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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Frogster responds to community uproar over European TERA changes]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/tera/" rel="tag">TERA</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/"><img alt="Screenshot -- TERA" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/04/tera-1335301523.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left; ">
	European <a href="http://www.massively.com/category/tera">TERA</a> fans have been <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/eu-tera-fans-petition-to-bring-the-blood-back/">up in arms</a> lately due to decisions on behalf of the game's European publisher, <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/frogster">Frogster</a>, to remove a notable amount of the game's mature content in hopes of receiving a PEGI 12 rating. Today, the game's lead community manager, Raven, took to the forums to explain the logic behind some of these decisions and to elaborate on what players can expect moving forward.<br />
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	The post begins with an apology for the lack of transparency in the matter of removing the blood effect slider from the game without mention; it goes on to promise that "the gore slider will be back with the original three different graduations and blood will still be spread on the ground during combat," though it's important to note that the feature will be patched back in shortly after launch. Raven also clarifies the reasons behind some of the changes made to the childlike Elin, stating that the changes were made "not to comply with a demand from any official board, but because those characters in particular could have attracted to the game a population of unsavoury users, and it is part of [Frogster's] responsibility to protect [TERA's] younger audiences from them."<br />
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	As far as the changes made to other character models (such as the reduction of female breast size and some changes that made certain pieces of armor less revealing) are concerned, Raven points out that those changes are present in all versions of the game, including the Korean version, so it's not a case of the game's being censored purely for Western audiences. To get the full details and put forth your tuppence on the matter, just head on over to the official <em>TERA</em> EU forums.</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/">Frogster responds to community uproar over European TERA changes</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20223280/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/frogster-responds-to-community-uproar-over-european-tera-changes/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blood</category><category>bluehole</category><category>bluehole-studios</category><category>censor</category><category>censorship</category><category>eu</category><category>europe</category><category>fantasy</category><category>frogster</category><category>mature-content</category><category>tera</category><category>tera-eu</category><category>tera-europe</category><category>violence</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Daniel]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ask Massively: Censorship edition]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/massively-meta/" rel="tag">Massively Meta</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/ask-massively/" rel="tag">Ask Massively</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drooker.com/"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/07/censorship-1-sms-0710.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
Another Thursday, another installment of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/ask-massively">Ask Massively</a>! This week we see an influx of even more site-related questions ranging from our hiring procedures to our recent <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/codeofconduct/">code of conduct changes</a>. Don't you people want to know about MMOs anymore?! Actually, we don't mind answering site-related questions at all, and enjoy being transparent with our community of dedicated readers.<br />
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Follow along after the jump for the answers to this week's Ask Massively and don't be shy about getting your own questions in by commenting on this post or sending your inquiries off to <a href="mailto:%20ask@massively.com">ask@massively.com</a>.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Ask Massively: Censorship edition</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/">Ask Massively: Censorship edition</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19572457/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/29/ask-massively-censorship-edition/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>advice</category><category>ask-massively</category><category>censorship</category><category>Daniel Clowes</category><category>Eightball</category><category>F-bombCamaro</category><category>Fantagraphics Books</category><category>featured</category><category>hiring</category><category>livestream</category><category>massively-meta</category><category>opinion</category><category>staff</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Schuster]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Anvil of Crom: Family unfriendly]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan/" rel="tag">Age of Conan</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-anvil-of-crom/" rel="tag">The Anvil of Crom</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-anvil-of-crom"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/aocbannermain-1305488199.jpg" vspace="4" /> </a></div>
There's been a lot of lip service paid to family friendly MMORPGs over the last couple of years, and deservedly so. Games like <a href="http://www.freerealms.com/"><em>Free Realms</em></a>, <a href="http://mabinogi.nexon.net/"><em>Mabinogi</em></a>, and <a href="http://toontown.go.com/"><em>Toon Town Online</em></a> have all done well for themselves by realizing that the first generation of gamers are all grown up and busy popping out future button mashers of their own. Free-to-play doesn't have the market cornered on family friendliness either, as pay-to-play titles like <a href="http://www.cityofheroes.com"><em>City of Heroes</em></a>, <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a>, and (I'm betting) the upcoming <a href="http://www.swtor.com"><em>Star Wars: The Old Republic</em></a> are or will be hugely popular with kids and their parents due to a lack of objectionable content.<br />
