Remember back in mid-June Diablo III's always-on DRM caused quite a stir with both the German and French consumer advocacy groups because consumers complained that they weren't (and some still aren't) able to play the game effectively due to Blizzard's server structure? Well, the German group is giving Blizzard until July 27th to respond regarding fixes for the issue or they'll be pursuing a response in the court of law.
According to German site PC Gamer, the German consumer advocacy group the Federation of Consumer Organizations gave Blizzard up until July 20th to repackage the Diablo III boxes to better represent that not only does the game require an internet connection but that the connection must be persistent.
What's more is that the group still isn't happy about Diablo III's always-on DRM especially with the game's rocky launch. According to the advocacy group Blizzard should have anticipated the amount of server capacity required for player-load based on the demand for the game. Just to be clear, Diablo III sold 6.3 million copies in under a week.
According to the botched Google translate on PC Gamer the groups may seek further recourse in court if Blizzard doesn't respond with an appropriate reply regarding the state of the always-on DRM by July 27th. In their opinion consumers should always be warned about the possible shortcomings of a product that may not work as intended due to the company's lack of resources, as outlined in their quote, stating...
"Know the prospective buyer must already exist before you buy, can be used under what conditions a software Whether a permanent Internet connection, a compulsory registration of an Internet platform, including the related access to a game or downloading additional software : All this is material information that the consumer must be given before buying software. "
A lot of gamers didn't know they would not be able to play Diablo III due to Blizzard's overloaded servers. In Germany, gamers bombarded Amazon's German website with 1-star reviews as a vote of no confidence.
In Korea, internet cafe owners became disgruntled at this idea given that they must pay royalties monthly to Blizzard to host Diablo III in their cafes, and since the game is not fully functional due to Blizzard's poor server support the decided to ban together and file a class-action lawsuit against Blizzard.
It appears in other countries consumer advocacy groups take consumer complaints seriously. Over here in America gamers get ridiculed for trying to question Blizzard about $50 that just evaporates into digital air. Consumers over here in America also get badgered for trying to inquire about why they've been banned, and only a few within the gaming media circles actually bothers to question the anti-consumerist ethics of the corporation.
In this regards, I'm sure many gamers are glad they don't live in Pro-Corporate America.
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