September 2003
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Jim Purbrick
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks J C Lawrence
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Bruce Mitchener
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Jim Purbrick
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Bruce Mitchener
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks J C Lawrence
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Roy Riggs
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Jim Purbrick
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Sean Kelly
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Mike Shaver
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Eamonn O'Brien
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks ceo
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks ceo
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Lazarus
- [TECH] Server Bottlenecks Jeff Thompson
- [Tech] Garbage collection Brian Hook
- [Tech] Garbage collection Lars Duening
- [Tech] Garbage collection Bruce Mitchener
- [Tech] Garbage collection Jay Carlson
- TECH: Question about Bartle's new book Christer Enfors
- TECH: Question about Bartle's new book Richard A. Bartle
- Generating Cities John Arras
- Load Testing a MUD sszretter@hotmail.com
- Load Testing a MUD Ren Reynolds
- Load Testing a MUD Ben Greear
- Load Testing a MUD Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Load Testing a MUD Matthew D. Fuller
- Load Testing a MUD Marc Bowden
- Load Testing a MUD Lars Duening
- Load Testing a MUD Marc Bowden
- [DGN] Writing... a mud... erich-herz@uiowa.edu
- [DGN] Writing... a mud... Amanda Walker
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Yaka St.Aise
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Matt Mihaly
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Yaka St.Aise
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Michael Chui
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Amanda Walker
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Matthew Dobervich
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Justin Randall
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Yaka St.Aise
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Chris Duesing
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Crosbie Fitch
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Yaka St.Aise
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. John Buehler
- [DGN]: Ludicrous scheme. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Corpheous Andrakin
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Scott Jennings
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matthew Dobervich
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Daniel Anderson
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Mike Shaver
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Daniel Stahl
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Tamzen Cannoy
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Mike Shaver
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? ceo
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Nathan Yospe
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Linder Support Team
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Marian Griffith
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Michael Chui
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Paul Schwanz
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? J C Lawrence
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Amanda Walker
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Jeff Cole
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Jeff Cole
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Amanda Walker
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Marian Griffith
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Jeff Cole
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Michael Chui
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Marian Griffith
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Jeff Cole
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? ceo
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? ceo
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Scott Jennings
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Daniel Anderson
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Scott Jennings
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? ren@aldermangroup.com
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Dave Rickey
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Michael Chui
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ryan S. Dancey
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? John Buehler
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Dave Rickey
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Amanda Walker
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Amanda Walker
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Amanda Walker
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Marian Griffith
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Chris Mancil
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Zach Collins {Siege}
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ren Reynolds
- BIZ: Who owns my sword? Tamzen Cannoy
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Daniel Anderson
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Koster, Raph
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Scott Jennings
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Martin Bassie
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Chris Holko
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? burra@alum.rpi.edu
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Scott Jennings
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Daniel Anderson
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Matt Mihaly
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Threshold RPG
- Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever? Jason Smith
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 5 Jessica Mulligan
- [Tech] Functional languages Brian Hook
- [Tech] Functional languages ceo
- [Tech] Functional languages Brian Hook
- [Tech] Functional languages Kim
- [Tech] Functional languages J C Lawrence
- [Tech] Functional languages Joshua Judson Rosen
- [Tech] Functional languages sproctor@ccs.neu.edu
- SW:G Matt Mihaly
- Grief teaching? (Was: Why doesn't Lineage count asthe most pop burra@alum.rpi.edu
- Grief teaching? (Was: Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever?) ghovs
- Grief teaching? (Was: Why doesn't Lineage count as the most popular MMOG ever?) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- R: MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 5 Ghilardi Filippo
- Ghostmode (was: SW:G) Lars Duening
- Ghostmode (was: SW:G) Michael Tresca
- Ghostmode (was: SW:G) Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 5 Crosbie Fitch
- BIZ: Who holds your cahonas in their hand? (runs your infrastructure...; ) ceo
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Tess Lowe
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Vladimir Cole
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Erik Bethke
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Erik Bethke
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Corpheous Andrakin
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Mike Shaver
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Vladimir Cole
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Lars Duening
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Peter Harkins
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Lars Duening
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Marian Griffith
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Scott Moore
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Justin Coleman
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) David Cooksey
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Marian Griffith
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Rayzam
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Rayzam
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Marian Griffith
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Rayzam
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Corpheous Andrakin
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Spot
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Acius
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Rayzam
- ghost mode (was SW:G) J C Lawrence
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Mike Shaver
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Eli Stevens
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Rayzam
- ghost mode (was SW:G) John Buehler
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Vladimir Cole
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Mike Shaver
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Chris Duesing
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Michael Chui
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Yaka St.Aise
