A month of these things down. Very late getting put up, for reasons beyond my control.

Still, it’s up, and very glad to see it available on the internets am I. Last week it was up for the whole weekend and into next week; a function of a slow news week, or concerted exposure?

In a torrent of legal proceedings, Massively Multiplayer Games are being slammed violently into the US legal system. Or, as veteran MMOG designer Damion Schubert puts it: “Everybody Sues Everybody.” Last week’s suit by Blizzard against Peons4Hire coincides with a pair of equally landmark Massive-related court conflicts.

Certainly the most sensational is the class action lawsuit leveled against IGE by a player in Florida. Essentially, IGE is getting sued because they’re devaluing the in-game monetary worth (pdf) of every single World of Warcraft player. The plaintiff’s lawyer sat down for a chat with The Escapist, and may be asking for nothing but trouble: “I am obviously hopeful that the industry will get involved one way or another as an ally. What I’d like to do is reach out to them to see if we can’t get some support, even if it’s behind the scenes. But publicly it’d be nice to know that Blizzard was behind us.” Raph and Lum point out that maybe, just maybe, it would be in Blizzard’s best interest to throw their weight behind IGE. “Should Blizzard devalue their own currency, would a class action suit appear against them for that? Banking law, here we come…”

I was reflecting on what I’ll be talking about this for the rest of the summer, and I got a bit squeeful. The launch of Gods and Heroes and Tabula Rasa makes this the most MMOGful year since 2004, I think. Good times. Good times.

I did, in fact, make it to MMOGIG #1. Almost got stranded in MN, actually, when our car decided the rain was just too much to handle. Writeups available from Cuppy and Voyages in Eternity. Suffice it to say that, while I’m not sure the meeting was useful, it was certainly fun. Future get-togethers will likely be more focused, and offer more in the long term for participants. I took audio of the entire meeting, and (assuming I find some time in the near future) I’ll find some way to make it available in a worthwhile fashion.

I’ve had to focus on money-generating efforts the last few days, and as a result have had little time to point my writing ray in this direction. Thankfully, assuming I live through today’s deadlines, I should be more on top of things and once again have time to devote MMOG Nation-ward.

In the meantime, I should point out that the header is from Gods and Heroes this month, and the latest WAR podcast makes me all squidgy and happy inside.