Steam class action lawsuit(s)

[TYRVNT]

I've never made a Steam post before. I never felt the need to, though I've been helped by the lovely people who post many times, so I thank you for that. Buuuuut also, that's part of why I love Steam...

And that brings me to today's rant which I randomly feel the need to write after seeing a YouTube ad encouraging me to join a class-action lawsuit against Steam. It's not the first I've seen, but it's the first one that made me stop and say, "Wait, WHAT?"

Of course, I understand how the world works. For the most part, it's probably just some people trying to make a quick buck, and to profit from our flawed legal system. I admit, I didn't even bother to investigate it further as I simply don't care. However, one thought just occurred to me after seeing it, which is:

"Steam is far from perfect. Valve has much they can improve on, and I hope they do. However, that being said, in today's world, I struggle to think of another company, not just in the gaming industry but in general, that does as much to be genuinely pro-consumer as Steam does."

I had not stopped to consider it before seeing the ad for the class-action lawsuit, but ironically, it made me realize that Valve is one of the most pro-consumer companies I've ever encountered or dealt with. And so, any "monopoly" they may have over the gaming market is not due to nefarious practices or backroom deals (though, of course, it's possible that's a part of it behind the scenes), but because it's just THAT MUCH BETTER than any alternative out there.

Huge shout out to GoG & GoG Galaxy, I love what they stand for and how they operate, I'm glad they exist and encourage people to check them out. But... again, they're no Steam. And every other launcher I can think of, I honestly put on the same level as bloatware in my mind at this point. xD


So i guess TL;DR:
Today i found it super ironic that in a world of ♥♥♥♥♥♥, evil companies, I got an ad to join a class action lawsuit against one of the ONLY ones that seems to actually care about me as a user, Steam 🤣

[Komarimaru]

Originalmente postado por Dr.Shadowds 🐉:

Originalmente postado por Prof.Jackie:

So did anybody get their "thousands of dollars" yet? :profgenki:

Don't think they had started yet, not sure if there date when they're doing it, or if they're waiting for to get as many people in it.

One thing for sure lawyers are gonna make bank when they get their large pay cut from the reward for all the people that took part. As often they either take ~40%, or charge hourly rate $$$ which they just drag things out long as possible, it's whatever profit them the most, the clients get whatever remaining left.

Well, you left out the part, the arbitration can only go forwards, if the suit actually works against Valve.

So in the end, the Lawyers will make nothing, or milk the people they are "Defending" in fees to make money if the suit fails fully.

[LiquidFlames]

I don't know where my post went so I'll try to summarize it. Wolfire, a games developer, sued Valve for their monopoly on games distributions and the unfair percentage they take from developers on every sale. Mason LLP is one of three firms handling the mass arbitration and class actions. In the original class action, the judge said that it needed to go through individual arbitration. Long story short, it is legit and Mason LLP is trying to gather enough information from Steam users to make it worthwhile to pursue the arbitration. It does not hurt you in any way to join the arbitration. If they are successful, you'll get a refund for a certain percentage of the money you have spent on Steam since January 28, 2017. The percentage will largely depend on how many people join. If you're worried about Valve deleting your account or removing games from your library as some kind of retaliation for joining the process, I'll refer you to this except from an email conversation I had with Mason LLP:

"We have been in settlement negotiations with Steam for nearly a month and Valve has not made any mention of closing accounts. Currently there are three different law firms representing more than 200,000 subscribers and I have not heard about a single account being closed.

We have no reason to believe Valve will cancel any subscriber accounts. If it did so, it would be in direct violation of Section 9(c) of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which limits Valve’s ability to cancel your account. We seriously doubt Valve will cancel any of these accounts, much less all of them. The total value of the accounts is significantly greater than the amount being sought in this lawsuit, so by taking this action Valve would be more than doubling its liability."

So, you literally have nothing to lose by joining.

Some replies to my original (and now missing) post wanted to know where I got this information. I got my information from the Mason LLP website and a lengthy email conversation I had with them. As mentioned, the above quote comes from one of those emails. Some replies to my original post claimed I misunderstood the information. Well, it's on the Mason LLP website and quoted above. If you think I've misunderstood something, tell me how you think the information should be interpreted. I'm open to being corrected and learning more about this.

