Class action lawsuit
So apparently a lot of collective people from the festival are suing Niantic for the event and it's dysfunctionality. Side fact, since launch of legendaries Pokemon Go has averaged $6 million a day in profit. So here is my thing, People went to Chicago just for this event? The way i look at it, that sounds like a waste of money anyway. I play a lot, but anything over $400-$500 i would not travel for. But here is the thing, Basically i think Niantic extended the event because they saw this lawsuit coming. Longer rewards more Incubators bought, Raid Passes(boxes), Lucky eggs. Basically in end all these people screaming "Fix your game" are the people taking away this money and setting them back. Personally i did my homework for Go Fest, Would've cost me just sort of a grand to attend and stay for the weekend BUT I would've planned other events and sight see while i was there. In end i was on the website the first 30 seconds tickets were available and decided it was not a smart choice. I know this post is all over the place but here is what i really want to know.
1.) The game could not open so apparently the event was a disaster, The event is supposed to be more than. Meeting more PoGo players.
2.) Everyone that yelled "Fix your game" and then turning around and filing in the lawsuit is a hypocrite, you need money in order to "fix the game" this is what you are taking away from them.
3.) I know this Company has tons of money, i get it. But seriously... Think about it. These people went to Chicago from wherever they came from and expect Niantic to pay for everything from the moment they left their house to coming back to their house..... They traveled... I know like many things i post on here i am the minority on this. But just some thoughts. Anyone else think this is ridiculous or should people get all expenses covered?
Edit: Niantic did extend everything within the park to a 2 mile radius. Stops and Pokemon(Heracross and unknown) were still accessible.
Answers
I know, that's the sad thing. But honestly i think this is where the court steps up and asks what they were promised that wasn't received. In essence they got everything promised... They met other trainers that came from all over the world, they got pokemon that were not previously available. I think at most they get 40-50% of just travel expenses covered with only receipts for proof.
This is why the court system needs to implement a rule for these stupid lawsuits where the looser of the case must pay all legal fees for the defendant.
This is just an example of how dumb the American justice system is. Someone can break into your home, and if they happen to fall down the steps while carrying out your flatscreen and break a bone or slip in your back yard while running away and injure themselves they can sue the home owner and win.......SMH
It is not an "excuse" to sue a company.
People were promised an event and what they got was a load of bull****. This event was not planned in the slightest. I would be surprised if Niantic spent more than 1,000$ on the whole thing. Even a kindergarten kid would come up with the thought that an event that is based entirely on internet connection would need internet connection. Niantic didnt. There are thousands of gaming events every year, how come Niantic is the only company that can not get anything to work at all? Its not like they have less budget, they have 10 times more.
The excuse "There were more players than we expected" is starting to get old, they had over a year and billions of dollars to take countermeasures.
It remains a fact that Niantic doesnt give a **** about their playerbase and only cares about money. Nothing more, nothing less.
People should not just get all their expenses covered, they should be payed compensation for a whole day of wasted time and all the stress and aggression they got from Niantic screwing up this bad.
Haha, probably the sound system alone was $1000.00 Cellular reception is very different than the "thousands of gaming events." Most of which said events are Tournaments in which a crowd of people watch others(2-100) people play, and those are connected in a different way. It is a business, every business wants money. But if you think Niantic doesn't give a shit about it's consumers than what business actually does anymore?
I get the disappointment...but it doesn't mean you need to sue.
You claim that 'a kindergarten kid' would have a better idea about the internet connection - but from what I have read, it was not the connection to the internet that was the issue. If you are going to berate people and claim you know how to fix the problem - perhaps you need to have enough information to actually know what the problem is before claiming you have a fix.
To claim Niantic didn't spend more than $1000 on the event is more like the reasoning of a kindergarten child - seriously, that makes no sense. Even if it was the case, they didn't promise a spending budget, so as far as 'suing' it is irrelevant what they spent.
But the part where you claim others don't know what they are doing is priceless.
The rest of your post is basically....people should sue because they had a bad time - see more original comment.
Basically this is the attitude I was talking about.