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Isn't it refreshing then, when a game like <a href="http://www.funcom.com">Funcom's</a> <a href="http://www.ageofconan.com"><em>Age of Conan</em></a> comes along and completely turns its nose up at all the political correctness? Even though that's a bit of a rhetorical question, I'll answer it for you. Yes, yes it is, extremely refreshing. Hit the jump to find out why.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>The Anvil of Crom: Family unfriendly</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/">The Anvil of Crom: Family unfriendly</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19434873/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/25/the-anvil-of-crom-family-unfriendly/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>age-of-conan</category><category>anvil-of-crom</category><category>censorship</category><category>family-friendly</category><category>featured</category><category>funcom</category><category>mature</category><category>opinion</category><category>sexuality</category><category>the-anvil-of-crom</category><category>violence</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jef Reahard]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[NetEase starts road back to operating World of Warcraft]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/02/wow-china-epl-217.jpg" /></div>
It's time for <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> players in mainland <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/China/">China</a> to break out the party hats and streamers, because things are finally... well, they're not entirely back on track, but they're at least a blessed sight closer to being back on track. <a href="http://www.digitaleastasia.com">Digital East Asia</a> is reporting that <a href="http://corp.163.com/">NetEase</a> has <a href="http://www.digitaleastasia.com/2010/02/16/gapp-approves-world-of-warcraft-the-burning-crusade/">finally obtained the license</a> to operate <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/"><em>World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade</em></a> in China after a struggle spanning an insane amount of time.<br />
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On the down side, yes, that does appear to be the last expansion, rather than the present one. On the up side, it means that the seemingly interminable bickering between government agencies has <a href="http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/burning-crusade-approved-in-china/">finally been sorted out</a>, and players can finally get back to the business of enjoying the game. No word, however, on what this may or may not mean for <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/"><em>Wrath of the Lich King</em></a>, which has allegedly run afoul of Chinese censors.<br />
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The entire fiasco may be clearing, but it may have far-reaching consequences even beyond the MMO arena. A recent Chinese fan video has been making the rounds and getting mentions in the Wall Street Journal for its summary and satire of the entire mess, with some rather sharp critiques of censorship and the government's actions in the affair. <a href="http://digicha.com/?p=125">This post</a> contains background and links to subtitled versions of the video on <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube</a>, which might prove interesting to those who've been following the madness since the beginning.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/">NetEase starts road back to operating World of Warcraft</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2010/02/16/netease-granted-burning-crusade-license>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19362749/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/18/netease-starts-road-back-to-operating-world-of-warcraft/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>activision-blizzard</category><category>blizzard</category><category>censors</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>chinese-censors</category><category>gapp</category><category>netease</category><category>tbc</category><category>the-burning-crusade</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wotlk</category><category>wow</category><category>wow-china</category><category>wrath-of-the-lich-king</category><category>youtube</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online featured on the cover of PC Gamer]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/new-titles/" rel="tag">New titles</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a></p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/08/pcgcover8231df.jpg" alt="" /></a>We've got to hand it to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cryptic/">Cryptic</a> for putting fake censor strips on these images of the new PC Gamer <em><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com">Star Trek Online</a></em> cover. They really had us fooled for a while.<br /><br />It wasn't until we finally saw an official image <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/">of the cover</a>, sans censorship, that it became apparent we'd been duped. Of course, <a href="http://media3.startrekonline.com.s3.amazonaws.com/img/pcg/PCgamer-cover-04.jpg">this particular image</a> had something to do with our initial suspicion. Unless you're the type of person who claims to have an affinity for forward torpedo bays.<br /><br />If you're interested in getting a copy of the magazine, you'll be happy to know official forum goers have reported that it comes with both a double-sided poster along and -- we're assuming here -- some decent information concerning the game itself. We'll have to see about tracking down a copy and reporting any potentially new information. Although, we're not really sure who to gift our poster to, since we don't know any 14 year-old boys in dire need of wall art.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/">Star Trek Online featured on the cover of PC Gamer</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://startrekonline.com/node/350>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19135457/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/star-trek-online-featured-on-the-cover-of-pc-gamer/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>atari</category><category>censorship</category><category>klingon</category><category>pc-gamer</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>vulcan</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Kyle Horner]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The9 reportedly loses WoW license in China to NetEase]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.wowchina.com/"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/04/wowchina.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></div>