[Sombra]

I saw the advertisement for it and its so tryhard. I remember the guy having to read his screen because he forgot his script. Do not listen to those morons because you cant beat Gaben

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Originalmente postado por LiquidFlames:

I don't know where my post went so I'll try to summarize it. Wolfire, a games developer, sued Valve for their monopoly on games distributions and the unfair percentage they take from developers on every sale. Mason LLP is one of three firms handling the mass arbitration and class actions. In the original class action, the judge said that it needed to go through individual arbitration. Long story short, it is legit and Mason LLP is trying to gather enough information from Steam users to make it worthwhile to pursue the arbitration. It does not hurt you in any way to join the arbitration. If they are successful, you'll get a refund for a certain percentage of the money you have spent on Steam since January 28, 2017. The percentage will largely depend on how many people join. If you're worried about Valve deleting your account or removing games from your library as some kind of retaliation for joining the process, I'll refer you to this except from an email conversation I had with Mason LLP:

"We have been in settlement negotiations with Steam for nearly a month and Valve has not made any mention of closing accounts. Currently there are three different law firms representing more than 200,000 subscribers and I have not heard about a single account being closed.

We have no reason to believe Valve will cancel any subscriber accounts. If it did so, it would be in direct violation of Section 9(c) of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which limits Valve’s ability to cancel your account. We seriously doubt Valve will cancel any of these accounts, much less all of them. The total value of the accounts is significantly greater than the amount being sought in this lawsuit, so by taking this action Valve would be more than doubling its liability."

So, you literally have nothing to lose by joining.

Some replies to my original (and now missing) post wanted to know where I got this information. I got my information from the Mason LLP website and a lengthy email conversation I had with them. As mentioned, the above quote comes from one of those emails. Some replies to my original post claimed I misunderstood the information. Well, it's on the Mason LLP website and quoted above. If you think I've misunderstood something, tell me how you think the information should be interpreted. I'm open to being corrected and learning more about this.

The people that take part that are qualified for the reward, only get whatever after lawyer take their cut of the reward first that the point, and goal is to make bank from this using people as easy sock puppets for them.

Depending what the deal is, either they charge hourly rate, or large % cut on the reward whatever benefits them the most, the rest goes to the people that qualify for the reward, note that it splits to all in that pool, and may vary base what you're worth for it, or everyone get a fixed amount that it.

Now Steam isn't force to paying, they can dismiss it, and can be taken to court to agure over it then becomes a battle, hence the hourly wage may benefit them the most meant more money in lawyer pocket, smaller reward for you. So might have clue in why I use the term sock puppet and understand what it meant.

[Komarimaru]

Originalmente postado por LiquidFlames:

I don't know where my post went so I'll try to summarize it. Wolfire, a games developer, sued Valve for their monopoly on games distributions and the unfair percentage they take from developers on every sale. Mason LLP is one of three firms handling the mass arbitration and class actions. In the original class action, the judge said that it needed to go through individual arbitration. Long story short, it is legit and Mason LLP is trying to gather enough information from Steam users to make it worthwhile to pursue the arbitration. It does not hurt you in any way to join the arbitration. If they are successful, you'll get a refund for a certain percentage of the money you have spent on Steam since January 28, 2017. The percentage will largely depend on how many people join. If you're worried about Valve deleting your account or removing games from your library as some kind of retaliation for joining the process, I'll refer you to this except from an email conversation I had with Mason LLP:

"We have been in settlement negotiations with Steam for nearly a month and Valve has not made any mention of closing accounts. Currently there are three different law firms representing more than 200,000 subscribers and I have not heard about a single account being closed.

We have no reason to believe Valve will cancel any subscriber accounts. If it did so, it would be in direct violation of Section 9(c) of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which limits Valve’s ability to cancel your account. We seriously doubt Valve will cancel any of these accounts, much less all of them. The total value of the accounts is significantly greater than the amount being sought in this lawsuit, so by taking this action Valve would be more than doubling its liability."

So, you literally have nothing to lose by joining.

Some replies to my original (and now missing) post wanted to know where I got this information. I got my information from the Mason LLP website and a lengthy email conversation I had with them. As mentioned, the above quote comes from one of those emails. Some replies to my original post claimed I misunderstood the information. Well, it's on the Mason LLP website and quoted above. If you think I've misunderstood something, tell me how you think the information should be interpreted. I'm open to being corrected and learning more about this.