I agree people (Americans) are dumb and many should keep their opinions to themselves. That said if I dropped a grand to play a game and was unable to play and I could have stayed home and dripped say $20 I would be furious.
I know a guy who went. He bought $100 coin pack the day before Niantic announced the recompense. In many ways They're bad communicators. That said even with refunds and reimbursements people are still going to be fat miserable complainers. If Niantic wants to make It right I think planning & programming, and not payment will be the best way.
In all fairness, Niantic was not ready for what Pokemon Go has commanded. This is the first event, also a reason i didn't go. I expect sometime that they may have event near me, Possibly DC. But people can't actually expect a lot from them. They are growing let them learn from their mistakes and maybe who knows a year or two from now they can hold 50,000 people in a spot with connectivity and no network errors. But everyone wants everything now. Everyone has an opinion, but at this point....it is basically someone else's. No one forms their own opinion anymore.
This is more about lawyers than even the attendees. It's a great way for them to find an easy settlement from a successful company and claim 1/3rd or more of the money.
Now a days if you have any money expect to find yourself in court sooner or later. The thiefs with briefcases are in the largest legal racket ever known.
I was at fest, and I remember that guy, shouting and trying to get people to join a law suit. Things to remember before joining a lawsuit are:
1) Niantic, The Pokemon Company, and anyone else involved in organizing the event are in no way, shape or form legally responsible for any additional things you purchased for fest. They can't be, they didn't sell you those things. I'm not a company representative, I just come from a family of lawyers and have heard how these things go.
1a) I do sympathise with those that spent a lot of money to go to fest only to be disappointed. I'm lucky because I live in the burbs and spent $8 on a train ticket to get there.
2) Like others have said here, you'll never get the full amount of the money. After legal fees and paying the lawyers (two very separate things), the money is split between everyone involved in the lawsuit. You'll get like $3.
3) Like others have said here, we at fest did get, in a round about way, what we were promised. And more. There is no legal leg to stand on there.
3a) No one (that I've heard of) got physically injured from attending Fest. You could sue for emotional distress, but what judge will take you seriously for that.
4) Not everything that went wrong with Fest is Niantic's fault. Game crashing? Yes. Authentication errors? Yes. Poor cell service? No. Niantic cannot control the telecommunication companies. That's called a monopoly and the federal government would have shut them down and then there would have been no PoGo or Fest at all. Niantic could have given (and may have, I don't know, not a member of the company) the telecom companies advanced warning, what the telecoms did with that information is their fault.
Can not thumbs up this enough, all points on here is what i am trying to say as well. This whole thing just doesn't make sense. 1a.) i agree i feel bad, but this should be a lesson. Don't travel for something like this unless you have other plans. It isn't a weekend event, but you should make it a whole Chicago event. only leg they have might actually be the length of the lines... but that isn't much.
I usually hate reiterating points that someone else made, it's not a very productive or intelligent conversation, but I wanted to expand on them and just put the hard truths out there for anyone who was considering joining one. Point 1a was to preemptively protect myself from flamers. I shall stop here before we get into a violent agreement.
You are off on your point #2. Way off.
People spent lots of time and money going to this event. People used up vacation time they could have been doing something else.
Nianitic FAILED bigtime with this event. Huge screw up. People who attended couldn't do anything.
Niantic deserves what they are getting and extending an event 2-3 days doesn't fix the mess or the problem. Niantic giving out $100 in coins doesn't fix it either. This is a small bandaid on a problem that has been ongoing for over a year.
Maybe Niantic should actually spend money and "Fix their game". I didn't attend the event so I don't have a bone in this but I couldn't imaging booking a flight, hotels, food etc. and then have this a massive epic fail.
Dodge bug still exists, massive raid problems and bugs still exist.
Niantic should fix their game and this wouldn't happen. Niantic should have expected and planned for those problems in Chicago.
