Online computer games - this is taking it a little too far

[Fishman Dan]

You might have to register to read this article - i apologise if that's the case (terrible Sydney Morning Herald policy).

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Online-gamer-killed-for-selling-virtual-weapon/2005/03/30/1111862440188.html

[Ducky]

In case it does become required to register, I will just quote it here.


A Shanghai online game player has stabbed to death a competitor who sold his cyber-sword, the China Daily said.

The incident creates a dilemma in China where no law exists for the ownership of virtual weapons.

Qiu Chengwei, 41, stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his "dragon sabre", used in the popular online game Legend of Mir 3, the newspaper said a Shanghai court was told yesterday.

Legend of Mir 3 features heroes and villains, sorcerers and warriors, many of whom wield enormous swords.

Qiu and a friend jointly won their weapon last February, and lent it to Zhu who then sold it for 7,200 yuan ($A1,129), the newspaper said.

Qui went to the police to report the "theft" but was told the weapon was not real property protected by law.

"Zhu promised to hand over the cash but an angry Qui lost patience and attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the left chest with great force and killing him," the court was told.
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The newspaper did not specify the charge against Qiu but said he had given himself up to police and already pleaded guilty to intentional injury.

More online gamers were seeking justice through the courts over stolen weapons and credits, the newspaper said.

"The armour and swords in games should be deemed as private property as players have to spend money and time for them," Wang Zongyu, an associate law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China, was quoted as saying.

Other experts called for caution. "The 'assets' of one player could mean nothing to others as they are by nature just data created by game providers," a lawyer for a Shanghai-based internet game company was quoted as saying.

Virtual gaming is fast becoming a very popular worldwide trend. Games such as Legend of Mir 3 are known as "massively multi-player online role-playing games" (or MMORPGs).

The worlds created in them are incredibly detailed, and can develop and change even when players are off line.

They have attracted an enormous amount of subscribers and, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review, gamers are attracted to them because they have overcome the biggest problem in traditional computer games: loneliness.

Games writer Jason Hill said that while MMORPGs make up only a tiny percentage of the virtual gaming market, those who do play them tend to be very dedicated, spending a lot of time in these cyber-worlds.

"The actual items in the games, be they property or tools, become valuable because of the time people have spent building them up," he said.

"In a lot of games people might have to forage for the raw materials and then take them to a smelter [if they were making a sword or sabre, for example], otherwise the item might be a reward for completing a difficult quest.

"All of that means the item will be difficult to get, and the popularity of these games among certain groups means that these items then become very valuable."

Legend of Mir 3 has not yet been released in Australia. MMORPG enthusiasts here are more likely to be playing the very popular Everquest, or a new contender, World of Warcraft.

"These two are both fantasy games, with a niche appeal, but when people get into it they really get into it," Jason Hill explained.

The case of Qiu Chengwei and Zhu Caoyuan follows a report in the Australian Financial Review over the Christmas break, which told how 22-year-old University of Sydney graduate, David Storey, bought a virtual island - for $35,000 - on December 14 last year.

The island included an abandoned castle, some beautiful beaches ready for development and the potential for the development of lucrative hunting and mining industries. However, it only exists in cyberspace, inside a multi-player computer game called Project Entropia.

Now that Storey owns the island, if any other players visit it for a spot of hunting or a bit of a mine, he is entitled to a percentage of their takings. Every month, for the next twelve months, he can sell five plots of land on his island, which could net him as much as $40,000.

[Ducky]

It's definitely over the top, but I can't say I am genuinely surprised after reading some of the articles/stories in relation to MMORPG players.

The question has to be asked: are the people who create these games 'developers' or 'scammers'? They target the socially dysfunctional (which I am assuming is why most players participate in virtual guilds and communities) and somehow manage to get the players to willingly invest their time and money into the game.

There have been instances where MMORPG players have committed to virtual marriages! I wonder how the divorce settlement would play out if the situation was to arise? If this doesn't step well and truly over the line of pathetic, I don't know what will.

Come to think of it, I have been hitting quite a few grand-slam home-runs in MVP Baseball 2005. I wonder how much my virtual baseball bat will sell for?

:roll:

Edit:

On a side note, if one person is willing to kill another person over one piece of virtual content, can you imagine what would happen to the employees of the game development companies if the servers were to go down and reset all the player accounts?

Obviously, there would be backup measures in place to stop such a thing from happening, but it just makes you wonder how far these people would go.

[Fishman Dan]

Thanks for the quote Duckman - it was too late to think laterally.

I think people get out of online games what they want - but people buying 'virtual' islands and then re-selling them is pretty scary. Same deal with selling virtual artifacts, it's probably a big deal to them, but not worth stabbing them to death over :roll:

[AndyP]

That's crazy!
Would the guy who bought the virtual island be considered to have made a high risk investment?

Aren't some of you guys into the online gaming thing. I've never played any of it.

Anyone want to buy my virtual Taylor Made R9 for $2000?

[Fishman Dan]

That's crazy!
Would the guy who bought the virtual island be considered to have made a high risk investment?

Aren't some of you guys into the online gaming thing. I've never played any of it.

Anyone want to buy my virtual Taylor Made R9 for $2000?

I occasionally drop into an online 1st-person shoot'em up called Enemy Territory - basically from the Wolfenstein series. It's great, you choose the rocket launcher, it annoys the kiddies because apparently it lacks 'skill', but taking out 3 or 4 in one hit is just thoroughly enjoyable. PS - i have no tendencies to rock up to the local high-school with my Panzerfaust.

Have you got pics of your R9? Is it +4 vs Fairways?

[Ducky]

Aren't some of you guys into the online gaming thing. I've never played any of it.
I do play some games online occasionally, but certainly not to the extent that MMORPG players do (where it is basically consumes your life). I mainly stick to FPS (first person shooter) and sports games, where there is no commitment required.