How can they make these settlements negotiations when it's based off of needing to win a suite first?

What's so hard to understand about this? Until Wolfire can prove their case, there can be no settlements.

Talk about falling for a legal scam lol

[Lily McFluffy Butt]

Originalmente postado por LiquidFlames:

I don't know where my post went so I'll try to summarize it. Wolfire, a games developer, sued Valve for their monopoly on games distributions and the unfair percentage they take from developers on every sale. Mason LLP is one of three firms handling the mass arbitration and class actions. In the original class action, the judge said that it needed to go through individual arbitration. Long story short, it is legit and Mason LLP is trying to gather enough information from Steam users to make it worthwhile to pursue the arbitration. It does not hurt you in any way to join the arbitration. If they are successful, you'll get a refund for a certain percentage of the money you have spent on Steam since January 28, 2017. The percentage will largely depend on how many people join. If you're worried about Valve deleting your account or removing games from your library as some kind of retaliation for joining the process, I'll refer you to this except from an email conversation I had with Mason LLP:

"We have been in settlement negotiations with Steam for nearly a month and Valve has not made any mention of closing accounts. Currently there are three different law firms representing more than 200,000 subscribers and I have not heard about a single account being closed.

We have no reason to believe Valve will cancel any subscriber accounts. If it did so, it would be in direct violation of Section 9(c) of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which limits Valve’s ability to cancel your account. We seriously doubt Valve will cancel any of these accounts, much less all of them. The total value of the accounts is significantly greater than the amount being sought in this lawsuit, so by taking this action Valve would be more than doubling its liability."

So, you literally have nothing to lose by joining.

Some replies to my original (and now missing) post wanted to know where I got this information. I got my information from the Mason LLP website and a lengthy email conversation I had with them. As mentioned, the above quote comes from one of those emails. Some replies to my original post claimed I misunderstood the information. Well, it's on the Mason LLP website and quoted above. If you think I've misunderstood something, tell me how you think the information should be interpreted. I'm open to being corrected and learning more about this.

They might not get your money, but you know what they do get? Your information. You are willingly handing over your information to "lawyers" who clearly have no case. They get way more money selling off your information than they would've ever gotten from charging you anything.

[xBCxRangers]

Originalmente postado por Komarimaru:

Originalmente postado por LiquidFlames:

I don't know where my post went so I'll try to summarize it. Wolfire, a games developer, sued Valve for their monopoly on games distributions and the unfair percentage they take from developers on every sale. Mason LLP is one of three firms handling the mass arbitration and class actions. In the original class action, the judge said that it needed to go through individual arbitration. Long story short, it is legit and Mason LLP is trying to gather enough information from Steam users to make it worthwhile to pursue the arbitration. It does not hurt you in any way to join the arbitration. If they are successful, you'll get a refund for a certain percentage of the money you have spent on Steam since January 28, 2017. The percentage will largely depend on how many people join. If you're worried about Valve deleting your account or removing games from your library as some kind of retaliation for joining the process, I'll refer you to this except from an email conversation I had with Mason LLP:

"We have been in settlement negotiations with Steam for nearly a month and Valve has not made any mention of closing accounts. Currently there are three different law firms representing more than 200,000 subscribers and I have not heard about a single account being closed.

We have no reason to believe Valve will cancel any subscriber accounts. If it did so, it would be in direct violation of Section 9(c) of the Steam Subscriber Agreement which limits Valve’s ability to cancel your account. We seriously doubt Valve will cancel any of these accounts, much less all of them. The total value of the accounts is significantly greater than the amount being sought in this lawsuit, so by taking this action Valve would be more than doubling its liability."

So, you literally have nothing to lose by joining.

Some replies to my original (and now missing) post wanted to know where I got this information. I got my information from the Mason LLP website and a lengthy email conversation I had with them. As mentioned, the above quote comes from one of those emails. Some replies to my original post claimed I misunderstood the information. Well, it's on the Mason LLP website and quoted above. If you think I've misunderstood something, tell me how you think the information should be interpreted. I'm open to being corrected and learning more about this.

How can they make these settlements negotiations when it's based off of needing to win a suite first?

What's so hard to understand about this? Until Wolfire can prove their case, there can be no settlements.

Talk about falling for a legal scam lol

Well, by your interpretation "any" lawsuit can then be construed as a "scam", being you never know if you're gonna win, and, only if you're on a retainer of some sort do you think the case legit.

