Alexander Stern

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

BET YOU CAN'T READ THIS, ALEX!

"It doesn't help the visually impaired that some of EverQuest II's characters are actually invisible." - GameSpot

This is actually an EQ1 screenshot but the tards at GameSpot labeled it as an invisible EQ2 mob.

Maybe this is more up to his speed.

Lol Smed.

Alexander Stern is a visually-impaired gamer who filed a lawsuit in October 2009 against Sony Online Entertainment, the developers of EverQuest II. Why? Because he has a hard time seeing things in the game. Honorary Ed Lolington will see how this ends up.

The suit was filed because the Americans with Disabilities Act states, "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation." According to Stern, SOE ignored his whining that there should be some ways to improve games like EQ2 for fags who can't see. He also cited that Blizzard's behemoth of a MMO, World of Warcraft, has third-party visual aids for WoWfags with -1 eyes. What Stern failed to notice was, is that WoW has 11 million (or something) players, and EQ2 has about 200-thousand, with the most popular add-on being a user interface made by some German EVE player.

Slashdot and GameSpot Comments

“   Why are game companies, or any companies for that matter, required to make every product accessible? I can understand government services, both because of their purpose but also because of the fact that they are paid for by public money (and generally don't actually need to be un-accessible), but products of corporations? If this guy wants to complain to the company and then not buy their products, fine. In fact, that's really the best way to deal with the issue.   „     —siride on Slashdot     “   The Americans with Disabilities Act states that, "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation." This has kept a generation of lawyers employed by arguing over the definition of "public accommodation". The strict interpretation limits it to only physical places, which would rule out games. There have been many court battles over expanding the definition. This particular suit, if I read the various summaries correctly (IANAL), would be one of the more far reaching stretches of the definition and could have a significant impact on how much the ADA covers. In short, it could fund an entire new generation of lawyers by expanding the ADA to an almost unlimited scope. Blind or not, I hope this guy goes down in flames. For reference: http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?50+Duke+L.+J.+297 [duke.edu]   „     —chill on Slashdot     “   The Americans With Disabilities Act was written so loosely that there are so many of these litigious bullshitteries going on nation wide. It is basically a form of extortion facilitated by poorly written 'laws'. We need reform on the ADA as soon as possible! Locally, a predatory woman has sued over 80 local businesses (this is her JOB now), represented by a lawyer who has sued over 250. I hope sony lobbies to get reform. I say all of this with the great respect for the disabled and the true intent of the ADA. It is the exploit of the act that bothers me so much. In this case, Sony makes visual video games and a guy who can't see thinks Sony OWES him a game. That's like being allergic to peanut butter and suing Reeses for not making you a hazelnut cup. THEY DONT OWE YOU A HAZELNUT CUP!   „     —joocemann on Slashdot     “   Man, deaf people should sue music games.   „     —Beserkerz on GameSpot     “   I wear corrective lenses so i can see. He's visually impared not blind. Get some glasses kid it makes a hell of a difference. Either way I doubt this kid has anything. The law is for equal opportunity, it has nothing with the video game world. Whats next this kid is going to play WoW and sue blizzard becuase there are no audio ques telling him where he's going? This is just another way some idiot is trying to make some fast cash. If he can read a game title he can read the screen of a game, nuff said.   „     —deesnutts25 on GameSpot     “   The American's with Disabilities Act doesn't stipulate anything about making goods that a company makes more accessible to disabled, only that all publicly accessible places be accessible to disable peoples. Like a stadium, parks, shopping centers, etc. This lawsuit will be thrown out soon. Video games are inherently a form of entertainment not catered to those who cannot see. It's common sense, and this moron needs to find another form of entertainment.   „     —bjmage16 on GameSpot Previous Quote | Next Quote

ALEX LOSES

On February 26, 2010 the judge told Alexander to GTFO and that EverQuest II "is not a place of public accommodation."

Owned.

See Also

Related Games and Developers

• Sony
• Sony Online Entertainment

• EverQuest
• EverQuest II

• EQ2Flames (who are loling at this)

• Blizzard Entertainment

• World of Warcraft

Similar Drama

• The R Word
• Think B4 You Speak
• No Cussing Club
• Epilepsy Foundation
• Lolsuit

External Links

• Slashdot: Visually Impaired Game Sues Sony
• GameSpot's article on this "issue"
• EQ2Flames thread, and the discussion of Braille MMOs and ATMs
• AbleGamers wants nothing to do with him
• Erik Estavillo: the WOW version
• Blind gamer beats The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Alexander Stern is part of a series on EQ2Flames [Douse!Flame on!]

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Alexander Stern is part of a series on Gaming Visit the Gaming Portal for complete coverage.

Alexander Stern is part of a series on MMORPGs.

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