This has been on the horizon for some time but <a href="http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=145864_0_5_0_M">JLM Pacific Epoch</a> are reporting that <a href="http://www.the9.com/en">The9</a>, the publisher of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/world-of-warcraft"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> in China have lost their license to publish the game to rival <a href="http://corp.163.com/eng/home.shtml">NetEase</a>.<br /><br />According to the report, an internal letter was sent out to employees of The9 from company president Xiaowei Chen on earlier today suggesting that the license had been lost and that Blizzard have requested the servers, data and employees relating to the game be transfered to another local publisher. There have been <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/">some concerns</a> about the company's financial state given the fact that Chinese players are still playing <em>The Burning Crusade</em> six months after the EU/US launch of <em>Wrath of the Lich King</em>. There have also been <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/">reports of</a> <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/">issues relating to <em>Wrath</em>'s content</a>, leading many to believe the game <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/">has been banned</a>, even though this is not the case. The9's license was due to expire on June 8th.<br /><br />The report also says that, according to an unnamed source, NetEase will formally announce the license later today.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/">The9 reportedly loses WoW license in China to NetEase</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1517878/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/the9-reportedly-loses-wow-license-in-china-to-netease/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>asia</category><category>breaking</category><category>breakingnews</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>death-knight</category><category>expansions</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lesley Smith]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of Warcraft]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/rumors/" rel="tag">Rumors</a></p><a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/24/the9-to-lose-wow-in-china"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/worldofwarcraftchina.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.the9.com/en/">The9</a> is the licensed operator for <a href="http://www.wowchina.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> in China, the most popular Western MMO running in Asia. However, The9 is facing <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/">new censorship and regulatory issues</a> which have thus far prevented the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/"><em>Wrath of the Lich King </em>expansion from launching in China<em>.</em></a> These restrictions imposed upon online games operating in mainland China by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) are not the only issue affecting <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a>'s success in the country. <br /><br />To make things worse, it's now rumored that their licensing deal with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/blizzard">Blizzard</a> may be shaky. Our sister site <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com">WoW Insider</a> has mentioned (unverified) reports that <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/24/the9-to-lose-wow-in-china">The9 might be on the outs with Blizzard</a>, citing a Xinhua news agency story. The9 declined to make a comment to WoW Insider, stating only that they're still in negotiations with <a href="http://www.blizzard.com">Blizzard Entertainment</a>. With their current licensing agreement due to expire this summer, we suspect it won't be long before the situation is resolved, one way or the other.<hr />
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            <td style="background: rgb(214, 214, 203) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><em>One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft">World of Warcraft</a>, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/wrath-of-the-lich-king/">all your Lich King needs!</a></em> </td>
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</table><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/">Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of Warcraft</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/24/the9-to-lose-wow-in-china>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1497312/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/rumor-chinas-the9-may-lose-licensing-rights-to-world-of-warcraft/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blizzard</category><category>business-models</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>fantasy</category><category>gapp</category><category>license</category><category>licensing</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>rights</category><category>rumors</category><category>the9</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><category>wow-china</category><category>wow-insider</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Statistics point to China's growing significance in MMO industry]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbloughphoto/2552628647/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="middle" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/flickrjohnnybloughpudongskyline.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />We've been mentioning a bit about some of the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/china">regulatory issues in China</a> affecting massively multiplayer online games, particularly as they <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/">concern some Western game companies</a>. However, a number of gamers in the West have wondered something along the lines of, <em>"What does this have to do with me?"