Evony isn't the little bitty web game it makes itself...
I was curious what company made Evony and did a little digging. Look what I found: http://www.examiner.com/x-21643-Denver-Video-Game-Industry-Examiner~y2009m8d28-Evony-Online-libel-lawsuits-filed<div>
</div><div>The other article mentioned within this one is interesting too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/jul/15/games-evony-spam-internet
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</div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ;"><div class="examiners_body" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; line-height: 18px; font-size: 1.1em; ;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; float: left; width: 440px; ;"><h1 style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-weight: normal; font-size: 22px; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 30px; ;">Evony Online libel lawsuits filed</h1><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"></div><div class="new_timestamp" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; ;">August 28, 11:54 AM
Denver Video Game Industry Examiner
Bill DeVoe</div></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; clear: both; ;"></div><div class="Xspacer" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"></div><div class="iconpanel" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; ;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; float: right; ;"><span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 11px; padding-left: 5px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 4px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: url(http://image.examiner.com/img/global-template/oval-gray-right.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: 100% 0%; ;">Previous</span><span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 11px; padding-left: 5px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 4px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: url(http://image.examiner.com/img/global-template/oval-gray-right.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: 100% 0%; ;">Next</span></div><span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 11px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 4px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: url(http://image.examiner.com/img/global-template/oval-gray-right.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: 100% 0%; ;">Comment</span><span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 11px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 4px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: url(http://image.examiner.com/img/global-template/oval-gray-right.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: 100% 0%; ;">
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<br style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;" />A partial sample of Evony's ad campaign</div><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Evony Online may be the most visible online game in history, but its lewd and ever-present advertising are causing quite a stir among industry watchers and even traditional print media. Many blogs and traditional newspaper outlets have been critical of the campaign as a whole and the evolution (perhaps <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">devolution[/i]?) of the ad content. As a result, Evony has filed libel lawsuits against those individuals and even the <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Guardian[/i] newspaper in the UK.</p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Bruce Everiss, a game industry veteran, published a series of blog entries starting in July, critical of Evony's tactics and reported a variety of issues he experienced trying to prevent the company's ads from appearing on his blog. He also linked to other articles that discussed or pointed out what they thought were plagiarized elements (a good example is here) and comment spamming.</p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Also in July, the <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Guardian[/i] newspaper published an article entitled"Has Evony Become the Most Despised Game on the Web?". The article went on to analyze the the advertising for Evony and concluded that if the game was not <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">the [/i]most despised it was a close second.</p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">A little digging into Evony Online reveals a couple of oddities. The terms of use for the game discuss the relationship between players and <strong style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Regan Mercantile US, LLC[/b], not Evony, LLC. It proved a bit difficult to actually find the state of incorporation for Regan Mercantile US, LLC and get more information about the corporation. Some research points to Regan Mercantile being related to a Hong Kong company and more than one site claims that Eric Lam, who is a well-known individual (perhaps infamous is more appropriate) in MMORPG circles, is the CEO of the company. Also related to Evony and Regan Mercantile US is Universal Multiplayer Game Entertainment (UMGE - the site was unavailable when I tried to access it). <span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">The exact relationship between the entities is somewhat difficult to untangle at present. And in somewhat related news, Microsoft has sued UMGE for "click fraud"around adSense spikes.</span></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">The most interesting element is that Evony, LLC (a Delaware corporation) has chosen to defend itself against what it sees as libel not in a US court or even in courts in the countries where the libel is occurring (for Bruce and the <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Guardian[/i] it's England), but rather in New South Wales, Australia. This is being termed "libel tourism" and is apparently becoming more and more prevalent. Due to the global nature of the web it can be argued that anyone in the country with the most permissive libel laws could have seen the content. Bruce's belief about why Australia was chosen is that it has "<span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">a very old fashioned libel law where the person who thinks they are libeled doesn’t have to prove anything". That it would cost a great deal for Bruce to actually appear in Australia to defend himself against the libel charges makes it difficult to predict how the case will proceed. The <em style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">Guardian[/i] newspaper certainly can afford to have representation present at trial, so it will be interesting to see how their case proceeds as well. <br style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;" /></span></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">The question moving forward is whether Evony will continue to issue demands for remuneration and retractions or whether they will proceed only with the currently-filed suits to see how those resolve before deciding on their next moves. More information on this developing story is sure to come to light in the coming weeks.</p><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; padding-top: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; ;"><strong style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;">For more info: [/b]The Bruce on Games website is a great collection of articles about everything game industry-oriented, but especially the lawsuits now in progress.</div></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; clear: both; ;"></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 15px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"><span style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; ;">More About:</span> evony <span class="middot" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ;">·</span> bruce everiss <span class="middot" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ;">·</span> guardian</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; float: right; ;"><font color="red">Security:</font> A Form was encountered in this content item and disabled for your security.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"><span id="sharethis_0" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"><span class="stbuttontext" st_page="home" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; line-height: 17px; ;">ShareThis</span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 17px; ;">
