- Image via Wikipedia
Ah, Bruce Campbell. I still enjoy you in Burn Notice, but to be honest, in the movies you were at your best in Army of Darkness. Nostalgia! But we’re not talking about this Bruce today, sadly.
Game Politics as well as Cuppytalk are reporting on this, but blogger Bruce Everiss of Bruce on Games is being sued by the company behind Evony, most famous for using provocative ads in order to draw eyes and get click-throughs. Bruce’s posts regarding Evony have consisted in part of posts that the game might be illegal in the US and that it could have malware. Evony LLC has responded following a failed attempt to have the posts taken down with a libel suit, purporting that Bruce’s posts are damaging to the millions of players who play Evony.
As always, I like to find the bright side of this unfortunate legal equation, and perhaps the biggest plus in that column is simply that if bloggers have gotten to the point where they are actually getting sued, it means that companies and developers are standing up and noticing the blogosphere. Blogs have been largely ignored in the past couple years as gratuitous OP-ED pieces written by people who never really styled themselves journalists as they did people with something to say. But since then, they’ve risen slowly to prominence as a news alternative, with many blogs commanding readership that rivals that of any newspaper. While it totally sucks that Bruce has to face court dates, lawyers, and other such nonsense to navigate the legal waters, the mere exposure of this is a victory for bloggers everywhere – that our word counts, that it is significant, and that even thogh we just have something to say, that it is powerful. I like that.
There’s also the notion that developers might come under greater scrutiny as well, especially as it relates to the way they advertise their game. In any lawsuit story that comes to light both sides of the coin are put under a fierce magnifying glass, and this will be no different. If you take a look at Evony’s ad style you’ll notice a certain….curious trend in some of their ads. I do have to say, while there are companies out there that use subtle manipulations using the same sort of techniques in an Erin Brockovich-movie-style way, you have to hand it to Evony for not being shy about how they are driving their traffic. At the very least, models get a little bit more work, right?
Still, if Evony is prepared to engage in a legal battle with a blogger who they feel is powerful enough to libel them, then I also hope that they will be ready for the onslought of other folks who have opined or have yet to offer any thoughts about the issue itself. I’m an optimist, and the glass is half-full no matter what for me. But I’m pretty much easy-mode compared to others on the Internet. I look forward to seeing how this turns out, and what it’ll mean for silly little writers like myself. Good luck, everyone!
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GAH, prepare to be linked to Frank. I was going to work on an Evony based post myself hehe
Man… that's awesome and seriously scary at the same time. To be honest, the first time I saw the Evony add I thought it was a *cough* pr0n site *cough*.
(Sidenote: Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness, and Burn Notice = Win)
So does this mean I have to watch what I say.Screw that.
Bruce tease, gimme more Bruce!!!
Journalist and legal experts tell me I have no case to answer. What I have posted is the truth and fair comment on that truth.
Evony, a Chinese game with an American front company are sueing a British blogger in Australia. This is because Australia has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK so any judgement there can be enforced here.
Evony are making it nearly impossible to defend the truth. This mechanism could be used against anyone writing on the web, if someone has money they can zap you (if you are British).
Bruce, thanks for posting on my humble little positive bit of sunshine. Whatever the way things go, I do wish you the best of luck dealing with the situation because either way, it's definitely a bear, I'm sure. Good luck!
Evony ads make me /facepalm.
[...] out of making video games, after this who the hell is going to play their games. Frank over at Overly Positive has a lovely post of a game developer suing a blogger. Brings up the points, as bloggers do we [...]
I actually met someone who plays that game — or they said they did. I didn't think there was much of a game to play even, but who knows. After the playme blog spam stunt, it was pretty obvious what it's really about.
If only it really did mean more work for models. Sadly, Evony is not the originators for most of the images used in their banners. The one we all are probably most familiar with (the attractive blonde in the brown top) is actually the image from a banner to an adult-oriented site. I can't remember where I read this (maybe mmorpg.com did a spot on it), but they showed the original image. It really does seem like Evony is incapable of producing anything on their own, and merely take from elsewhere to drive income home.
[...] Why is a blogger getting sued for telling the truth? Find out! [...]
I have written a couple of articles about how the online evidence about Evony that I need to defend my case is being deleted by someone.
http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/11/evony-and-… http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/17/evony-and-…
The first time I saw an evony ad I was shocked. It's not only offensive to girls, but also to boys. The people who make evony ads are saying to the boys "we know you're stupid enough to believe that there would actually be naked girls on an online game".