Lol the fact you put food in that list is hilarious. you feel bad people there bought food?? I am sure people could bring their own food, stop by a grocery store. They did plan ahead, you're just reading the criticizers articles. if you search Pokemon Go you will find tons of articles, Rarely are any of them complimenting anything Niantic does. Here is why this is dumb.... Niantic gave them their refund, what they paid for to enter the event, to take perks of the event. None the less for being at Chicago they received EXTREME bonuses for the game, which believe it or not... those perks were still available and the game was accessible later than the kick off....The Problem was both their Network and Cell Towers. Niantic explained in about an hour or two after the event went downhill they had fixed their Network, Cellular signals were still weak. Big Headed Cellular companies said they had the power to generate for the mass amount of people that were coming, Sprint I heard was the only one to deliver a COW. Another thing, If you plan for an event like this....10-7 1.) either it should be a day trip, you should take a train... car ride....walk. Who cares just day trip. 2.) If you bought hotel tickets make other plans, spend time actually enjoying the environment of Chicago. Pokemon Go fest should have had more stuff, but that is it. The point was for people to come here and meet other trainers with at the end a big reveal. People met other trainers and legendaries were released. Unknown and Heracross were available.... in the end more money will go to lawyers than people and less towards either person that could use it. So you may massively disagree with point 2, and if people put Vacation time in for Pokemon Go. It was a 1 day event not a whole week. Frankly i think you're speaking right out of your ass, but whatever. You have your opinion that I hope is yours and I will acknowledge it. Hopefully both parties will learn both Niantic(and cellular companies when a company asks for something that is required.) and fans of not just pokemon go but all games. Do not travel unless you know what you're getting. I'm thinking of some type of event you can compare this to in real life but it isn't possible. For me i sat back and was looking at what there is to actually do there...... all in all $1000 is not the worth me doing the same thing i would have been doing at home, this lawsuit is just people realizing that. They should have had more on site activities, but those were not promised.
A lot of rage from you for the people who got burned by Niantic. You obviously don't have a care for them and what they went through. I watched a lot of videos of families and kids noting being able to do anything.
It is obvious you don't know what you are talking about so I'm out of this. Long winded post from you and for some reason you have zero compassion about what actually happened there.
"Zero compassion about what actually happened there" I am sorry did Chicago get bombed? I am missing the point, what catastrophic thing happened at Go Fest that deserves compassion? Before Go Fest those people were looked at as the lucky ones that get to go. you treat them like they were the people of the Titanic. Whole thing is over exaggerated, What happened there and what is leading up to a lawsuit is absolutely insane.Pokemon Go will end not because they run out of money but because of the liability and bad press the whole business gets from hyperbolic such as yourself saying people who attended need compassion.
This would be correct, if the reason the event did poorly was because it rained.
Edit
This was more like paying to go into an amusement park, and after entering, you find out that all the rides were broke.
Edit again for Kaya
And if the amusement park had given you a refund, and free prizes, then you would not ask them for money spent on gas, food (to live), or any other living expenses.
I do think it was bad that there were so many problems.
I do think it was bad that some people traveled across the globe to be there, then could not even play
I do however, also think the whole thing is being blown out of the water a little bit. Now, im not saying the event went better than people imply, it went bad. But I think theres this idea that people went all that way, spent money, and returned home without even catching a single pokemon...and I think that may be an exaggeration.
When you consider what happened after the 'official' event ended at the park....and the event area was extended 2 miles to allow people to spread out and hopefully share the internet load.
It went on all through the night....all of the things they could have done/caught in the park, was available across the entire city for hours and hours.
They all would of had essentially 100% success AND capture rate on every raid and every single Legendary due to the sheer amount of players there (none of this turning up to a raid and try and beat Lugia with 3 players because nobody else shows)
AND the fact they could catch each and every Legendary with a single ball throw...which also allowed them to simply use Pinap berries over and over and absolutely stockpile the candy that is extremely rare for most of the world.
Anyway...all in all, I think the event was saved by what happened after...the day started bad, but what followed seemed to be what the event truly should have been.
And I personally think the next Pokemon Go event (if they do one) will not be refined to such a small area with a massive amount of people all trying to play, and instead I think it will be a city wide thing, essentially what happened in Chicago after the park. Maybe there will be several big screens set up so everyone can see the on stage talks etc. An entire city, full of players, full of special spawns, full of raids, and hopefully full of peoples game actually working.