</em> Well, in terms of Western markets directly, not much. But <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_gaming_in_China">China is significant for the MMO industry</a> seen as a whole.<br /><br />China will be the world's largest MMO market moving forward and as broadband speeds and penetration increase, the numbers of online gamers will keep rising. The current regulatory changes put forth by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/gapp">GAPP</a>) stands to have a major impact on how online games are operated in this market, ranging from implementation of a "<a href="http://www.incgamers.com/Games/737/News/ChinaImposingNewGameRestrictionsSoon/15608">fatigue system</a>" (where play time is limited each day) to censorship of game content. The country has over 55.5 million online gamers, with a total market for virtual transactions between USD 1.4 billion and 1.9 billion (RMB 10-13 billion), according to 2008 statistics released by the China Internet Network Information Center (as <a href="http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143829_0_5_0_M">reported in English by JLM Pacific Epoch</a>).<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/">Statistics point to China's growing significance in MMO industry</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143829_0_5_0_M>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1494066/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/20/statistics-point-to-chinas-growing-significance-in-mmo-industry/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>asia</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>cinic</category><category>cnnic</category><category>culture</category><category>fatigue</category><category>fatigue-system</category><category>gapp</category><category>jlm-pacific-epoch</category><category>legal</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>regulations</category><category>regulatory</category><category>virtual-goods</category><category>virtual-transactions</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[German Social Affairs Minister wants WoW classified 'Adults Only']]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="middle" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/wrathimageat425germany.jpg"  alt="" /></a><br />We've been reporting more and more lately on MMO censorship and legislation abroad, most recently with the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/">troubles <em>World of Warcraft</em> faces in China</a>. The latest news that we've come across comes to us from Germany where the Minister for Social Affairs in Lower Saxony, Mechtchild Ross-Luttman, wants to restrict sales of violent video games to minors in general, imposing fines of up to &euro;50,000 for those caught selling these titles. She also wants to give MMO titles like <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> an "adults only" rating. This reaction to violence in video games comes in the wake of the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/in-europes-league-of-school-shootings-germany-comes-top-1645387.html">tragic school shootings which occurred recently in Germany</a>. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.gameculture.com/node/1177">GameCulture reports</a>: <em>"The proposals come on the heels of a survey by the Kriminologischen Forschuginstituts Nidersachsen (the criminal research institute of Lower Saxony), which reported that 14,000 9th graders in Germany are addicted to videogames, particularly World of Warcraft and first-person shooters."</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>German Social Affairs Minister wants WoW classified 'Adults Only'</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/">German Social Affairs Minister wants WoW classified 'Adults Only'</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.gameculture.com/node/1177>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1491763/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/18/german-social-affairs-minister-wants-wow-classified-adults-only/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>addiction</category><category>breaking</category><category>censorship</category><category>gameculture</category><category>germany</category><category>legal</category><category>legislation</category><category>lower-saxony</category><category>mechtchild-ross-luttman</category><category>minister</category><category>minister-for-social-affairs</category><category>shootings</category><category>sven-petke</category><category>violence</category><category>violent-crime</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[China to impose more restrictions on foreign online games]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/nanjingdongluat225.jpg"  alt="" />We've <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/">mentioned some of the issues</a> that China's licensed <a href="http://www.wowchina.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> operator The9 faces with bringing <em>Wrath of the Lich King</em> to market, and what this latest round of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/">regulation could mean for the the operator</a>. The government's newfound concern with controlling exactly what content exists in online games played in China may have an impact that goes far beyond <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a>. Other foreign MMOs are presently operating in China, while others have their eyes on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/19/chinese-online-games-market-to-hit-almost-3-billion-by-next-yea/">this growing market</a>.<br /><br />JLM Pacific Epoch cites (the Chinese-language news portal) <a href="http://www.sohu.com/">Sohu</a>, which reports that the General Administration of Press and Publication (<a href="http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/16/content_127444.htm">GAPP</a>) will <em>"tighten approval criteria for online game imports in an effort to protect the development of online game enterprises and avoid the excessive penetration of foreign culture among Chinese youth." </em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>China to impose more restrictions on foreign online games</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/">China to impose more restrictions on foreign online games</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143456_0_5_0_M>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1489475/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/16/china-to-impose-more-restrictions-on-foreign-online-games/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>asia</category><category>business-models</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>culture</category><category>gapp</category><category>jlm-pacific-epoch</category><category>legal</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>operator</category><category>operators</category><category>protectionism</category><category>regulations</category><category>sohu</category><category>the9</category><category>wow-china</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[China's The9 faces bankruptcy if Wrath expansion not approved by government]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a></p><a href="http://www.wowchina.com"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="middle" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/wowchinagrabat425.