Police in Japan recently arrested a Chinese student for mugging other players in Lineage II for virtual equipment (there's a smallish probability of dropping your equipment each time you die) and selling the items for offline profit via auction sites. The story can be found here and here. Both articles spend the majority of space discussing the fact that the guy was pulling it all off with bots and it's left fairly ambiguous as to whether or not the student was arrested for the use of such programs or for the muggings themselves. Both issues are pretty interesting. It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels.

Interfax China is reporting that by year's end "Anti-Japan War Online," an MMORPG developed by PowerNet Technology in cooperation with the China Communist Youth League, will begin commercial operation... It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels. Buy WOW Gold here, and then enjoy your excited WoW life! Warhammer Online Gold will keep your high power.

We've been discussing MMORPGs and social issues here at Terra Nova for nearly two years, and, if memory serves me right, we've never once mentioned attorney Jack Thompson in the body of a post. Most of our discussion of politics has stayed in the heady realm of LamdaMOO politics, and has not delved into disputes over video game-related state regulations. (We have talked about that here, but rarely.) So it is interesting to see a blog like Game Politics, which focuses almost exclusively on those state regulatory efforts, starting to pay some attention to MMOs. Check out this thread, for instance, on The Great Virtual Market Crash of 2005. It starts out noting the same website Ted pointed to (with some skepticism) in this post -- but the discussion quickly turns to Jack Thompson, who even makes an appearance in the comments.

Today's discussion from the Far East - recruiting farmers in China and identity theft in Korea (Lineage). It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels. Buy WOW Gold here, and then enjoy your excited WoW life! Warhammer Online Gold will keep your high power. On the other hand, if RMTers persuade the courts that people own what their characters own, the whole concept of a purge might be threatened.

I want to piggyback on Ted's recent post on inflation but go in the opposite direction. We all repeat the mantra that inflation in MUDs/MMOs is inevitable - both the RMT and the in-game economy. And if you've played SWG, you'll remember the run-away inflation there. It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels. Buy WOW Gold here, and then enjoy your excited WoW life! Warhammer Online Gold will keep your high power. On the other hand, if RMTers persuade the courts that people own what their characters own, the whole concept of a purge might be threatened.

I'm actually suggesting that they are (largely) incapable of thinking outside the box (to use a well-overworn phrase). This should not be seen, however, as some devastating slam on them -- all people, in all places (though I would suggest particularly those enculturated into heavily technical professions) have trouble looking at things from another point of view, and this group is really not so different. But it was still a bit surprising, especially given, in Eric's and Raph's cases, their stated interest in academic research.

I'm actually suggesting that they are (largely) incapable of thinking outside the box (to use a well-overworn phrase). This should not be seen, however, as some devastating slam on them -- all people, in all places (though I would suggest particularly those enculturated into heavily technical professions) have trouble looking at things from another point of view, and this group is really not so different. But it was still a bit surprising, especially given, in Eric's and Raph's cases, their stated interest in academic research.

I'm actually suggesting that they are (largely) incapable of thinking outside the box (to use a well-overworn phrase). This should not be seen, however, as some devastating slam on them -- all people, in all places (though I would suggest particularly those enculturated into heavily technical professions) have trouble looking at things from another point of view, and this group is really not so different. But it was still a bit surprising, especially given, in Eric's and Raph's cases, their stated interest in academic research.

I'm actually suggesting that they are (largely) incapable of thinking outside the box (to use a well-overworn phrase). This should not be seen, however, as some devastating slam on them -- all people, in all places (though I would suggest particularly those enculturated into heavily technical professions) have trouble looking at things from another point of view, and this group is really not so different. But it was still a bit surprising, especially given, in Eric's and Raph's cases, their stated interest in academic research.

I'm actually suggesting that they are (largely) incapable of thinking outside the box (to use a well-overworn phrase). This should not be seen, however, as some devastating slam on them -- all people, in all places (though I would suggest particularly those enculturated into heavily technical professions) have trouble looking at things from another point of view, and this group is really not so different. But it was still a bit surprising, especially given, in Eric's and Raph's cases, their stated interest in academic research.