Guy suing WoW over "alienation", subpoenas Winona Ryder and Depeche Mode
Lawsuit crazy Erik Estavillo's at it again, but this time instead of suing Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo, he's suing Activision Blizzard over World of Warcraft and wants to subpoena Winona Ryder and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore as witnesses.
Filed in California, the civil complaint states that WoW uses “deceitful” business practices, as it “continues to maintain a harmful virtual environment to many of its customers by forcing them to follow the game’s sneaky and deceitful practices.”
One complaint is that his character has “to walk or run at a calculated slow pace, resulting in the player taking longer to get where he or she needs to go in the game.” His claim is that because of this, it takes longer to play the game which is a "deceitful practice" in revenue generation from ActiBlizz, as faster travel is not available until a player levels up or buys an expansion pack.
Estavillo also claims that his health problems (OCD, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, major depression and Crohn’s Disease) are getting worse, and he does not want to end up like EverQuest gamer Shawn Woolley, who took his own life in 2001, and like Shawn, he "relies on videogames heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life.”
OK, now how does Depeche Mode's founder and Winona Ryder come into play with this bit of lunacy? Because both can provide "testimony on his behalf regarding the subject of alienation". Surely they'll both be honored to appear in court for him, no?
That's it. We're stopping there, and letting you read the rest over on GamePolitics.