• ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netOP
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    9 months ago

    For those who can’t watch the video:

    Across the globe, companies can simply say you DO NOT own your games as long as they have a EULA, and it even gives them the power to destroy your ability to play a game!

    Ross Scott (of Freeman’s Mind and Game Dungeon fame) has done the leg-work of researching how much power these companies have in various countries, and what he found was that, as a gamer, you effectively have the same amount of rights as a squirrel.

    The only way to stop this practice would take millions of dollars to fight it legally in court, and uh… I don’t really see any millionaire gamers willing to take up that cause. So, in any realistic sense, the corps have won here. There’s nothing we can realistically do, short of boycotting.

    BUT, that doesn’t count for the EU, Scandinavian countries, Canada, UK, or Australia. Unlike the US, they actually have functional consumer protection laws, and ways for consumers to fight back against corporate overreach without needing to have a few million in the bank.

    If you live in any of those countries, we could use your help! It would help even further if you’ve purchased and own The Crew at any point in time, but you can help even if you haven’t!

    If you live anywhere else, you can STILL help by helping sign a French consumer petition, which has real weight to do something, it isn’t like one of those pointless change(dot)org ones! But to participate, you must have owned the game.

    You’re on the front lines of consumer protection for gamers across the globe! Your actions (if we’re ultimately successful) would likely have ramifications even in the US and Canada!

    How can you help? If you can’t watch the video, here’s the website with a step-by-step guide on what you can do to help: StopKillingGames.com

    This is likely going to be the biggest push for consumer protection for gamers there has ever been, so… Like, it’s kind’ve a big deal. Let’s make this count, guys.

  • blindsight@beehaw.org
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    9 months ago

    Watched the whole thing. I hope this gains traction!

    Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about this yet; I’ll set a reminder to check in a month if the petition in my country is active.

    I don’t think it’s reasonable to submit a complaint to the French consumer protection agency since I don’t own the game.

  • Computerchairgeneral@fedia.io
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    9 months ago

    I’m impressed at how well thought out this battle plan is. I’m usually pessimistic when it comes to governments taking pro-consumer stances, but then again all it takes is one government siding against game companies to set a precedent. Hopefully this picks up steam and gets to a wider audience. It feels like one of the few things gamers can agree on these days is how much they hate business practices like this.

  • espiritu_p@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    That’s a great initiative.
    I haven’t bought games from big publishers as EA or Ubi for years because of this issue.

  • SimplyTadpole@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 months ago

    I’m a pretty big fan of an online-only game that was killed while I was still in diapers, and I can only play a limited debug build of it that was leaked by a disgruntled developer who was mad the game was shut down. I often wish I had been able to experience it the way it was originally intended to.

    I don’t have The Crew, but what I’m seeing lines up very closely to my situation, so I relate to it. And this is a cause I most definitely support, so I really hope this works out. I hate when games end up as permanently lost media…