Elden Ring Player to Sue FromSoftware Over High Game Difficulty

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/d7137aa1-025d-428e-8f44-cb51e8726d78.jpeg

Another article that highlighs inherent flaws in the American legal system. How can this potentially be an actual lawsuit? How can “journalists” even entertain reporting on this?

Honestly I’m just posting to laugh at my fellow lemmings responses and watch see how the plaintiff is roasted for not gitting gud.

But, there is a real conversation here around continued ignorance of game development and the value of difficult games as a value proposition. Afterall, the person attempting to sue from did choose to purchase the games willingly knowing they’re not for scrub casuals like themselves.

What do you all think, is difficulty gating content a real issue? Should dev’s have some kind of legal requirement to appease players that can spec a build properly? Is it Thursday and I’m just looking for some easy laughs at a morons expense?

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dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You can file the paperwork to attempt to sue anyone for anything. It doesn’t mean it will be accepted by the court, or that the judge will not summon you there specifically to laugh in your face, declare your suit frivolous, throw you out, and refuse to validate your parking.

If Jabroni thinks he’s having it rough with Elden Ring, he ought to go back and try out the first couple of King’s Field games…
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- L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  From reading his posts, he doesn’t think the game is too hard he thinks there’s an entire game hidden inside Elden Ring. He claims there’s an entire parallel universe for the lands between hidden in the game files and no one has found it because they purposely hid this final “50% of the game” and made it impossible to find.
  
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  - Iapar@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    …what?..
    
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  - edgemaster72@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Holy hell I kinda hope they actually let this go to trial just to make him present his “evidence”
    
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  - peopleproblems@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    So if they made it impossible to find, how did he find it?
    
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  - WraithGear@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I mean if so then good! If he has any evidence he could fucking share about it then we can go on trying to solve the puzzle. It would be a bold and striking move that would put from software even more transcendent a developer
    
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- RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Kings Field II (JP) my beloved
  
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RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Who is it, QuantumTV?

It is a game that is difficult, made by a company that is widely known for making some of the highest difficulty games in gaming. And arguably, Elden Ring is their easiest game. This guy signed up for it. If he didn’t know, its his fault.

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- peopleproblems@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Elden ring is their easiest game
  
  If you doubt this, go start a new play through on Dark Souls II.
  
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  - WraithGear@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I have given dark souls II more chances then any other in the series. And man from was more then a little assholish there. Iron keep can kiss my ass
    
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  - leavemealone@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Fuck fume knight though.
    
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  - Abnorc@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Somehow I had a way harder time with Elden Ring than Dark Souls 1 or 2, but difficulty is a bit subjective.
    
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  - Angry_Autist@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Before the DLC I might have agreed with you.
    
    DLC included, ER is significantly harder than DSII
    
    Not that this is a bad thing
    
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- Banichan@dormi.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Literally the biggest casul to ever exist
  
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johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You can file a lawsuit about just about anything. It doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere.

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AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’d say it’s absolutely insane that someone might actually be able to take the creators of Elden Ring to court over the fact they’re not good enough to beat a game intentionally made to be hard. I imagine they’re the same people who would try and sue Sintendo over a Mrio Mker level that they can’t beat first try.

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- Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I the US you can sue anyone for anything. You’ll lose for stuff like this post, but you can do it all you want. The fact anyone is reporting on this is the issue. It should be ignored.
  
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- RobotZap10000@feddit.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Psst! Your censors are making italics! Add a backslash to both of them to m*ke it w*rk.
  
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  - AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Thanks for the heads up. This whole text formatting thing can be annoying.
    
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- MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The article is using as a source a 4chan post that had a docket number that didn’t check out. I’m pretty sure this is a joke someone took seriously because they needed to publish something today.
  
  This would get almost immediately dismissed by any judge.
  
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squirrelwithnut@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
People can sue for whatever they want, but that doesn’t mean a court will entertain it. I’m sure whatever judge this is put in front of will dismiss it immediately.

As for the difficulty discussion. Not all games are made for all players, and that’s OK. If it’s too hard for you, play sometime else. Soulsborne games do not need difficulty settings, and I’m glad they don’t.

