I got a letter from a lawyer today. I've never gotten a letter from a lawyer before. But many moons ago in a cyber-world called Britannia, I was a volunteer staff member for almost a year. Apparently, some former volunteers filed a class action lawsuit about a year ago basically claiming that Electronic Arts owed them money for their work. Now, I dunno about the plaintiffs, but I do know that I signed a contract with Origin Systems (which later was merged with or bought by Electronic Arts, I forget which) which basically said that I agreed to provide volunteer services and in exchange I'd get a free account to the game, which I did. But apparently EA discontinued the "freebie" thing which would in essence make them in breach of contract, which is I guess why the suit was filed. So, anyway, I got this letter from a lawyer saying if you wanna participate in the suit, please fill out this handy-dandy little form. Now, the greedy bastid in me says "Ooh cool maybe I'll get lucky and get some free money outta this" (the suit is basically for the volunteers to get paid at minimum wage for the hours worked) but the ethical wench in me is saying "Hell, you volunteered, you doofus, and they gave you a free account what are you whining about?" so now I must decide which side to give into. I have a feeling the suit will not go in the favor of the plaintiffs because they were volunteers, but since EA *did* yank their perks, and they did have to "work" set schedules, who knows? I also know that no current online game has a "volunteer" help staff anymore, so this lawsuit (as well as a similar one against AOL) did make changes in the online industry and the people who are on help staffs now *do* get paid, so that's a good thing. But if I do decide to join the lawsuit, I have all my stuff. I am a packrat and I still have not only a copy of the contract I signed, I also still have all my "timecards" showing what days/ times I worked, how many calls I took etc. Hell, I even still have a copy of the counselor work schedule hehe. Damn I am anal.

[ 7:17:00 PM ]   Posted at the speed of blight by NONOBADKITTY!