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />We reported the other day on the issues that <a href="http://www.the9.com/en/">The9</a> is having with getting the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/"><em>Wrath of the Lich King</em> expansion released in China</a>. The government is unwilling to approve the <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> expansion, citing 'health' and decency concerns about the game's content. The9 is the licensed operator of <a href="http://www.wowchina.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> in China, and the company paid a significant amount in licensing fees to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/blizzard">Blizzard Entertainment</a> in April of 2008 to secure the rights to operate <em>Wrath</em>, according to Shanghai-based <a href="http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143341_0_5_0_M">JLM Pacific Epoch</a>. <br /><br />Although the Chinese regulatory body, the <a href="http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/16/content_127444.htm">General Administration of Press and Publication</a> (GAPP), is chiefly concerned with removing "unhealthy" content from the game, their stance could prove disastrous for The9. If GAPP doesn't green light the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/wrath-of-the-lich-king"><em>Wrath of the Lich King</em></a> expansion in China, The9 will not be able to recoup their losses and may face bankruptcy.<hr />
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            <td style="background: rgb(214, 214, 203) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><em>One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft">World of Warcraft</a>, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/wrath-of-the-lich-king/">all your Lich King needs!</a></em> </td>
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<br /><br /> <p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/">China's The9 faces bankruptcy if Wrath expansion not approved by government</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143341_0_5_0_M>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1487473/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/chinas-the9-faces-bankruptcy-if-wrath-expansion-not-approved-by/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>asia</category><category>business-models</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>expansions</category><category>fantasy</category><category>gapp</category><category>jlm-pacific-epoch</category><category>licensed-operator</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>operator</category><category>regulation</category><category>regulatory-body</category><category>shanghai</category><category>the9</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wotlk</category><category>wow</category><category>wrath</category><category>wrath-of-the-lich-king</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wrath of the Lich King rejected thus far by Chinese government]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><a href="http://www.wowchina.com/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/wowchinaat225.jpg" /></a>Continuing on in that <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/23/world-of-warcraft-claims-11-5-million-souls-of-the-faithful/">upward ascension toward MMO godhood</a>, Blizzard's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/wrath-of-the-lich-king"><em>Wrath of the Lich King</em></a> expansion for <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> has proven to be <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/gamerdna-and-massively-offer-up-death-knight-data-goodness/">popular with the Death Knight crowd</a> in Western markets. "Popular" is an understatement, of course. Millions of MMO gamers have bought the expansion to date. Despite its success in Western markets, <em>Wrath of the Lich King</em> still hasn't been released in China, where the title has a significant playerbase. Why? Regulatory issues and censorship. <br /><br />China-based <a href="http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143005_0_5_0_M">JLM Pacific Epoch reports</a>: <em>"The government has rejected two applications by the second expansion for The9's (Nasdaq: NCTY) licensed MMORPG World of Warcraft, "Wrath of the Lich King," [...] The applications were rejected due to content that didn't meet requirements, including a city raid and skeleton characters; the submitted version did not contain WLK's Death Knight first hero class..." </em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Wrath of the Lich King rejected thus far by Chinese government</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/">Wrath of the Lich King rejected thus far by Chinese government</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.jlmpacificepoch.com/newsstories?id=143005_0_5_0_M>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1483866/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/10/wrath-of-the-lich-king-rejected-thus-far-by-chinese-government/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>asia</category><category>censorship</category><category>china</category><category>death-knight</category><category>death-knights</category><category>expansions</category><category>fantasy</category><category>government</category><category>jlm-pacific-epoch</category><category>legal</category><category>mmo-industry</category><category>regulatory</category><category>skeleton</category><category>skeletons</category><category>the9</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><category>wrath-of-the-lich-king</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[James Egan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing pt. 2]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/virtual-worlds/" rel="tag">Virtual worlds</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/playstation-home/" rel="tag">PlayStation Home</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/anti-aliased/" rel="tag">Anti-Aliased</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/anti-aliased"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/01/ps3home.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