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Michael Chui
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Yaka St.Aise
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Xyrrus
- Ghost Mode Pat Ditterline
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and standard deviation) Crosbie Fitch
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and standard deviation) John Buehler
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Katie Lukas
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Paul Schwanz
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Amanda Walker
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and standard deviation) Crosbie Fitch
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Matt Mihaly
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and standard deviation) Kerry Fraser-Robinson
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and standard deviation) Torgny Bjers
- Player malleable worlds (was expected value and standard deviation) Chanur Silvarian
- Player malleable worlds (was expected value and standard deviation) Corpheous Andrakin
- Player malleable worlds (was expected value and sta ndard deviation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value and sta ndard deviation) Sean Kelly
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value andstandard deviation) Richard
- ghost mode Tess Lowe
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Mike Shaver
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Vincent Archer
- ghost mode Tess Lowe
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Corey Crawford
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode ceo
- ghost mode Rayzam
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Rayzam
- ghost mode Tess Lowe
- ghost mode David Cooksey
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Tess Lowe
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- ghost mode Matt Mihaly
- ghost mode Marian Griffith
- ghost mode Tess Lowe
- ghost mode Richard
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Draymoor {Philip Loguinov}
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Bo Zimmerman
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Frank Crowell
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments J C Lawrence
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments J C Lawrence
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments J C Lawrence
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments J C Lawrence
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Paolo Piselli
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments J C Lawrence
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments ceo
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Crosbie Fitch
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Pat Ditterline
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Brent P. Newhall
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Roy Riggs
- Seamlessly Distributed Online Environments Sean Kelly
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Vladimir Cole
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Amanda Walker
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Derek Licciardi
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Amanda Walker
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Samurai Cat @ Catacombs
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) David Loving
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Samurai Cat! @ Catacombs
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Walton, Gordon
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) David Kennerly
- Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- variable difficulty levels (was: ghost mode) Corey Crawford
- variable difficulty levels (was: ghost mode) David Snyder
- variable difficulty levels (was: ghost mode) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- variable difficulty levels (was: ghost mode) Michael Tresca
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- Player malleable worlds (was Expected value andstandard deviation) Ren Reynolds
- R: BIZ: Who owns my sword? Ghilardi Filippo
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Chanur Silvarian
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Joshua Uyehara
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Lars Duening
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Rayzam
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Brian Hook
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? J C Lawrence
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Matt Mihaly
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Zach Collins {Siege}
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Matt Mihaly
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Matt Mihaly
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Sheela Caur'Lir
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Lee Sheldon
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? David Cooksey
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Lee Sheldon
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Rayzam
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Kwon J. Ekstrom
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Ben Chambers
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Russ Whiteman
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Ben Chambers
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Russ Whiteman
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Amanda Walker
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Derek Licciardi
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Chanur Silvarian
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Mike Shaver
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Sheela Caur'Lir
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Amanda Walker
- DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Chanur Silvarian
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Crosbie Fitch
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Michael Tresca
- play styles and difficulty settings ceo
- BIZ: Markee Dragon katie@stickydata.com
- BIZ: Markee Dragon Mike Shaver
- BIZ: Markee Dragon Frank Crowell
- BIZ: Markee Dragon Frank Crowell
- BIZ: Markee Dragon Derek Licciardi
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) ceo
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) Crosbie Fitch
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) ceo
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) Mark Cheverton
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) Michael Sellers
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) ceo@grexengine.com
- Meta-games (not META list ;)) ceo
- [DGN]: Ludicrous speed. Yaka St.Aise
- variable difficulty levels Matt Mihaly
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Amanda Walker
- ghost mode (was SW:G) Freeman, Jeff
- Terra Nova, virtual world blog Castronova, Edward
- R: Rewarding Beta Testers (There's Pricing Deal) Ghilardi Filippo
- ghost mode Amanda Walker
- [list] DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Scion Altera
- [list] DGN: Why give the players all thenumbers? Rayzam
- [list] DGN: Why give the players all the numbers? Marian Griffith
- [list] DGN: Why give the players all thenumbers? John Buehler
- ghost mode ceo
- Class hierarchies for objects Brian Hook
- Class hierarchies for objects Bo Zimmerman
- A Theory of Fun Paul Schwanz
- The State of Play: On the Second Life Tax Revolt J C Lawrence
- The State of Play: On the Second Life Tax Revolt F. Randall Farmer
- Hidden Character Attribs Spot
- Hidden Character Attribs Owen Matt
- Hidden Character Attribs Sheela Caur'Lir
- Hidden Character Attribs J C Lawrence
- size Matt Mihaly
- size Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- size Amanda Walker
- size Matt Mihaly
- size Sheela Caur'Lir
- size Sheela Caur'Lir
- A world without charity Eamonn O'Brien
- A world without charity Corpheous Andrakin
- A world without charity Eamonn O'Brien
- A world without charity Marian Griffith
- A world without charity Matt Mihaly
- A world without charity Mike
- A world without charity Eamonn O'Brien
- A world without charity Castronova, Edward
- A world without charity Erik Bethke
- A world without charity gbtmud
- A world without charity Dave Rickey
- A world without charity ceo@grexengine.com
- A world without charity Samurai Cat @ Catacombs
- A world without charity Crosbie Fitch
- A world without charity Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A world without charity Jeff Crane
- A world without charity eric
- A world without charity David Cooksey
- A world without charity Eli Stevens
- A world without charity Michael Tresca
- A world without charity Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A world without charity (was Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation) Chanur Silvarian
- In Norrath, Tattoine and Rubi-ka, Just What Are Your Legal Rights? Vladimir Cole
Source:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid 6
In Norrath, Tattoine and Rubi-ka, Just What Are Your Legal Rights?
