World of WarcraftTerms of Service

Sarah Carr, Lubya Herbert, Katharina Hoslzl, Lauren Moler, Whitney Quesenbery

We chose this legal

agreement because it is

one of the ones

watched by the EFF

TOSBACK project

which monitors “stealth”

changes to terms of

service

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ legal/termsofuse.html

It’s a typical game agreement

This agreement gives the company strong rights.

• Ownership of all information in the game

• Control over who may play

Although players might not like this, we wanted to

make sure that they would understand it, so they

can make an informed decision as to whether to play

the game or not.

Usability testing

5 people, all with a range of experience playing

World of Warcraft, or a similar game

• Remote usability sessions (using GoToMeeting)

• Asked participants to read through the page and

then answer questions about the agreement to

recall facts and test understanding.

• Discussed the document with them

Participants were not

surprised to find a long legal

agreement

Usability testing

I just ignore them. Click “yes” and

accept and go on.

I’d scan it to make sure it looks like all

the others.

But they generally

understood it.

Usability testing

They said:

• The rules were not surprising

• Some of the rules and disclaimers that surprised

us go along with bigger issues – cheating or or

responsibility for technical issues

• None of the terms really affected people who

were playing the game honestly

Usability testing

So we focused on the problems they actually had:

• Navigating through a confusing and disorganized

document

• Separating legal boilerplate from important rules

about the game

Editing1st round – simplification

1. Who can agree to the termsYou confirm that you are an adult in the country where you live. You agree to these terms for yourself and, if you wish, one child who you are a parent or guardian for, and who you have authorized to use your account on the service. (46 words)

3. EligibilityYou represent that you are an adult in your country of residence. You agree to these Terms of Use on behalf of yourself and, at your discretion, for one (1) minor child for whom you are a parent or guardian and whom you have authorised to use the account you create on the Service. (54 words)

Editing2nd round – further simplification1. Who can agree to the termsYou confirm that you are an adult in the country where you live. You agree to these terms for yourself and, if you wish, one child who you are a parent or guardian for, and who you have authorized to use your account on the service. (46 words)

1. Who can agree to the terms?You must be: • An adult in the country where you live• The parent or guardian of one child who you have

authorized to use your account (28 words)

Reorganization (2 rounds)

• Reorganized the information, so that the terms of the agreement are presented in a logical order, with similar information grouped together.

• Separated the Code of Conduct, because users may need it after they sign up.

• Collected all of the legal information about how disputes would be resolved into a separate section, to make the basic agreement shorter.

Light formatting added

• Table of contents

• Bolder headings

• Shaded boxes for

secondary information

Our version is still not really “plain”

It’s too long

It’s got too much legal boilerplate

It’s legalistic, cumbersome, and even hostile

The change needed requires a change in attitude, not

just editing and design.