Problem number two is Sony's lack of action. Moderators are few and far between, the automated system in place doesn't work too well, and people feel that they can get away with whatever they want. There's no sense of authority or control in <em>Home</em>, and that's a detriment. Now, I'm not pushing for everyone to be horribly oppressed, but there needs to be some sense of order and control that's apparent to the players. When word spreads that you can't get away with certain behaviors, the behavior begins to diminish over time.<br /><br />And, finally, problem number three -- there are avatars involved. Even if your turn off their voice chat and visual text chat, you still have a crazy annoying avatar chasing after you, clipping your torso when you go to bowl that next frame. The answer to this problem is to simply ignore him, as he will probably go away, but this phenomenon is still annoying and not fun for any user. You just want to play your game sans problems, right?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/default.htm">Xbox Live</a> seems to have have found the solution to these problems by sheer accident. Then answer is simply to avoid these problems by not doing them. It doesn't over-promise content, it does provide control for the users, and it avoids visual avatars in most games. (Except in the case of the Xbox Live vision camera; we're just going to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn6y6puPUVM&amp;feature=related">temporarily forget about that</a>.  Especially as it only works with a few games.)<br /><br />The success comes from the fact that if you mute someone and report them for harassment, Xbox Live makes sure you avoid that player in your online play. If the automatic matchmaking has a choice between game A and game B, and game A has a person you hate in it, you'll be placed in game B without noticing it. <span style="font-style: italic;">Home</span> does not have that luxury because the entire world is linked together. You mute someone and there's no guarantee that you'll never see him again.<br /><br />So what can <span style="font-style: italic;">Home</span> do? I say introduce the ultimate ban -- avatar removal. You mute someone and it removes their avatar from on screen for you. You don't see them, you don't hear them, you don't worry about them. Sure, you might end up banning half of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Home</span> community, but now you have control over what you see and do in <em>Home</em>.<br /><br />In the end, that's what it all comes down to -- user control. Let the user determine their own experience; don't force it on them.<br /><em><br /></em> <hr /><img hspace="4" border="1" align="left" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/04/colinswoop.jpg" /> <em><a href="http://experiencecurve.wordpress.com/">Colin Brennan</a> is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who really likes all of the controls that Xbox Live provides, even if he can't buy a virtual couch for his Xbox Dashboard. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running <a href="http://www.epiclootforall.com/">Epic Loot For All!</a> with his insane friends. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.</em><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/">Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing pt. 2</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081229-sonys-home-juggles-free-speech-with-hate-speech.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1428957/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing-pt-2/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>avatars</category><category>bans</category><category>censorship</category><category>matchmaking</category><category>moderators</category><category>playstation-home</category><category>playstation3</category><category>user-controls</category><category>virtual-worlds</category><category>xbox-live</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/virtual-worlds/" rel="tag">Virtual worlds</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/playstation-home/" rel="tag">PlayStation Home</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/anti-aliased/" rel="tag">Anti-Aliased</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/anti-aliased"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/01/artofthequincy.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
If home is where the heart is, then PlayStation 3 users have some pretty cold, racist, and sexually demeaning hearts. Hearts that make <a href="http://www.halo3.com/"><em>Halo 3</em></a> players look like cute puppies in comparison. Now I'm not saying that <a href="http://www.us.playstation.com/PSN/Home"><em>PlayStation Home</em></a> is not a great idea -- in theory it's a brilliant idea. Play in a world like <a href="http://www.secondlife.com"><em>Second Life</em></a>, meet other users, play mini games, launch into full PS3 games, what's not to love about any of that?<br /><br />Well, it seems Sony forgot about the precedents of other virtual worlds. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/second-life"><em>Second Life</em></a>, while nice, can have the uncanny ability to resemble slums in certain areas thanks to the scary nature of some of the creators. Xbox Live sports some of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NKWpR6asI8&amp;feature=related">most offensive users</a> (NSFW) around. So how exactly was <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/playstation-home"><em>Home</em></a> suppose to avoid the travesties that affect other worlds?<br /><br />Sony has already stated that "user behavior and feedback" will shape where they go with the <em>Home</em> beta. If that's the case, where are they going to go? Totalitarian state, anyone?