In the country of Norrath, a man must work long and hard to afford
the weapons that will protect him against evil. Fortunately, Norrath
is not a real place. It exists only online to provide entertainment
for the millions of people interested in playing competitive games
on the Internet. What is real, however, is the money that these
individuals fork over to buy the virtual tools and accessories
important to the characters they play. In a new paper entitled, "The
Laws of the Virtual Worlds," Wharton legal studies professor Dan
Hunter and a co-author look at how property laws, legal rights and
even the boundaries between the real and imagined worlds are being
challenged by trading in virtual goods.
<EdNote: Full text below>
--<cut>--
In Norrath, Tattoine and Rubi-ka, Just What Are Your Legal Rights?
It is a town whose citizens strive to build impressive homes in
high-end neighborhoods. It is a tropical island where friends gather
for drinks in the glow of a tropical sunset. It is an
out-of-the-way, but dangerous nation, where a man must work long and
hard to afford the weapons that will protect him against evil.
The town is Blazing Falls. The tropical gateway is There. The
dangerous country is Norrath. None of them are real. They, and more
than a dozen others, exist only online. They have been created by
corporations like Sony as well as by adventurous programmers for the
millions of people interested in playing competitive and social
games on the Internet.
But even though these virtual worlds are nothing more than software
coding residing in banks of computers, what goes on in them poses
increasingly serious challenges to our notions about the nature of
property, the legal rights of players in virtual worlds and even the
presumed boundary between the real and the imagined worlds,
according to Wharton legal studies professor Dan Hunter.
The challenges are there because those who participate in virtual
worlds a group composed of people who are on average 25 years old
and who include an increasing number of women over the age of 30
spend considerable amounts of money. They spend that money for the
right to participate in the virtual worlds. Just as important, they
spend to buy the virtual tools and accessories important to the
characters they play their avatars and the avatars ability to
survive and succeed in the virtual social worlds and communities.
Moreover, a major trade in these virtual goods has cropped up in the
real world. Players who have an overabundance of virtual goods
because they play their games exceedingly well sell their overstock
on eBay and other Internet auction sites. So do non-players who have
gotten their hands on the rights to these virtual goods. The result
of all this is significant. We are creating new categories of
property that are valuable without understanding what it means or
what the implications are for our understanding of the nature of
property, says Hunter.
Virtual games have been around since 2,500 B.C., when people first
gathered around a board to pretend they were in the land of Ur,
according to Hunter, who recently co-authored a paper entitled, The
Laws of the Virtual Worlds, with Philadelphia attorney F. Gregory
Lastowka. What is different in todays Internet-dominated world,
however, is that virtual worlds have taken on the trappings of real
economic orders.
In some virtual worlds goods, land and personal property are amassed
through labor, by carrying out tasks or meeting challenges. In other
worlds players charge their credit cards to buy online currency to
spend within their virtual worlds. That could mean buying property
to build a house, to change an avatars hair style or to own a magic
board that will whisk the avatar around the virtual world.
The economic activities going on in these real worlds are so
life-like and expenditures so intense that at least one company
running a virtual world has hired an economist to help it avoid the
sort of hyperinflation that would destroy the game. For that matter,
Hunter says, Edward Castronova, an economics professor at California
State University at Fullerton, studied the economics of the virtual
world Norrath and found that the exchange rate between its currency
and the U.S. dollar is greater than the exchange rate between the
dollar and the yen. If Norrath were a real country, Castronova
found, its gross domestic product would be greater than Bulgarias.