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Sordid@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

there’s a guy on 4chan who’s planning to sue Fromsoft Lol, no. There’s a guy on 4chan who’s saying wildly outlandish shit in order to have a laugh at anyone who takes it seriously.

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nokturne213@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I do not always have time to “git gud” at a game. Sometimes I want to sit down and play a game for fun, not frustration. I might have played Elden Ring for more than an hour if it had an easier difficulty.

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- vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The question is, does the responsibility fall on you to choose games that fit your skill level or the developer to compromise their vision to accomodate a broader audience? Would we take the same stance with other art? I find a lot of Foreign Arthouse Films to be slow paced and unenjoyable. Should the writers and directors be required to make an alternate cut to accomodate my preferences?
  
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  - nokturne213@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Many games, have varying difficulty levels. AFAIK movies have never had anything like that.
    
    I have also seen cuts of movies that were horrible, and then an alternative cut is released that is leaps and bounds better.
    
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- Alawami@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  it’s almost as if not every game is made for everyone
  
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  - TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You know I could have played Euro Truck simulator for more than an hour if it had been an online pay-to-win MOBA.
    
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- teft@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  If you had played it longer than an hour you probably would have gotten good.
  
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  - rikudou@lemmings.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Or they wouldn’t. I tried, died with the first enemy every time, refunded the game. Not everyone can “git gud”.
    
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- Bookmeat@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  In other news, Florida Man sues because space flight is hard, it should be as ready as opening a beer.
  
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- Banichan@dormi.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve played it for over 500. It’s easier than the Dark Souls games.
  
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- solsangraal@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Sometimes I want to sit down and play a game for fun, not frustration.
  
  there are a lot of games that are fun AND easy…that said, if i’m really enjoying a game and get to a boss that causes more frustration than fun, and is going to consume more time than i’m willing to spend, then it’s cheese/godmode o’clock. done, dgaf. devs make the games they want, i play them the way i want. win-win
  
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- Aphelion@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I haven’t bought Elden Ring for this exact reason, but I love watching other people struggle and then succeed at it.
  
  I have one friend who uninstalled Elden Ring completely after they reduced the difficulty of the new expansion DLC because he felt like they watered down his achievement of beating it.
  
  Ultimately games are a form of art and their designers and developers have the ultimate say in how accessable (or not) they want to make the experience. I have also seen games with way too much ease of play features that completely destroy any challenge to the point of making it unplayable (looks a Ubisoft).
  
  Researching games before you buy has become a critical skill to avoid feeling burned, because social media does an amazing job of selling you games through FOMO.
  
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- Spacehooks@reddthat.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Wemod is how I do it.
  
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Console_Modder@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Absolute maidenless behavior.

Seriously tho, it’s really stupid. Not every game is meant to be enjoyed by every gamer, just like how not every book will not be enjoyed by every reader. If the devs are fine with excluding a potential group of audience members by making their game very difficult, then they should be allowed to do that. Unfortunately, I get that it sucks for the people that don’t have the time or skills to ‘git gud’ at a game like Elden Ring and they may feel like they wasted their money on it. However, it’s not like you can demand a refund at the movie theater because a movie you saw was confusing, not funny, or just not something you like.

This is definitely just my opinion, but to me it seems like Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 were both popular enough that most people that play video games should know FromSoftware’s reputation for making very difficult games. If you haven’t played one of their games before, you should know that it’s a gamble as to weather you can even finish the game. But, my view on this might be pretty skewed as most people I talk to play a lot of video games

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- AnyOldName3@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You can’t really find out of you’ll get good enough to enjoy a soulslike without buying one and playing it for longer than the two hour refund period. For other products, you usually have something you can do about it or some way to try it first. You don’t need to buy a kayak to find out you don’t like kayaking as you can go for a kayaking lesson first and use the venue’s equipment. It’s understandable that people who hit a wall and can never get any enjoyment from a soulslike will be upset that it cost them just as much to find that out as it costs someone who’ll compete the game and have a great time.
  
  Maybe it’s enough to just do the refund window based on progression rather than time.
  
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  - FooBarrington@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    There’s always the option to buy a cheaper game in the genre first, or to wait for a sale. You don’t have to start with the newest biggest title.
    
