "For the Horde!" comment?.

    1. Richard 39

      had to be done

      For The Horde!!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Troll

    World of Lolcraft methinks

    that will be all peons. Continue about your business.

  14. g e

    Grauniad

    Easiest to read ;o)

  15. A. Lewis
    WTF?

    Wait...

    Was this the same guy who's suing Nintendo for releasing an update that broke his dodgy homebrew, and Microsoft because his xbox got the dreaded RROD?

  16. John70
    Joke

    Did he have to...

    ...link is Epics and Achievements before he could continue his lawsuit?

  17. lansalot
    Thumb Up

    hey !

    Let the guy have his moment !

    I'd love to see this argued in court, it would be incredibly entertaining. Sadly, of course, it'll never get that far. We can only hope...

  18. Sir Runcible Spoon
    WTF?

    Tone of the article

    "** Yes, we know this isn't usually how this paper is referred to. What of it?"

    I must admit to not reading who the author of the article was at first. Then I read this line and thought 'that sounds* remarkably like our very own Moderatrix - an lo and behold !

    It must be nice to have a recognisable style :)

    *or how I imagine the written words to sound.

    Reverse the icon : FTW

  19. Svantevid
    Happy

    EE youth? Are you a mind reader then? :-)

    "Gore is a fine choice of expert in this regard, having penned a host of dead-inside yet catchy tunes (...) beloved of isolated Eastern European youth."

    Say what you will, our beloved Moderatrix, but some of my best years as an isolated (south)Eastern European youth were spent listening to Depeche Mode, and I don't regret it. :-)

    Surviving the era in which it was OK to dress like Jacko in "Thriller" and wear mullets (Limahl, Flock of Seagulls...), I expect some slack in that regard.

  20. LuMan
    Stop

    Real World??

    His case is flawed. How can he use a real-world lawyer when his case is that he can't actually function in the real-world?? It's self-contradiction.

    Maybe he should go to the WoW elders and ask them to help him. He may get an ox and Scarab of Lethusia or something.

    Alternatively, he should just FOAD!

  21. Jimboom
    WTF?

    Whats next?

    Suing the internets for time wasted masturbation due to all the free porn available on it?

    Or perhaps sue the television manufacturers for making such a clear crisp picture that it turned me into a couch potato?

    Noo.. I got it. I am going to sue the school system for wasting all those years and by filling my head with useless information that I have never used?!?!

    Easy answer is just to take this guys computer away. Problem solved! ;-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Don't you mean...

      "Suing the internets for time wasted masturbation due to all the free porn available on it?"

      Should be suing ICANN for RSI as a result of aforementioned masturbation, and forget about it - my court papers are already in the post!

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmm this gives me an idea

    I think I will sue my employer for putting me on a graveyard shift making it necessary to sleep during the day, wrecking my social life.

    Alternatively, I will sue my docs, who have me on medications for pain, which make me sleep most of the day, resulting in a lack of social life.

    Of course this all depends on either not finding out that before i got sick and before I got onto graveyard, I didnt have much of a social life to begin with. (dang games)

    1. Thomas 18
      Stop

      Hey this happened!

      "Denmark has begun compensating “dozens” of women who developed breast cancer after working night shifts, multiple news sources have reported. The BBC said the Danish government’s decision is based on a report from WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)..."

      http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/03March/Pages/NightshiftandbreastcancerQA.aspx

  23. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    equation .....

    Random person with grievance + lawyer = comedy + lawyer gets paid.

    Seriously. Did this dolt hire Lionel Hutz ? What kind of regular lawyer would take such a case ? Has the dolt realised that when he gets slung out of court, the lawyer still needs to be paid ?

    Not even going to get into the nature of the case itself, it's simply too dumb to consider. "I used your product for hours a day until I realised I had no life..... you owe me $$$$".

    On second thoughts, I think I will - Fail.

  24. AndrueC Silver badge

    Hmmm

    There is an element of addiction to MMORPGs. I've played two over the years - Earth & Beyond and Eve-Online. I can well believe that the publishers know about the addictive nature and pander to it. I wouldn't go so far as to think it with actioning but the analogy with drug pushers isn't that hard to see.

    Eve-Online is a frighteningly complex game to get to grips with and the amount of effort that some players put into the game is staggering. A lot of people were coming home from school/college/office and spending another four or five hours working just as hard at Eve.

    I never fell into that trap and mostly played for the online chat and forums but even I found it hard to finally quit.

    So yeah, the guys a bozo but I don't think the problem should be dismissed out of hand. I would be concerned if a child of mine started to play one.

  25. Dale 3

    Class action

    As soon as the class action law takes effect I'm suing everyone! For everything! You lot are funding my retirement.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How

    Where do these people find lawyers to represent them?

    I don't know how it works in the US, but it the UK the whole "no win no fee" thing would mean that a solicitor would advise him the the suit had no chance of success.

    Preumably US law is well aware of the concept of free will?

    1. Cameron Colley

      Perhaps he's paying his own fees?

      Either that or hte lawyer involved plays golf with the judge?