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, but idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

Thank you @Liquid Flames for bringing clarity into the matter.

Time for CHANGE, Mr Newell

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

Originalmente postado por Komarimaru:

How can they make these settlements negotiations when it's based off of needing to win a suite first?

What's so hard to understand about this? Until Wolfire can prove their case, there can be no settlements.

Talk about falling for a legal scam lol

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, but idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

Oh the irony of that.

[Start_Running]

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

Well, by your interpretation "any" lawsuit can then be construed as a "scam", being you never know if you're gonna win, and, only if you're on a retainer of some sort do you think the case legit.

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, but idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

Thank you @Liquid Flames for bringing clarity into the matter.

Time for CHANGE, Mr Newell

You mean the fact that Wolfire litrerally has no case.

[xBCxRangers]

Originalmente postado por Start_Running:

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

Well, by your interpretation "any" lawsuit can then be construed as a "scam", being you never know if you're gonna win, and, only if you're on a retainer of some sort do you think the case legit.

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, but idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

Thank you @Liquid Flames for bringing clarity into the matter.

Time for CHANGE, Mr Newell

You mean the fact that Wolfire litrerally has no case.

Obviously, they have a case, and the case submitted, and ongoing. I have not heard this particular firm ever being sued for anything. But i have heard Valve and Mr Newell being sued, and lost their suit in Australia. What should we say, about Valve?

And so we have to be fair.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

Originalmente postado por Start_Running:

You mean the fact that Wolfire litrerally has no case.

But i have heard Valve and Mr Newell being sued, and lost their suit in Australia. What should we say, about Valve?

And so we have to be fair.

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

We do need to be fair.

[Komarimaru]

Originalmente postado por xBCxRangers:

Originalmente postado por Komarimaru:

How can they make these settlements negotiations when it's based off of needing to win a suite first?

What's so hard to understand about this? Until Wolfire can prove their case, there can be no settlements.

Talk about falling for a legal scam lol

Well, by your interpretation "any" lawsuit can then be construed as a "scam", being you never know if you're gonna win, and, only if you're on a retainer of some sort do you think the case legit.

That would eliminate many cases from ever seeing a courtroom. We can disagree on matters, but idt it's right for us to just in essence slander a company, unless we know the facts, as they were now presented.

Thank you @Liquid Flames for bringing clarity into the matter.

Time for CHANGE, Mr Newell

You don't seem to get it. The Arbitration's quite literally rely on the Wolfire Case. Why do you think no one has recieved any money? Because the case isn't due to happen until 2024 at Wolfire's request, since they are struggling to prove their claim. They lost every other claim they've made so far, and those arbitration's that were planned before Wolfire lost, had to be closed.

When your case hinges on another suite, and the suite loses or hasn't happened yet, kinda hard to settle the case. Law, and logic and what not.

[HikariLight]

Wolfire has no case as Valve does not have a monopoly on PC game sales.
Epic Games Store, GOG, Microsoft Store, EA Games, and several other PC game stores exist.
Valve/Steam does not have a monopoly on the PC gaming market.

[Start_Running]

Originalmente postado por HikariLight:

Wolfire has no case as Valve does not have a monopoly on PC game sales.
Epic Games Store, GOG, Microsoft Store, EA Games, and several other PC game stores exist.
Valve/Steam does not have a monopoly on the PC gaming market.

They neither have a monopoly nor do thay have monopoly like powers. They are simply a popular store and if a puiblisher doesn't like the rates or policies thay can go solo or go elsewhere. Steam users aren't ion some walled off garden after all

[xBCxRangers]

Originalmente postado por Start_Running:

Originalmente postado por HikariLight:

Wolfire has no case as Valve does not have a monopoly on PC game sales.
Epic Games Store, GOG, Microsoft Store, EA Games, and several other PC game stores exist.
Valve/Steam does not have a monopoly on the PC gaming market.

They neither have a monopoly nor do thay have monopoly like powers. They are simply a popular store and if a puiblisher doesn't like the rates or policies thay can go solo or go elsewhere. Steam users aren't ion some walled off garden after all

Well, it seems we are in a walled off garden. If we users are forced to have to buy new computers to continue to play games we already purchased years ago, all because we "signed a TOS" saying as such, i cant even imagine individual developers who sign contracts with such.