    I don’t think that there’s a realistic way to measure a fair amount of progression in every game, and it could be hard as a consumer to keep track of the limit. It could work if the minimum limit is 2 hours, and a maximum can be set by devs/publishers, but it seems unlikely many would go for that…
    
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rustyfish@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Buy game that is wildly known to be too difficult for some. Made by studio known for making games too difficult for some.

Throws a fit and sues studio.

Yeah, that sounds like a skill issue.

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- GiantRobotTRex@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  The player believes that this transformation feature is in Bloodborne but wasn’t ever added to the playable game.
  
  Uhh… What? It was added in the DLC with the Beast’s Embrace rune. Equip that rune and the Beast Claw and voila! You’re now a beast.
  
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GladiusB@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m suing Twister for my inability to be flexible

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- at_an_angle@lemmy.one ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m suing Pornhub for my carpal tunnel.
  
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Aganim@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Soulslike games only frustrate me immensely. I don’t mind a challenge, but when a game starts to feel more like work than hobby I’ll pass. So Elden Ring has never been on my wishlist, but I applaud those who have the motivation to git gud and persevere.

To each their own, research a bit before you buy something and accept that you might sometimes buy a game that doesn’t suit you. Mistakes and wrong decisions happen, that’s life.

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- odelik@lemmy.today ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Elden Ring is probabaly the easiest game that From Software has made.
  
  I however don’t like the default multi-player design of FS games and waited for the Seamless Co-op mod to be released and then picked it up to play with friends as a tough open world MP adventure.
  
  RE: Seafault MP Design -
  
  I think it’s poor design to offer incentives for players to be anonymous assholes to other players. Game Studios have spent millions of dollars investing in research and technologies to reduce game community toxicity. And if you attempt to play a FS game outside the first month of release in MP mode, prepare to have your fun ruined.
  
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  - Jax@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Invasions aren’t toxic. You’re brute forcing a game balanced around solo play by abusing action economy and boss aggro. You can, at any time, start a boss and boot someone. Not to mention the overwhelming advantage you have over the invader should you choose to fight them.
    
    It could, literally, not be more in your control.
    
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- Skua@kbin.earth ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This is a healthy attitude. The game offers "easy mode" in the sense that you can use tools like summons, magic, just plain old grinding until you're massively levelled, and so on, but if you're not enjoying it then there's no point playing. It's okay for a game to not be for everyone and good for people to recognise that it's not for them.
  
  I really enjoy the games but fuck me there's no way I'll ever be taking on Malenia. I could use summons and stuff, but what I actually like is the one-on-one dodging fights, so if I did I'd justbe doing it to have done it. That's fine. I just have to evaluate the game based on what I get from the rest of it
  
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  - RaoulDook@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    To beat Malenia I used the Fallingstar Beast Jaw gravity-lightning attack with Mimic Tear doing it too. It slows her down with lots of poise damage and it does high damage. I think I added a magic potion combo of the one that makes you have high equipment capacity (for light rolling) and the one that increases poise damage.
    
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jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I refuse to believe this is real.

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- BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m convinced that FromSoftware has the biggest weirdos as their fanbase. I never played a FromSoftware game before elden ring, and i wish i would’ve just played the game and never looked at forums or wherever they throw up their opinions. Before i bought the dlc i watched a video that was titled something like: the elden ring dlc is really bad or something like that. The video had a ton of views and a lot of people seemed to agree, so i watched it, because i wasn’t sure if i should spend the money or not. The video made me actually mad because of how absolutely stupid it was. The brain-dead dude even got mad because of the word “scadutree” “Yeah what is that, i’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be called shadowtree, they can’t even get that right.” These guys have some sort of disability where they can’t enjoy the game if they use anything but a stick as a weapon.
  
  Imagine someone complaining about DOOM because it’s too hard, and you go:"i don’t know, once you get the plasma cannon… "I DON’T USE THE PLASMA CANNON, I ONLY USE THE STARTER PISTOL, WHY DO THE DEVS MAKE THE GAME SO HARD? SHOTGUNS ARE FOR BABIES JUST PISTOL.
  