    2. skeptical i
      Pirate

      Many lawyers will happily run up a bill ...

      ... consulting with the client and filing paperwork and then, after the judge tosses out the case, hand the client a bill: regardless of outcome, services have been rendered and better luck next time. Other lawyers work on a percentage, taking X percent of whatever the client wins in damages as their fee (and steering far clear of cases like this one, no doubt). Actually, this case could make a lawyer smile: net one consultation fee, filing fees, and other administrivia charges without having to do any real work since this case is clearly stillborn -- it's almost free money.

  27. Tanuki
    Thumb Down

    Here come de Judge.

    I hereby propose that this trial be held in the Court of Second Life, with the judge represented by a giant purple pneumatic penis and the jury being made up of furries.

    1. Hardcastle
      Coat

      De judge be coming...

      Don't forget the pair of nutz on the bench...

  28. Captain TickTock
    Coat

    Have you seen the ad here?

    Breast implants from MyBreast - with a BAAPS approved surgeon!!!?

    It's not April 1 is it?

    I'm suing the Register for distracting me from my work.

    It's been a long week.

  29. MartinD

    Hmmmm

    What a tool.

  30. MartinD

    Hmmm

    What a tool.

  31. Rob
    FAIL

    Just remebered a big FAIL in his case

    The loading screens that also displays the tips has one that talks about playing WoW in moderation, so the warning is there (just like Wii stuff has). He chose to ignore it, FAIL, kick it straight out of court.

    (P.S. this doesn't affect his status as an insufferable twat).

  32. Inachu
    Grenade

    He has only 1 valid arument.

    The stress of knowing that your co workers invit eyou to play at the point you knowingly wish to get the same things your co workers go when they were already at level 70 when you joined.

    Then as you level up and finally reach level 70 and Blizzard has applied several patches to the game that in effect you can no longer get the same stats armor that you drooled for that your friends had and the desire fades because this almost becomes as they all called it BAIT AND SWITCH.

    You see one thing but get another and it just isn't the same!

    So if I ever roll another toon on the WOW servers it will be the game and the burning crusade.

    Do not! I repeat do not buy the litch king upgrade until you get all that armor set from the BC exapansion. But does Blizzard tell you this? No They expect all level 70's people to wear cheap level 70 greens and they want the level 80's to whoop your butt in the BG's while your team in BG fails repeatedly for not being a twinked 70 toon.

    On top of this rip off they continue to nerf warriors so they can be killed with 3 hits from the front side or back.

    The lore of WOW does not stay firm with the totality of lore cartoon/cartoon fantasy/fiction.

    Rougues in all of Cartoon history and or Fantasy were weaklings but WOW makes them into some skinny villan who even though he weighs just 70 pounds could take on the hulking warrior with no problem. It is this mindset that fails WOW to the extreme and the WOW dev who created the rouge needs to be fired/punished and water boarded.

    I can see that for the rest of the life of WOW that each patch the warrior has been made into a false paper image of itself and is no longer a warrior at all and the names have been switched between the warrior and rogue. The warrior is just now a wimpy sad reminder of itself that sit at the bottom of any poll in terms of strength,dexterity and stamina and power and the first people to cry that teh warrior is over powered are the rogues themselves who drool at 2-3 hit kills. The warrior has no defense against this at all and LTRP(learn to role play) is not a valid reply.

    So yes there is stress and Blizzard does not care how you feel in the least.

    As crazy as the guys seems I hope he wins in court and I hope the blizz dev who did the player dissing gets fired.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      I'm sorry

      but when did this turn into the WoW whining forums. If you want to complain about being nerfed then do it there, if we want to read 100,000 warriors complaining about everything we'll go there to read it.

      Fail.... just because.

  33. MinionZero
    WTF?

    Huh?

    Sorry you lost me around about Winona Ryder?! lol ... So if you want to meet Winona Ryder, you subpoena her, does that work (outside of his dream world?!). Wow why didn't I think of that one. (Let me guess, I bet in his dream world she is even happy to be subpoenaed to meet him, plus she obviously really likes court rooms?!). Bloody hell lol.

    This guy sounds like he's already well off in some kind of a twisted dream world of wanting to meet celebrities, before he even tries to play Warcraft. Joking aside, it sounds like he has more than a few serious screws loose, so to speak. Not least of which, apart from his very evident dream world, he also really seems to like being in the center of attention. Which I strongly suspect is what he really gets out of these legal cases. The attention angle is also very likely to be why he also tries to drag celebrities into the case, because again there's that association with attention because celebrities get a lot of attention and he wants attention.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE: How

    It's quite Simple.

    Although the lawyer doesn't expect to win, this will take very little of his (the lawyer's) time to process up to the "thrown out of court" stage. Likely it will be up to the legal secretary to do all teh paperwork and the lawyer will just sign stuff.

    However, in the extreme unlikeliness that this actually runs then the lawyer will quickly turn it into a class action and then reap fuckloads of fee money.

    Like I say, unlikely to win but it only takes a few seconds on Google to find a big list of really stupid lawsuits that have been won so you never know........

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