Chronicles Of Elyria's Stand Alone Sim Alpha NDA Includes Class Action Waiver; Class Action Group St

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Chronicles Of Elyria's Stand Alone Sim Alpha NDA Includes Class Action Waiver; Class Action Group Stresses Not To Sign | MMORPG.com

Kingdoms of Elyria's Alpha NDA has started going out to backers and some eagle-eyed users have spotted something that, while is pretty standard, feels offputting: a class action lawsuit waiver.

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Tiller

Playing the alpha and agreeing to the NDA is legal trap; got it.

foppotee

I'd think it's a pick behind the curtain of what this company's true intent is having this in the NDA especially given their questionable backstory. I look at this as any amount of investment would just be tossing money away & never receiving an advertised product/service & it'd be best to stay away from this game & company then again perhaps I've seen one too many YouTube videos about this game.

Iselin

The shitshow that keeps on... shitting.

KnightFalz

With a curtain this translucent one need not peek behind.

Wizardry

What truly is common is that these TOS and NDA's are used as deceptive tactics against consumers.

So now Jeremy can state that he DELIVERED an Alpha as promised and nobody in the know would be able to say anything about it.
This would be like me saying I won 500 million in a lottery while not proving it.So what these NDA's allow is for the developer to just lie and deceive the consumer,is that a good thing,hell no and why laws need to change and big time.

Right now we have two glaring problems within th gaming scope that is deceiving consumers and allowing studios to lie and that is NDA's and DMCA copyright strikes.So if there was no NDA in effect the studiso coudl stifle consumer information by simply putting out a dmca claim against anyone they don't feel is hyping up their product.
This is why i absolutely despise influencers and content creators or anyone making money by being a game studio business partner.This includes marketing firms,ALL of it is there to serve one purpose to deceive and coerce the consumer into spending money on their products.

It doesn't even end there,someone had spotted Blizzard trying to copyright software that coudl manipulate players into spending more.We saw similar with i believe was with the FIFA game and claims of not needing to spend any money.

There is a LOT,like a cesspool of garbage happening within gaming right now and i see it getting worse before better.I have NEVER agreed with oen single TOS i have ever read,ALL of them are BS and designed to give people power over you and your purchases and that should NOT be happening.

Dattelis

Wizardry said:

What truly is common is that these TOS and NDA's are used as deceptive tactics against consumers.



So now Jeremy can state that he DELIVERED an Alpha as promised and nobody in the know would be able to say anything about it.

This would be like me saying I won 500 million in a lottery while not proving it.So what these NDA's allow is for the developer to just lie and deceive the consumer,is that a good thing,hell no and why laws need to change and big time.



Right now we have two glaring problems within th gaming scope that is deceiving consumers and allowing studios to lie and that is NDA's and DMCA copyright strikes.So if there was no NDA in effect the studiso coudl stifle consumer information by simply putting out a dmca claim against anyone they don't feel is hyping up their product.

This is why i absolutely despise influencers and content creators or anyone making money by being a game studio business partner.This includes marketing firms,ALL of it is there to serve one purpose to deceive and coerce the consumer into spending money on their products.



It doesn't even end there,someone had spotted Blizzard trying to copyright software that coudl manipulate players into spending more.We saw similar with i believe was with the FIFA game and claims of not needing to spend any money.



There is a LOT,like a cesspool of garbage happening within gaming right now and i see it getting worse before better.I have NEVER agreed with oen single TOS i have ever read,ALL of them are BS and designed to give people power over you and your purchases and that should NOT be happening.

I think this is more newsworthy than usual because there is a class-action suit being processed against this group or something. Maybe I'm mistaken. If so though, I assume people associated wouldn't be able to follow through if they participate.

Slapshot1188

I just want to know what happened to the Coronavirus Loans he is said to have taken out. He laid off his damn staff and got hundreds of thousands in PPP loans which in essence are free money? Wish someone could dig into that and find out if he got these loans, how much they were for and when he spent them on.

Because if some people want to waste THEIR money on this guy's snakeoil shit-show, well, that's one thing, but if he starts to take MY tax money for it, well... that's total bullshit.

Hopefully nobody downloads the stupid Unity demo that even he admits has 5 minutes worth of stuff, and this lawsuit uncovers the truth about what happened there.

BrotherMaynard

While I understand the instinct of the Discord people discouraging others from downloading KoE and accepting the ToS, among others due to the arbitration clause, new ways are emerging for the customers to turn these clauses against the companies.