</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 17px; ;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px; ;"><div id="article-header" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; min-height: 68px; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); ;"><div id="main-article-info" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; float: left; width: 460px; ;"><h1 id="heading-alone" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 2.166em; line-height: 1.154; width: 460px; border-top-width: 0px; border-top-style: initial; min-height: 91px; ;">Has Evony become the most despised game on the web?</h1></div><ul id="content-actions" class="strapped" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; list-style-type: none; float: right; width: 140px; ;"> <li style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ;"> <div class="pluck-init-block" id="comment-info-related" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: block; ;">Comments (<span class="comment-count" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">23</span>)</div> <li class="third-party-tool " style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; ;">Buzz up! <li class="third-party-tool" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; ;">Digg it (7)[/list]</div><div id="content" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; float: left; font-size: 1.166em; line-height: 1.357; width: 460px; ;"><ul class="article-attributes multi-pub" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; list-style-type: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; position: relative; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.25; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; min-height: 66px; border-top-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); ;"> <li class="byline" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; display: block; ;">Bobbie Johnson <li class="publication" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; ;">guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 July 2009 17.30 BST <li class="history" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; display: block; ;">Article history[/list]<div id="article-wrapper" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; ;"><div class="image" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">
<p class="caption" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); line-height: 1.25; font-size: 0.857em; font-weight: normal; ;">The online game Evony is being criticised for its advertising and how it charges users</p></div><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;"><strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">This article is the subject of a legal complaint from Evony LLC.[/b]</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;"></p><hr size="1" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;" /><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;"></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">Quite possibly. If you've been anywhere near the internet in recent weeks, you may well have noticed the vast number of promotions for a game called Evony – campaigns on websites featuring buxom fantasy queens; countless Google ads and (more disturbingly) millions of spamcomments left on blogs.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">On the surface, Evony is a pretty standard online strategy game – a simulation in which players take the role of a medieval noble who must build up an empire. But the way the game has been marketed has created a bit of a stir: the games marketer Bruce Everiss has charted the volume of spam being sent by its creators, while Jeff Atwood, a US programmer and blogger, has documented the ads' increasingly racy nature – from a simple medieval warrior promising the game would be "free forever", through a string of increasingly racy images ... until, finally, it was simply advertising itself by showing a pair of breasts.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">"Thanks for showing us what it means to take advertising on the internet to the absolute rock bottom ... then dig a sub-basement under that, and keep on digging until you reach the white-hot molten core of the Earth,"he wrote last week.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">It's not just the advertising that has got the internet up in arms, however – the game itself has drawn criticism from many quarters. Evony takes its inspiration from Civilization, the classic Sid Meier series. In fact, its slavish devotion stretches not only to its original name – it was known as Civony until recently – but also to the details of the game itself; a format so familiar that more than a few gamers to question whether Evony has simply ripped off its predecessors.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">And as if bad advertising and tenuous intellectual property were not enough, the game is also under fire for its business model – a system that seems intent on getting players to spend as much money as possible. Players are encouraged to buy in-game extras to speed their progress – but the confusing way the game prices its add-ons means that many users may not realise that a simple action, such as sending a message to another player, can cost 15p a time.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">All of this has swirled into a storm of criticism around Evony – except on the game's own web forums, where mentions of its most controversial practices are deleted by moderators. So if Evony is the world's most despised game, who is behind it?</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">It turns out that the site's backers are equally unpopular. Evony is the product of Universal Multiplayer Game Entertainment (UMGE), a developer linked to a Chinese gold-farming operation called WoWMine. That site has also come in for regular criticism, but the real kicker comes with the news that the company's owners are being sued by Microsoft over allegations of click fraud.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">Perhaps Evony isn't the most hated game on the internet: but it certainly runs close.</p></div></div></span></span></div></span></div></div>
I was curious what company made Evony and did a little digging. Look what I found: http://www.examiner.com/x-21643-Denver-Video-Game-Industry-Examiner~y2009m8d28-Evony-Online-libel-lawsuits-filed<div>
</div><div>The other article mentioned within this one is interesting too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/jul/15/games-evony-spam-internet
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</div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ;"><div class="examiners_body" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; line-height: 18px; font-size: 1.1em; ;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; float: left; width: 440px; ;"><h1 style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-weight: normal; font-size: 22px; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 30px; ;">Evony Online libel lawsuits filed</h1><div style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; border-right-width: 0px; ;"></div><div class="new_timestamp" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; ;">August 28, 11:54 AM
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</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 17px; ;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px; ;"><div id="article-header" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; min-height: 68px; clear: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); ;"><div id="main-article-info" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; float: left; width: 460px; ;"><h1 id="heading-alone" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 2.166em; line-height: 1.154; width: 460px; border-top-width: 0px; border-top-style: initial; min-height: 91px; ;">Has Evony become the most despised game on the web?</h1></div><ul id="content-actions" class="strapped" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; list-style-type: none; float: right; width: 140px; ;"> <li style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ;"> <div class="pluck-init-block" id="comment-info-related" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: block; ;">Comments (<span class="comment-count" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">23</span>)</div> <li class="third-party-tool " style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; ;">Buzz up! <li class="third-party-tool" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; ;">Digg it (7)[/list]</div><div id="content" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; float: left; font-size: 1.166em; line-height: 1.357; width: 460px; ;"><ul class="article-attributes multi-pub" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; list-style-type: none; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; position: relative; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.25; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; min-height: 66px; border-top-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-right-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); border-left-color: rgb(214, 29, 0); ;"> <li class="byline" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; display: block; ;">Bobbie Johnson <li class="publication" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; ;">guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 July 2009 17.30 BST <li class="history" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: normal; display: block; ;">Article history[/list]<div id="article-wrapper" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; ;"><div class="image" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat; ;">
