A player of the mobile game Tales of Wind (also known as Laplace M) spent around 15,000 dollars on random items. Since he did not get the set he wanted, he sued the developer studio.
What did the player do? A player from China wanted to obtain a special set of six items in the mobile MMORPG Tales of Wind, which is titled Laplace M in the West. To do this, he needed to randomly draw them through a so-called gacha system. The man had to purchase a kind of loot boxes through a spin-the-wheel game and hope that the desired items were inside. He invested over 15,000 dollars.
Loot boxes often spark discussions in the gaming industry. These boxes sometimes lead to lawsuits, as occurred with the MMORPG ArcheAge.
High Debts Due to Mobile Game
How did he get the money? The man took out loans from banks and friends to gather this amount. He plunged into high debts, hoping to get his desired items in the game. He even lost his job and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Was he successful? The player did not receive the six items he desperately wanted after more than 3,100 draws of gacha items.
How did the player react? The man filed a lawsuit against the developer studio X-Legend Entertainment because he believed in misleading and a breach of fair trade. However, he had agreed to the terms of service of the game. The court decided that the wording in the terms of service was quite clear and that it could be inferred that there was no guarantee of obtaining the items. There is only a chance. And the player agreed to and accepted these terms of service. The lawsuit was dismissed.
What game is it? Tales of Wind is a classic MMORPG where building relationships with other players plays an important role. You can also marry these players and manage a farm together. Random items that you obtain through a so-called gacha system play an essential role in character development.
Microtransactions in online games sometimes tempt players to spend a bit more money. For example, one player invested 10,000 dollars in the MMORPG Black Desert.
