Article

2005-03-30 China-Japan-Koreas

Online gamer killed for selling virtual weapon

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Posted by Dan Darling 2005-03-30 12:33:04 AM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11135 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Words fail me.

Posted by .com 2005-03-30 7:48:58 AM|| 2005-03-30 7:48:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Maybe the IDF is right: maybe gamers are poor security risks.

Posted by Jackal 2005-03-30 8:16:49 AM|| [http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-03-30 8:16:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Agreed, some people have way too much time on their hands.

Posted by Steve 2005-03-30 8:17:58 AM|| 2005-03-30 8:17:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Wow. Boys, go out and get a girlfriend. And no, not a virtual one. I have no doubt you already have several of them...

Posted by tu3031 2005-03-30 9:06:38 AM|| 2005-03-30 9:06:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Three Words:

GET A LIFE!!

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-03-30 9:13:26 AM|| 2005-03-30 9:13:26 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 did he stab him with a "dragon sabre" or a steak knife? Reality sucks, sometimes...

Posted by Frank G 2005-03-30 9:38:10 AM|| 2005-03-30 9:38:10 AM|| Front Page Top

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

i.e. The competitor "ran out of Hit Points"

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-30 10:40:59 AM|| 2005-03-30 10:40:59 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 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.

Why is this a dilemma? The reality -- or not -- of the motive is immaterial in face of a FREAKING MURDER!!!

And, really, folks, where have you been? People have been doing this for quite a while -- selling off characters, weapons, chunks of land, that they've "built up" in a game.

I also don't understand why there needs to be a special set of laws for "virtual property". Simple contract and fraud law should be able to handle it.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-30 12:12:55 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-30 12:12:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 I know I'm going to sound dumber than dirt here (yes, I realise it's not the first time ), but how in the name of sheeted hell does one come to be able to own virtual property in the first place?

Posted by Weird Al 2005-03-30 2:05:25 PM|| 2005-03-30 2:05:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs)...
Persistent virtual worlds with their own rules. These include virtual property (usually items) which can be traded, including for real-world money.

Three years ago, I saw a calculation based on the exchange rate between the dollar and the EverQuest 'plat' which put EQ as the 55th largest economy in the world.

Posted by Dishman 2005-03-30 3:50:46 PM|| 2005-03-30 3:50:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 IIUC most MMORPGS discourage this sort of thing, as it sort of ruins some aspects of the game. In particular there are groups in third world countries where shift workers play an account 24/7 getting stuff to sell via Ebay to first world players. The prices are high enough this is actually a way to make a living - its called "farming".

I prefer Europa Univeralis, myself (do i dare to tell you ive just expelled ALL the muslims from Spain?)

Posted by Liberalhawk 2005-03-30 4:04:20 PM|| 2005-03-30 4:04:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 If the profits are so good ... its time to fire up my sniffers again and hack my way into MMORPG profits that no judge on the planet is going to give a damn about.

Posted by 3dc 2005-03-30 4:11:19 PM|| 2005-03-30 4:11:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 no judge on the planet is going to give a damn about.
Not entirely true. Most of the operators (Blizzard - WoW, Verant/Sony - EQ and SWG, Microsoft - AC) look very harshly on that kind of thing. Account hacking is generally a bannable offense. If you somehow circumvented a ban and came back a second time, they'd likely respond very harshly.

IIUC most MMORPGS discourage this sort of thing
A couple years ago, Verant faced off with EBay over this. I believe EBay saw Verant as a small company they could ignore and blew them off. Verant responded by referring the matter to Sony. I stopped paying attention at that point. That said, it still happens.

Posted by Dishman 2005-03-30 4:35:17 PM|| 2005-03-30 4:35:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#14

Wow. Boys, go out and get a girlfriend. And no, not a virtual one.

Posted by BigEd 2005-03-30 6:49:08 PM|| 2005-03-30 6:49:08 PM|| Front Page Top

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