If you think it’s unbelievable how much time players of massively multiplayer online RPG’s (MMORPG’s) spend online as their alter egos, it’s almost crazy to think that players can actually make money -- real money – off these games, simply by auctioning virtual items off on eBay.
Okay, so you already know about that? Well, here’s a question: If a player of a MMORPG gets his items stolen from him by another player – items that can be sold for real money, remember – has he been robbed? Could he legally do something about it?
After all, if you think about it, the time and possibly, money, that went into the accumulation of such items must be worth something, or so you’d think. If you invested any amount of cash, time, or work into something, and then had it stolen from you by someone who can just as easily sell your items off themselves, aren’t they, in effect, stealing? If not, then how about adding another tidbit: What if your game character was attacked because the attacker saw you were making money, and robbed your character of his items, and sold them off on eBay, thereby making money off of what you could have earned? Now have you been robbed? Now can you legally do something about it? The situation raises some interesting questions, does it not?
Even though the questions I asked are merely hypothetical, the online gaming community is growing faster than ever, and situations like this are bound to happen. In China, it actually did. A Chinese citizen sued his online game provider in November of 2003 because another player in the game stole his collection of game weapons; something that took him thousands of hours (and lots of money) to attain. The plaintiff felt that the operators owed him a safe environment in which to play. The game company is fighting back, stating that their user agreement prevents players from taking such actions. But if you were to think about all the ramifications that go along with stealing virtual property, and what players will do to one another if they can’t do anything legally, game companies and the online gaming experience as a whole, could be in for a world of hurt.
Having a great online experience can be akin to riding a rollercoaster. You’re really just along for the ride and you have no control over anything. In an online game, your enjoyment depends on many things, but mostly, those experiences greatly depend on other people who are sharing that experience with you. Again, you have almost zero control. And anyone who games online can tell you that more often than not, you’ll encounter jackasses before you discover the really respectable players. So bring an online gaming community together, where you can’t filter out the scum, and it’s almost a guarantee that more instances of players being “robbed” will surface. And that’s not a headache these game makers are going to want.
So you stumble across a fantastic, ultra-rare uber-weapon while playing EverQuest Online Adventures, and it just so happens that you know you can make some pretty hefty cash if you sell it online. But before you can do it, the item is stolen by another player, who then sells the item off himself for real-world money. Can you press charges? Should you be able to press charges?
We know that as these virtual online worlds grow in popularity, there will be many more of these real-life lawsuits, and as of right now, there aren’t any real-life answers in which to solve the problems that will undoubtedly plague our justice system. For example: What is considered to be virtual property if it has real-life value, but not have real-life physical substance? Would it be labeled as intellectual property, like a book, poem, or song? Can it even be considered as property at all? You’d think that the time and money that goes into creating or hoarding items of real-life value would account for something, meaning that items of this nature are definitely “property” of some sort. Would it be a new kind of property that hasn’t existed before?
So, if in fact, all of this is considered property – and we just determined that it is -- that also means that any player that has his/her items stolen in the game environment itself has indeed been robbed, despite the fact that the items stolen have no physical form; if for no other reason, than simply because despite its form, it holds real-world value.
All of this leads to even more perplexing questions though. Mainly, what about the folks who create these weapons and items? If they can be sold for real-world cash, would the creators of this content have any rights at all? If they do, what rights would they have? Are game makers rightfully due a cut of whatever these gaming auctioneers make? It’s obviously perfectly legal for players to sell off virtual property, so do the game makers have any rights to dip into these profits?
While this little exercise is nothing more than just that right now, we are just beginning to discover the highly numerous complexities that online gaming can bring to the table. In the case of the Chinese gamer who sued his game provider, he sued to get all his weapons back, in addition to 10,000 yuan ($1200) for emotional damages. Should fortune smile upon the victim in this case, the world of online gaming may never be the same, as this will set an example for future gamers to follow should they encounter a similar situation. And things like this are just the kind of bad publicity makers of these MMORPG’s don’t need, especially when it will directly affect sales. As of now, there is much to be worked out, but until it is, it may do well to keep a watchful eye on your online goodies.