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hal_5700X@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
What a joke. Git good, /v/ user.

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Etterra@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This is like suing an MMO because you want to solo raid dungeons so you can enjoy the content without having to play multiplayer.

Don’t get me wrong, their opinion is fine. But the lawsuit is idiotic. Just do what the rest of us do when we’re screwed over by circumstance and choices: build a bridge and get over it.

The only circumstance I could see a “too hard” lawsuit maybe possibly hypothetically working out is if the customer was disabled. They might have a slim chance if they could use the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) to sledgehammer the game developer with. I personally don’t believe it would work, but I’m not a lawyer so what the hell do I know.

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- Angry_Autist@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Pretty sure people have actually sued MMOs over group content, several times if I recall.
  
  None of them won, of course.
  
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- Crikeste@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I don’t even think the ‘too difficult’ will get behind this person. What an insanely stupid thing to try and pull off.
  
  And if it is successful, all it will do is harm the gaming industry into hegemony.
  
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lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Where article? Am I stupid?

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Broken_Monitor@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s not even that hard. I seriously was bracing for some ridiculous bullshit based on the response but I haven’t struggled at all through it. Sometimes I do hit a hard boss and explore to come back later, but nothing insurmountable. I still have yet to finish but Sekiro still makes this games seem like a walk in the park. Hell, all the Dark souls games are far harder too.

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- Katana314@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Given its open world nature, I would bet the difficulty of the game varies greatly depending on where someone randomly decides to explore.
  
  And, any repeat attempts won’t reveal much because on a second go the player will have experience with systems that will keep them safe or at least better conditioned around their losses.
  
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  - Broken_Monitor@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I guess that’s the thing really, is all you gotta do is recognize you can go somewhere else. Come back and practice occasional. Go find more scadu fragments, new weapons, spells, tools, experiment a little. Hell if you really need go respec and make a focused build. Or summon people to help you. There’s so many options, I hit some hard stuff but it never felt like a brick wall.
    
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braindefragger@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Source?

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Angry_Autist@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
In America, you can sue anyone for literally anything.

Doesn’t mean you’ll win, but it’s basically a highly enshrined natural right that only the rich can make best use of.

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samus12345@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Git…

…it for PC and cheat.

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- Abnorc@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m suing you for cheating.
  
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  - samus12345@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I’m countersuing for emotional distress due to a frivolous lawsuit.
    
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- BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  If only they realised that no one cared that they beat the game with only a club without upgrading it.
  
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dinckelman@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
A game that is designed to be difficult, turns out to be difficult. More at 11

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catloaf@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You can file a suit against anyone for any reason. Garbage ones get thrown out pretty quick.

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echodot@feddit.uk ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The reason that they can be a lawsuit is you can sue for anything in the US, doesn’t mean that it has any merit to it, or the case will ever even be heard.

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VizualWarrior@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Very Onionesque.

Fo real tho, difficulty in some games is more of an add on than a core mechanic. FromSoft weave difficulty into the narrative of their games in a way that is just so deliciously painful. More please.

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LostWanderer@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s the oddest choice to sue FromSoftware because Elden Ring, a Souls-like which, is advertised to be a very difficult game. Personally, I stay away from Fromsoft games because of their difficulty, I play games for fun; any game that requires an extreme amount of skill right out off the bat is simply not it to me. I guess this person can waste their money doing whatever they’d like; I don’t see them having any hope of winning this frivolous lawsuit.

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aciDC14@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’ll get the popcorn…

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josefo@leminal.space ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I agree with the general sentiment of my fellow commenters, however, coffee is hot, and there are labels on the coffee stating that because of a lawsuit like this. What a interesting precedent to games will this set. How you put a disclaimer in a game stating it’s difficulty level? Compared to what?

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- Angry_Autist@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Plaintiff will have to prove some form of legally enshrined harm has occurred.
  
  I can’t imagine what kind of results from not winning due to difficulty that may be appealing to a judge as a form of ‘damage’.
  
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  - josefo@leminal.space ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Emotional trauma? Discrimination? Ableism? With this games accessibility has been the ongoing issue, they could argue around that.
    
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