I'm sick and tired of reading posts like this which disparage people, whether or not they are layers, for trying to provide helpful information. The potential organizational liability for Broadsword and possibly even personal liability for people like Mesanna if there is some kind of an FLSA violation is significant and nothing to be scoffed at.
But no, instead of people here having the maturity to admit that perhaps there could be a problem, what we see is people making posts that almost seem to imply that we all should just maybe look the other way and let laws be broken and careers ruined because some are afraid that even a breath of negativity might ruffle someone's feathers or, heaven forbid, keep some players from having an opportunity to receive some virtual goods or miss out on an opportunity to lord themselves over some other players.
All you people who act like I and other people who are pointing out that there could be problems are the villains really need to grow up and open your eyes to reality. The DOL and labor law experts put out a ton of information for laymen to read just to keep themselves out of trouble and to make sure that employees' rights are protected. You don't need a law degree or to have passed a bar exam to go read that information and yes, to pass it along to someone else, especially if you think it might help keep them from getting themselves into real trouble.
Shame on you people who think it's more important to "protect" Mesanna from reading anything negative, for whatever reasons you might have. Wake up! All you're doing in the long run is being a false friend. She's an adult and you do her no favors by showering her with false praise and screeching at people who, although they may never be effusive in their praise, still don't like to see ANYONE make a major blunder like this one could be.
Edited to add: And if you still don't get what the hullabaloo is about because you're too lazy to go read one of the articles I linked to, I'll give you the gist of the problem right here. Under federal law in the United States and under the law of many states in the United States, you cannot "volunteer" to work for free for a for-profit company. It does not matter if you want to do it willingly and say you'll sign away your right to compensation. The law flat out doesn't allow it. There is likely no way that Broadsword Online Games would EVER qualify to call itself a nonprofit organization, so it's simply ridiculous to think that people "volunteering" their time to do an employee's job for Broadsword is going to fly. Read the articles if you haven't yet. And stop and think. Do you really, really want Broadsword to try to do this and get nailed for it when it doesn't work? Do you really want Mesanna to have to pay out of her own pocket if this is attempted? All so you can wear a little blue robe on your computer screen? Seriously? This is that important to you?
Read the articles. You don't need a law degree to understand them.
