05-12-2003, 05:53 PM
Hi,
People get all wrapped around the axles of legality, ethics, game philosophy, etc. No two are speaking of the same thing, no one is listening and everyone is shouting. It's a hot button topic, designed to elicit heat without light. And it's been talked past the glue point.
That aside:
The legal aspect is unclear and next to impossible to enforce anyway as long as in game trading is permitted. If two people agree to exchange an item and the receiver of the item gives the giver a "gift", what right does the game maker have to interfere? The gift is a separate action not taking part in the game world and the game company's jurisdiction ends at the border of the game world. Forget for a moment that gaming is a world wide pastime and that there are no international laws governing what can be done on the Internet. Consider only the Americocentric attitude that so many take. What has been done has not been tested in court. The game company claims rights to everything that is in the game world? Fine, the item never leaves the game world, it is simply transfered like any other item. The exchange of real money does not take place in the game world, thus is none of the game company's business.
Ethical aspect? In game trading is allowed, even encouraged. People give good items to their friends all the time, asking for nothing in return. That's a nice way to play, but sucks from a role playing standpoint. The in game economy is usually a disaster. So, to make trading meaningful, asking for real money makes the most sense. Since it does not influence the in game situation (goods transfered from someone who has them to someone who wants them) it is in no way damaging the game for anyone.
That leaves the game philosophy aspect. For the seller, the game is no longer a game, it is a business. So, for him game philosophy no longer applies.
The buyers of these items are the fools. They have lost track of the reality of just what a game is. They are so wrapped up in the goal that they forget that the object is the process. The ultimate destination of these people is "No, I never played Crapola. But I paid an expert and he finished it FOR ME in record time. That makes me leet."
If the world were idiot free, we wouldn't be having this discussion because without buyers there would be not sellers.
--Pete
People get all wrapped around the axles of legality, ethics, game philosophy, etc. No two are speaking of the same thing, no one is listening and everyone is shouting. It's a hot button topic, designed to elicit heat without light. And it's been talked past the glue point.
That aside:
The legal aspect is unclear and next to impossible to enforce anyway as long as in game trading is permitted. If two people agree to exchange an item and the receiver of the item gives the giver a "gift", what right does the game maker have to interfere? The gift is a separate action not taking part in the game world and the game company's jurisdiction ends at the border of the game world. Forget for a moment that gaming is a world wide pastime and that there are no international laws governing what can be done on the Internet. Consider only the Americocentric attitude that so many take. What has been done has not been tested in court. The game company claims rights to everything that is in the game world? Fine, the item never leaves the game world, it is simply transfered like any other item. The exchange of real money does not take place in the game world, thus is none of the game company's business.
Ethical aspect? In game trading is allowed, even encouraged. People give good items to their friends all the time, asking for nothing in return. That's a nice way to play, but sucks from a role playing standpoint. The in game economy is usually a disaster. So, to make trading meaningful, asking for real money makes the most sense. Since it does not influence the in game situation (goods transfered from someone who has them to someone who wants them) it is in no way damaging the game for anyone.
That leaves the game philosophy aspect. For the seller, the game is no longer a game, it is a business. So, for him game philosophy no longer applies.
The buyers of these items are the fools. They have lost track of the reality of just what a game is. They are so wrapped up in the goal that they forget that the object is the process. The ultimate destination of these people is "No, I never played Crapola. But I paid an expert and he finished it FOR ME in record time. That makes me leet."
If the world were idiot free, we wouldn't be having this discussion because without buyers there would be not sellers.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?