Right well damage is a matter of opinion considering mental anguish can be considered a damage
And the degree of mental anguish is also a concept driven by opinion
Say a father bought himself and his son this game for  Easter....   He see's his son only a couple times a year and looks forward to his visit and spending 2 weeks playing this new and exciting game his son has been raving about...  The dev videos look good, they claim its got unprecedented strategic multiplayer.  He also sees this as a chance to get some father sun bonding time.

The day comes, father and son pop in the game and install it, only to find out the games multiplayer is completely crippled.  It goes to say this is a huge dissapointment, its all the money the father has at the time because he preordered spending over 110$ between the 2 of them.  Needless to say a refund wont remedy all the real damage here plus it could be awhile before the father can get a real refund.  Too long for him to be able to get his money back and take his son to do something else.
 Well continueing the story the father, as a responsible consumer decides to check the forums.  The admins kindly explain to him that their was a problem in communication regarding the release date.  It was released too early and he should be patient the game will be fixed too.  Well you know the end of that part of the story, the game was not fixed, the son goes home to his mother.  The father is now 110$ back with a dissapointed son.  The father is enraged by what he interprets as the admins deciet and the developers failure.  He feels lied to and decides he wont stand for this blatant deception.  He calls his attorney.

From then on it is a matter of opinion what the father is entitled to for his wasted time and effort to play the game.
The case could be dismissed but regardless of result the damages are a valid claim.
Perhaps a warning label on the game saying "This game is not finished, as a result the multiplayer is unreliable and sometimes unplayable, buy at your own descression" sticker would have saved him some hassle

Point being, damage is a matter of opinion... Add it to your memory bank

For the record if you feel the need to respond to any of these comments please read them all, I'm sick of repeating my self to legal delitants.

It's dilettante. I hope English is not your first language, else you've no business further polluting what is already a cesspool of a profession.

Only a lawyer would seriously suggest this guy has a case worth pursuing if Stardock will not in fact honour a refund request. The only people who'd be making any serious money out of the case would be the lawyers, after all.

"Mental anguish"? Over a computer game that doesn't work 100% properly for this guy? It boggles the mind that people are even defending the suggestion that this go to the lawyering stage. It's depressing, even.

Yeah, it stinks that this guy can't play the game... but it's $40. Suck it up and move on, geez.

Don't confuse one man's expression of opinion with another's hijacking legal threats lol.

Do I have to keep repeating myself for you to get it...

The degree of damage is not for us to decide.

also read the point about why our legal system is built with an uneven playing field before you continue to spew your flame.

Correcting spelling on a forum??  1 of 2 things needs to happen with you, grow up, or get a life.

dont make me correct your english out of spite, because there is plenty to correct in both of ours.

Also read the debate about DRM and traffic shaping lawsuits and how it relates to this one and improperly built games.

Also refer to the point made about cars and games and how cars are more complicated but still have higher legal standards.

You know what, just dont involve yourself, you obviously totally missed the point of the comment you hopped in on,  do your homework.

Best news in this whole thread ! I can't wait for the Elemental beta to start ! I'm happy that there is a "huge demand" for it : it will justify investing more resources into its development.

In what concerns Demigod, I've lost all patience for it : got tired of waiting in the lobby or the game setup for an interesting custom-match to effectively start, and of experiencing started games which went awry because of connection issues. 

I'll blame myself then : not enough time & patience. Got to move on to Elemental !

 

No I cannot. But lets just say if it was Sony Online Entertainment I would cry.

There are serious problems with demigod, but nothing you can't change....

 

There are games out you could really say it will never work... Like Age of Conan.... i mean mmorpg that can't display more than 50 players at once can't work... NEVER....

 

Demigod hasn't such kind of problems. Biggest problem is connecting.... but there several games that work nice with p2p... so... it's possible  

No, you missed the point. And continue to do so.

Though as a 19 year old you telling me to grow up did provide a laugh, so kudos for that.

The point is that the only winners in any such lawsuit would be the lawyers. As is the case in many such lawsuits over petty matters.

Are you serious? Can you think of a reason why cars might be held to higher standards than a $40 computer game?

The price tag alone ought to ensure car makers are held to a higher standard than a computer game maker. But even if you could buy a brand new car for $40 it'd still be held to a higher standard because while the multiplayer not working 100% of the time in a game is a pain in the backside, the brakes in a car not working 100% of the time is just the tiniest bit more serious.

You're absolutely right but for completely the wrong reasoning. The damages would most likely be decided by a jury, but any damage claim that significantly exceeded the cost of the claimant's legal expenses would almost certainly be set aside by any competent judge. Assuming Stardock didn't just decide to give them a full refund to avoid the lawsuit altogether.

Hmm, $40 or $40,000 in lawyer's fees. It's a tough call.

Please, go for your life. I suspect you're not actually capable of any such feat and certainly not capable of "correcting" anything more than my somewhat colloquial "yeah", "geez" and "lawyering". Which are all in the dictionary, sadly enough...

The reason I corrected it is because you're claiming to have this epic level of intelligence and experience in the field and you're even labelling others as dabblers - dilettantes - but you can't even spell the word you're using. That's extremely poor form.

Spelling on an internet forum is not everything, I agree entirely. But if you're going to claim superior intelligence to that of the rest of the plebes? Best be able to back that shit up, son.

And you can't. Which casts all the rest of your "knowledge" in a very poor light indeed.

Let's see. Why are cars more important than video games.

1. Cars are $20,000+, Video Games is $40

2. Cars are required to get to jobs and such, reliability is important. Video Games, are leisure.

3. Cars are dangerous, faulty cars kill people. Video Games kill time.

PS: The fact that you took legal subjects in High School, or come from a family of lawyers doesn't mean you know shit. From your argumentative strategy of "OMG EVERYONE LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY, I R LAW STUDENT... SOON", I'd say you should give up your Lawyer dream because you're going to get whatever firm you work for sued for malpractice because of your ineptitude when it comes to making a real argument. You could have a valid point who knows, you've so cleverly disguised it in rediculous comparisons and claims that I can't do much but laugh at you rather than listen.

PS: The guy who said cars were simple a few pages back was trolling you, and instead of noticing you went on a selfrighteous rant calling him a whole range of insulting things. Good work there. lol.

Ok, this thread has gotten pretty weird. I'm going to lock it at this point.