<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/">Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1415157/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/14/anti-aliased-see-the-griefing-taste-the-griefing/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>anti-aliased</category><category>bannings</category><category>censorship</category><category>chat-filtering</category><category>community</category><category>content</category><category>featured</category><category>home</category><category>joystiqfeatures</category><category>playstation-home</category><category>playstation3</category><category>quincy</category><category>racist</category><category>second-life</category><category>sexist</category><category>virtual-world</category><category>xbox-live</category><category>xbox360</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Feared censorship once more fails to appear in Age of Conan]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan/" rel="tag">Age of Conan</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/rumors/" rel="tag">Rumors</a></p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/pyramidgate.jpg" /></a>Just what does it take to kill a rumor, anyway? Not so long ago, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/">we investigated rumors</a> that the mature content in <a href="http://www.ageofconan.com"><em>Age of Conan</em></a> was being 'scaled back', and came away unconvinced that any such thing was happening. More recently, the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/21/succubi-get-perky-in-age-of-conan/">anatomical changes to the succubus model</a> suggested that rather than taking mature content out, the developers might in fact be adding more. <br /><br />Even then, however, there was still one point of concern: the impending changes to the Pyramid of the Ancients. Many <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan"><em>AoC</em></a> players who believed censorship <em>was </em>happening were convinced the harem girls in the Pyramid, who had previously been notably lacking in garments (and occasionally hair), would be covered up in order to placate a hypothetical lobby of 'prudes'.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Feared censorship once more fails to appear in Age of Conan</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/">Feared censorship once more fails to appear in Age of Conan</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1264679/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/feared-censorship-once-more-fails-to-appear-in-age-of-conan/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>age-of-conan</category><category>aoc</category><category>censorship</category><category>funcom</category><category>nudity</category><category>pyramid-of-the-ancients</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Adrian Bott]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Changes prompt accusations of 'censorship' in AoC]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/betas/" rel="tag">Betas</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan/" rel="tag">Age of Conan</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/bugs/" rel="tag">Bugs</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/rumors/" rel="tag">Rumors</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/age-of-conan"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/geratransformation.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></div>
<br />'<a href="http://www.funcom.com">Funcom</a> are <a href="http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=118010">removing the mature content</a> from <a href="http://www.ageofconan.com"><span style="font-style: italic;">Age of Conan</span></a>!' Yes, it's <em>that</em> rumor again, springing back up like that man-eating plant boss on White Sands Isle that someone else always seems to be fighting first, so you have to sit politely by the cage in the side of the room and hope they don't think you're going to gank them, then while you're waiting for it to respawn someone <em>else</em> arrives... where were we? Oh, yes. In a patch from nearly a month ago the formerly topless prospecting trainer Gera in Purple Lotus Swamp was unceremoniously clothed, as well as getting a new hairdo and some more prospector-ish accessories. <br /><br />Looking at her former attire, can we honestly say that wasn't a bug fix? Girlfriend, that brown belt does <em>not</em> go with that... er... blue thing made of straps. Even so, the loss of a cherished pair of NPC breasts caused outrage in some quarters, where it's still being seen as the latest in a line of allegedly censorious changes.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Changes prompt accusations of 'censorship' in AoC</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/">Changes prompt accusations of 'censorship' in AoC</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1247231/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/changes-prompt-accusations-of-censorship-in-aoc/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>age-of-conan</category><category>aoc</category><category>censored</category><category>censorship</category><category>funcom</category><category>gera</category><category>hyboria</category><category>purple-lotus</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Adrian Bott]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Do you know Jack?]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2007/12/censorship.jpg" /><a href="http://www.jackthompson.org/"> Jack Thompson</a> <br /><br />Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably recognize this name. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney)">Thompson</a> is a self-appointed crusader against violence and sexuality in video games. While he has relatively little to do with MMORPG's yet, it is only a matter of time before he, or others like him, decides to turn his attention to our favorite pastime. Thompson has been at his game for several years now, but it appears that the <a href="http://kotaku.com/gaming/legal/jack-sues-kotaku-255321.php">industry</a>, as well as <a href="http://gamepolitics.com/2007/05/07/florida-bar-seeks-his-temporary-disbarment-says-jack-thompson/">Florida's Bar Association</a>, is starting to <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051019-5458.html">fight back</a>.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Do you know Jack?</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/">Do you know Jack?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1055970/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/23/do-you-know-jack/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>censorship</category><category>jack-thompson</category><category>legal</category><category>real-world</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Kevin Stallard]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