I would assume Jeromy and his lawyer(s) may not be aware of it - perhaps he simply re-used terms from other companies' ToS. Either way, these arbitration rules in his ToS can potentially backfire spectacularly.

"Amazon Echo users have brought more than 75.000 arbitration demands against he company". As a result, Amazon is now dropping the arbitration clause and is requesting full lawsuits.

In many cases, the ToS specify that arbitration fees will be paid by the company. This is mostly to appear more pro-consumer. However, filing tens of thousands of arbitration demands in a coordinated way can pretty much ruin the company.

The KoE ToS stipulate that any dispute, etc. "SHALL BE FINALLY RESOLVED BY ARBITRATION BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION". AAA's fees for consumer arbitration can be viewed here.

Since the KoE ToS also prohibit class action (this includes arbitration), all arbitration demands against Walsh would be filed individually. While the filing fees are relatively low ($200), the costs of arbitration itself can get pretty high pretty fast, especially if the parties demand "In-Person, Virtual or Telephonic Hearing Arbitration". That's potentially thousands of dollars per day per individual.

These rules would have to be examined by a lawyer, of course, but it is a potential way to bring Walsh down, as in many cases the fees will have to be borne by the business, as per the AAA's rules. If just a few thousand clients proceed with arbitration against Soulbound studios, Walsh might have to sell all his assets just to cover the arbitration costs.

Below is an excellent video covering the Amazon Echo case, as a result of which some companies are virtually begging their clients to sue them instead of arbitrating - and judges are turning down those requests.

LeFantome

What a great game.. 8 millions $$$ , right?

Tiller

Oh how far we have come..
Anyone remember this picture...

That picture was the beginning of the undoing of this game. I always knew it was gonna flop tbh.

https://www.mmorpg.com/news/chronicles-of-elyria-mood-piece-removed-after-it-raised-questions-about-asset-authenticity-2000102748

Scot

Just don't download, don't join the alpha, if this game is worth playing you can play it down the line when it has been reviewed and you know CoE is not taking you for yet another ride.

SalmonMan

Of course, if you don't play the alpha, they might be able to use that against you as well.

Might have to be a situation where one person takes a hit for the team, signs and get hold of the game copy and then shares all the information they get.

olepi

"as well as get around the pesky language where backers actually expect a product for their investment by getting alpha testers to agree that SBS is under no obligation to release anything in the end"

That's the same thing Star Citizen does.

Slapshot1188

If you don't want to download this piece of trash (who would?) you can still see how utterly pathetic it is as the videos have already started to drop.

Wizardry

I can only assume but my guess was that he used part time help and claimed them as employees to get the free covid grant.
As far as loans,well there is also the possibility of having that loan waived because of covid,it all depends how his is structured and if he only went for a grant and not a loan.
The loans typically are tax free but have to be paid back but like i said there is a chance they can be waived.
I am not 100% certain because my memeory is not so good but i think the covid loans are also against the person and NOT the business,so Jeremy would be in for the pay back no matter he folds up shop or not,bankruptcy,well that is another thing,maybe he has offshore bank accounts holding money until the day he collects bankruptcy.

IDK what his entire thought process is on dealing with the government but i bet it is as scummy as the way he deals with the public.

Wizardry

When i think of jeremy i think of that guy who tries to hit you up for 10 bucks when the coffee truck arrives and says i'll pay you back when i cash my check.Well 1 week...2 weeks..a month...he never pays you back and if you hunt him down he pretends like OH I FORGOT .Then you say ok well now i'm reminding you,where is my money,oh i don't have any i'll catch you when i cash my check..lmao.Then you see him off buying smokes and drinks,goes to the bar after work and then does the same thing to another person the next time.

Nilden

Instead of trying to cover his ass with this TOS for a game no one asked for couldn't he just release the documents on where the money went?

Wouldn't he be able to prove what he did with it? 

I guess the only reason you wouldn't release the financials is if you had something to hide.

paco_magillicuddy

Iselin said:

The shitshow that keeps on... shitting.

Mostly shitting and almost no showing.

Slapshot1188

Nilden said:

Instead of trying to cover his ass with this TOS for a game no one asked for couldn't he just release the documents on where the money went?

Wouldn't he be able to prove what he did with it? 

I guess the only reason you wouldn't release the financials is if you had something to hide.

If you go and look at the videos that are dropping from his "alpha" you will know the answer to that.  It's an absolute joke.  And that he thinks THIS is better than releasing the stuff he worked on with $8,000,000 tells us all we need to know about how bad the results were.

Seriously, go check out the videos players are posting for this KoE "game"