Virtual economies are spilling into the real world, in part because
there are players who dont have the patience or ability to amass the
goods required to succeed in their virtual games. They have learned
that they can turn to eBay and other online markets to buy what they
need and take it back into their virtual worlds to further their
aims. That can mean spending $50 for a million Star War Galaxies
credits, $22 for a magical sword for engaging in successful battles
in Diablo, or $9.50 for 10,000 thousand copper ingots for use in
Ultima Online. After a sale is consummated in the real world,
purchaser and seller step back into their virtual world where the
goods are handed over. In some cases the transaction takes place
within the boundaries of the virtual world because its developers
have made provisions for such transactions.
It is even possible to buy an avatar and all it has amassed, though
that is considerably more costly. They sell for as much as $25,000,
Hunter says.
This economic interaction between the virtual worlds and the real
world is so pervasive that many sellers are making some very serious
dollars. Probably 25 of these guys are making a six-figure income,
Hunter says. One guy out there is reputed to make more than a
million bucks a year.
And as if that were not proof enough of the
virtual-worlds-real-world melding, a now-defunct company found the
profit potential alluring enough to set up computers in a building
in Tijuana and pay Mexican laborers menial wages to sit at the PCs
to play Dark Age of Camelot around the clock. The company then sold
the commodities and credits that the players-workers amassed online
for very real American dollars.
Although the Internets virtual worlds increasingly take on
real-world economic trappings, raising the groundwork for property
related disputes, the mythical goings-on are also being tinged with
real-life social issues, rife with their own potential for
conflict. That is not surprising, Hunter says in the paper he
co-authored with Lastowka, given that human players become deeply
vested emotionally in their avatars, thereby developing very real
expectations about having meaningful human and constitutional rights
within the virtual worlds they frequent.
While an avatars owner may be perfectly comfortable killing the
avatar when she grows sick of it, she may feel genuine anger when a
higher level avatar decides that player-killing is fun, and uses her
avatar for target practice, Hunter and Lastowka point out in their
paper, adding that emotions roil especially deep when sex is
involved. Residents of virtual worlds commonly complain of sexual
harassment when their avatars are propositioned by others and
involuntarily grabbed or kissed. While those sexual violations are
carried out only in a programmed code, the resulting anger and
humiliation are very real to the people involved. The owner feels
the injury because she has projected herself into an avatar body.
The participation of millions of people in virtual worlds also is
likely to spawn quarrels between the players and the games
developers, Sony and Microsoft, which Hunter and Lastowka call the
god-corporations.
Studies show that for many virtual world participants their lives in
those worlds is psychologically important, for a few they are
fiscally important, and for several thousand individuals, their
virtual lives are claimed to be more important than their real
lives, according to Hunter and Lastowka.
If a virtual world collapses goes offline for reasons beyond the
control of the developers, players might feel bereft, yet may accept
their financial losses. But Sony, says Hunter, could choose not to
continue (maintaining a virtual world). They could just say we are
sick of this, we are not making enough money or there is too much
whining going on.
In that case, players are likely to react more forcefully in the
real world because they are committed to the notion that what
happens to their avatars has legal significance. Hunter and Lastowka
write: At some stage there will be a tipping point where avatar
lives may present real legal issues. For instance, how comfortable
would you be, if in the near future, you lived, worked, and invested
within a massive corporate-owned virtual world in which you lacked
any meaningful legal protections or control over the shape of your
environment?
Hunter says that it is likely that many property disputes between
players, between players and eBay entrepreneurs and between players
and the god-corporations could be settled according to conventional,
real-world contract law. But he also points out that we cannot
assume that all of the property or the constitutional and human
rights issues arising in virtual worlds can be settled that way.
For starters, the developers of virtual worlds are going to have to
think more creatively about solving disputes inside their worlds,
Hunter believes. Today, if a player feels she has been wronged
within the game by another player and complains to the developers,
they may just throw some virtual money at her so she can buy
something she needs within her virtual world, say to make the
problem go away. But eventually, Hunter says, virtual world
developers may have to create virtual legal systems to deal more
effectively and realistically with the disputes that arise within
their worlds.
And lawyers and judges in the real world also will have to pay
attention to issues arising out of virtual world conflicts, and
adjust as well. We need to recognize that a large number of people
are making significant amounts of money, says Hunter. And, as more
and more people are investing more and more money and get returns on
their investment, we will see more litigation and situations where
our courts will be confronted with these problems.
Published: September 24, 2003
--<cut>-- - C# as MUD Language, Linux as platform =?koi8-r?Q?=22?=Andrew Batyuck=?koi8-r?Q?=22=20?=< javaman@mail.ru>
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Chanur Silvarian
- The Automated Online Role-Player Michael Tresca