I had noticed this phrase in the City of Heroes EULA a few weeks ago: "You have no fundamental right whatsoever to use the Game, and that You understand that NCsoft may in its sole and absolute discretion terminate Your ability to use of the Game for any reason or for no reason whatsoever". That's right, the EULA makes us agree that they can shut the game down for no reason whatsoever if they so wish. Today I got curious as to whether the other user agreements, past and present, have similar language. Given that they understandably seem to copy-and-paste their legalese, the answer is... yes.
Auto Assault User Agreement, section 10 (c)
(c) NC Interactive has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
Tabula Rasa User Agreement, section 10 (c)
(c) NC Interactive has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
Dungeon Runners User Agreement, section 10 (c)
(c) NC Interactive has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
Exteel User Agreement, section 10 (c)
(c) NC Interactive has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
City of Heroes User Agreement, section 11 (a) (i)
(i) You warrant and represent that You understand the Game sets forth a virtual world and not the real world, that You understand the distinction between a virtual world and the real world, that You understand that You have no fundamental right whatsoever to use the Game, and that You understand that NCsoft may in its sole and absolute discretion terminate Your ability to use of the Game for any reason or for no reason whatsoever;
Lineage 2 User Agreement, section 11 (a) (i)
(i) You warrant and represent that You understand the Game sets forth a virtual world and not the real world, that You understand the distinction between a virtual world and the real world, that You understand that You have no fundamental right whatsoever to use the Game, and that You understand that NCsoft may in its sole and absolute discretion terminate Your ability to use of the Game for any reason or for no reason whatsoever;
Aion User Agreement, section 11 (a) (i)
(i) You warrant and represent that You understand the Game sets forth a virtual world and not the real world, that You understand the distinction between a virtual world and the real world, that You understand that You have no fundamental right whatsoever to use the Game, and that You understand that NCsoft may in its sole and absolute discretion terminate Your ability to access or use the Game for any reason or for no reason whatsoever;
Guild Wars User Agreement, section 10 (c)
(c) NC Interactive has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
Guild Wars 2 User Agreement, section 11 (a) (i)
(i) You warrant and represent that You understand the Game sets forth a virtual world and not the real world, that You understand the distinction between a virtual world and the real world, that You understand that You have no fundamental right whatsoever to use the Game, and that You understand that NCsoft may in its sole and absolute discretion terminate Your ability to access or use the Game for any reason or for no reason whatsoever;
I couldn't find a user agreement anywhere for Blade and Soul, but I expect it would match the above.
Now this isn't something specific to NCsoft. I found similar language in every other game I looked at:
World of Warcraft User Agreement, "Termination" section
Blizzard may terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason or no reason. Upon termination for any reason, all licenses granted herein shall immediately terminate and you must immediately and permanently destroy all copies of the Game in your possession and control and remove the Game Client from your hard drive.
Star Wars: the Old Republic User Agreement, "Termination of Agreement" section
We may also decide to terminate this EUALA in the event that we terminate the operation of the Game. [...] Promptly upon termination, you must cease all use of the Software and destroy all copies of the Software in your possession or control. You acknowledge and agree that the termination of this EUALA or permanent deletion of the Software may render your Account and any in-game attributes or Content unusable, for which you will not hold EA in any way responsible.
Everquest II User Agreement, section 6
We may also terminate this Agreement if we decide, in our sole discretion, to discontinue offering the Game, in which case we may provide you with a prorated refund of any prepaid amounts.
The Secret World User Agreement, section 7
Funcom may terminate this Agreement at any time, for any reason or no reason at all, without Your consent or any further notice to you. [...] In the event of a termination of this Agreement or Your rights and license granted hereunder, You must (i) cease to use the Software; (ii) immediately and permanently destroy all copies of the Game in Your possession or control; and (iii) permanently remove the Software from all of Your computers and game operating devices.
Perfect World's blanket EULA (covering all of its games including Champions Online), section 19
PWE MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, BLOCK ACCESS TO OR DELETE THE SERVICE OR ANY ACCOUNT AT ANY TIME WITH OR WITHOUT REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE. [...] In the event your Account is terminated or canceled for any reason, or for no reason, no refund will be granted, no online time or other credits (e.g., points in an online game) will be credited to you or converted to cash or other form of reimbursement, and you will have no further access to your Account.
DC Universe Online User Agreement, section 6
We may also terminate this Agreement if we decide, in our sole discretion, to discontinue offering the Game, in which case we may provide you with a prorated refund of any prepaid amounts.
Rift User Agreement, section 18
Trion reserves the right, at its sole and absolute discretion, to change, modify, add to, disable, supplement, suspend, remove or delete, at any time, any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, any feature of the Site, Game(s) (including Game-related Virtual Items, if any), Game Client(s) and/or Service, hours of availability, content, data, feature, gameplay, item (including in a manner which makes virtual goods substantially more, or less, valuable, effective, functional, common or available), service, server software or equipment needed to access the Site, Game(s) (including Game-related Virtual Items, if any), Game Client(s) and/or the Service, effective with or without prior notice; provided, however, that material changes to this Terms of Use Agreement will not be applied retroactively.
This is clearly standard practice for EULAs. And in a way, I suppose it's understandable: thanks to the way our laws work, the companies have a fiduciary duty to maximize profit and to minimize losses; retaining the right to do whatever the heck they want ensures they will continue to have the ability to maximize profit and minimize losses no matter what the impact might be on the end user.
However, I would argue that such clauses are absolutely horrible from an ethical standpoint. These companies aren't just selling a game. They're fostering communities. And the communities they foster aren't just incidental and unintentional. They
explicitly foster communities, because it's crucial for them making more money. Much of the value of an MMORPG comes not from the game itself but from the other players playing the game. If not for those other players, it would be a single-player game after all.
It is unconscionable that we are asked to invest ourselves so strongly in these games and their communities, and yet the only right we are allowed to retain is the right to leave.
NCsoft is establishing itself as a game killer, but they're not doing anything that every other company hasn't also reserved the right to do. It may be tempting to think that we're safer with other companies because they haven't established a reputation for this kind of thing, but that's a false sense of security. Any company could do this at any time, for any reason or
for no reason whatsoever.
We don't even have the right to an explanation.