I've thought about this some more, and I sort of actually think that blocking class action lawsuits is somewhat ok.
In theory a class action lawsuit is a good thing that should not be banned. One party wrongs a very large number of people in exactly the same way. It is convenient and more just for them to all collectively file suit and each take their fair share of the money if they win. I have received quite a few checks in the mailbox in my day due to such lawsuits, and I'm not complaining, even though the amount of money was not so much at all.
In reality a class action lawsuit is quite different. Some lawyers see a chance to make money. They file the suit and make most of the money and send tiny checks to all the actual harmed people. Then again, nobody is really paying them to file the suit, so they are taking a risk of losing.
Because that is how things do work these days, a class action lawsuit actually harms the company and the harmed parties. If someone filed a class action lawsuit on Valve, it would cost Valve time and money, which would in turn reduce the quality of service for their customers, the very people the suit is supposed to be helping. Then some lawyers would get rich, and users would get a free game or two.
If the problem of class action lawsuits were fixed, then I would say it is ok to make them unblockable by a contract. The way they should work is the wronged class of people should all have to PAY the lawyers their legal fee. Then, ALL the money that is won in the lawsuit is distributed evenly amongst the plaintiffs. That way lawyers wouldn't get rich off these things, they would just get their usual legal fee. The risk of losing and reward of winning would be transferred to the actual people filing the suit, but the reward would be much greater in case of a win.
Most of the time if you get dicked by a company like Valve, and customer service can't fix it, then small claims court can fix it. That's in a worse case scenario you can't really deal with otherwise. For example, maybe you bought a game that didn't work and you couldn't return it, or they charge you for a game you thought you were buying at a sale price and there was a glitch.
In the case of Valve, I don't really mind regardless of how well class action lawsuits work. They seem pretty good towards their customers compared to a lot of other videogame companies.
I may buy four copies and gift them to my friends, since it'd still be cheaper than buying the actual physical board game :P It always seems like board games are $10 more than I want to spend on them. It's like there's some weird psychological difference between $20 and $30 for me. If only the used market for these things wasn't basically nonexistent online.
Someone tweeted that assassins creed III is $20 on walmart.com? I'm unaware of whether that's a good deal or not and not particularly concerned... but maybe this will help someone?
Someone tweeted that assassins creed III is $20 on walmart.com? I'm unaware of whether that's a good deal or not and not particularly concerned... but maybe this will help someone?
I got Assassin's Creed Revelations (is that 3?) for free with some of my new PC hardware. It was bleh.
Class action lawsuits exist primarily to allow many people who have few resources but are wronged to punish the opposing party. It's primarily punitive.
Someone tweeted that assassins creed III is $20 on walmart.com? I'm unaware of whether that's a good deal or not and not particularly concerned... but maybe this will help someone?
I got Assassin's Creed Revelations (is that 3?) for free with some of my new PC hardware. It was bleh.
Pretty sure "3" refers to Brotherhood, which is essentially an expansion to AC2 (which was fantastic.)
I played Revelations for a bit, decided I was sick of Ezio and this new bullshit with the boring modern guy (Desmond?), so I'm holding off until the actual AC3 comes out.
Someone tweeted that assassins creed III is $20 on walmart.com? I'm unaware of whether that's a good deal or not and not particularly concerned... but maybe this will help someone?
I got Assassin's Creed Revelations (is that 3?) for free with some of my new PC hardware. It was bleh.
No, it's more like 2 and 3/4. It's a full game, but the story is a direct follow on from the last one, with the same primary character, and many similar secondary characters - It really helps to have played Brotherhood and AC2 beforehand.
Either way, I didn't think you'd like that one.
Edit - Wups, should have checked the next page. Oh well.
Comments
Borderlands 2 4-pack. I purchase. Each person pays me back (paypal or in person at Prime I guess) $40 (supposing we do this by the 30th).
Thus we will be able to play as a coop team on release.
Do we have sufficient interest?
I doubt it works with the 4 pack
I would have thought you wouldn't be able to deny legal process in a contract.
In theory a class action lawsuit is a good thing that should not be banned. One party wrongs a very large number of people in exactly the same way. It is convenient and more just for them to all collectively file suit and each take their fair share of the money if they win. I have received quite a few checks in the mailbox in my day due to such lawsuits, and I'm not complaining, even though the amount of money was not so much at all.
In reality a class action lawsuit is quite different. Some lawyers see a chance to make money. They file the suit and make most of the money and send tiny checks to all the actual harmed people. Then again, nobody is really paying them to file the suit, so they are taking a risk of losing.
Because that is how things do work these days, a class action lawsuit actually harms the company and the harmed parties. If someone filed a class action lawsuit on Valve, it would cost Valve time and money, which would in turn reduce the quality of service for their customers, the very people the suit is supposed to be helping. Then some lawyers would get rich, and users would get a free game or two.
If the problem of class action lawsuits were fixed, then I would say it is ok to make them unblockable by a contract. The way they should work is the wronged class of people should all have to PAY the lawyers their legal fee. Then, ALL the money that is won in the lawsuit is distributed evenly amongst the plaintiffs. That way lawyers wouldn't get rich off these things, they would just get their usual legal fee. The risk of losing and reward of winning would be transferred to the actual people filing the suit, but the reward would be much greater in case of a win.
Most of the time if you get dicked by a company like Valve, and customer service can't fix it, then small claims court can fix it. That's in a worse case scenario you can't really deal with otherwise. For example, maybe you bought a game that didn't work and you couldn't return it, or they charge you for a game you thought you were buying at a sale price and there was a glitch.
It's not too cray-cray.
Also, the used board game market through BGG is huuuuuuge and really well-priced. Check it out!
I played Revelations for a bit, decided I was sick of Ezio and this new bullshit with the boring modern guy (Desmond?), so I'm holding off until the actual AC3 comes out.
Either way, I didn't think you'd like that one.
Edit - Wups, should have checked the next page. Oh well.