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Should Gold Farming be Illegal- a real misdemeanor or felony?
AccountDeleted12341
Member Posts: 351
I have read here many times in the past and currently in the present that gold farmers are equal in moral putrism as drug dealers, criminals, or even evil characters such as murderers or dictators.
Should the business of farming gold in online video games with the intent of selling for real life cash, be an actual law punishable by government?
Ignore the fact it will never happen, governments wouldn't enforce it, etc. The hypothetical is that if it were a law, it would be fully enforced and people would be thrown in jail as well as businesses shut down. The law would indicate that only the company who owns the game or approves of a business can legally sell gold. Any other person who tries to sell in-game gold for real life cash is punishable by the law.
This is not about slave labor.
This is not about how the businesses get gold.
This is not about prisoners farming WoW gold.
This is ONLY about the process of selling Gold for Currency. It is irrelevant how it is obtained. However, you may vote yes based on a desire to eliminate the above immoral practices. The topic is still making the selling of gold for real life currency illegal; it would not change the laws on business practices, hacking, or cheap labor.
Would you support this as law?
Comments
Really?
Hey man, step outside, read a book, get some perspective.
Remember, don't believe everything you read. Seriously... remember that.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
With that sort of rationale you would see it fit to charge the gold buyers with a felony too for facilitation of a Black Market, like busting the john and the prostitute as well?
Sounds like a well thought out idea...
Sabotage? the games make money off the gold farmer's unless its F2P, it's not the company that suffers but the players and even then it barely effects us but more so the in game economy.
^ These are wise words, time for an intervention I think.
yes same as it's illegal to buy pirated copies of video games.. usually the punishment is worse for the supplier than the buyer as with most things
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
if someone has a company with gold/credit farming and sell the gold/credits for real money and pay taxes, is legal
can't say that for the people that download games and movies from torrents without a dime in taxes
hgahahahahahah!
yes... because the girl that got raped, the child that got molested, the bystander that got stabbed, the husband that got run over....should all wait in line while the courts deliberate on Joe Blow for farming make believe gold in an online game....
.....please just delete this thread.
Remember when people were saying "The reason why Anet is selling gold is to put the farmers out of business"?
I think selling in-game currency for real money should be illegal.
The thing is, it's not a question of 'if' gold selling is illegal. It is illegal. The issue comes down to how to prosecute it. When dealing w/ gold sellers (and especially ones that hack), you are nearly always dealing w/ an internation incident. Issues with Intellectual Property, especially digital IP, are typically handled very poorly internationally.
Different countries have different laws around these issues, and they also prioritize them much differently. Western companies tend to persue these issues much more aggressively, because a lot of our money in the west comes from our inovations. Eastern companies are typically not as aggressive about it.
Anet & Blizzard aren't even the only major companies to have to deal w/ issues like blatant EULA breaks. Companies like Google & Apple have also had their share of trouble in dealing w/ IP issues overseas as well. Gold selling has always been illegal, but it's up to the countries who are harboring these criminals to each handle them on their own. It's also a question of how much pressure MMO companies can put on these countries to prosecute & crack down on gold sellers. For some countries it's more effective, but for some of the major offenders (like China) it just doesn't work.
I understand what you're saying and I agree with you. The same people that think gold farming and selling gold is okay are probably the people that think ripping CDs or movies and selling them is okay. Intellectual copyright laws mean nothing to these people, but they do to me and I agree with what you've said.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Will this mean that selling gold / items / lockboxes by game developers will also be forbidden?
heh obviously it wouldn't be enforced as such but classifying something as a felony does put a damper on what people are willing to do.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
It should be.
edit - Well it was until a couple months ago...
why would it be? it's their product they made it they can sell it how they want..
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
yes same as it's illegal to buy pirated copies of video games.. usually the punishment is worse for the supplier than the buyer as with most things
Off topic, but telling to say the least, whats your stance on Amendment 64?
Why would it be nice... because you say so?
You object but give no reason? Perhaps you have a better idea of how a developer should handle their product?
Did you develop anything lately? I mean, what is your experience on this other than personal subjective experience?
People fighting for the right for mmo develpoers to sell gold.
The point is you do not make it illegaly, EULA has no legal standing...
yes same as it's illegal to buy pirated copies of video games.. usually the punishment is worse for the supplier than the buyer as with most things
I understand what you're saying and I agree with you. The same people that think gold farming and selling gold is okay are probably the people that think ripping CDs or movies and selling them is okay. Intellectual copyright laws mean nothing to these people, but they do to me and I agree with what you've said.
How do you draw the parallel between copyright infringement and gold selling?
been for legalization of marijuana for years.. honestly think alcohol is much worse overall
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
No it isn't illegal, and not it isn't the same as pirating software.
There is a direct relationship between pirated software and the money a developer would have obtained from selling that software. They own the software, they were the only ones allowed to sell it, anyone else doing so stealing the money they would have earned. There is a law against pirating software.
None of this is happening is gold selling, unless the game company themselves sell goldl If the devs don't sell gold, then whether the gold seller is in the game or not, the devs would have made the same amount of money, actually possibly less because the seller themselves had to buy a copy of the game. There is no software being pirated, there is no loss of money to the developer.
There is no law against gold selling. There is a law against pirated software.
And no it shouldn't be illegal. The only thing that should be illegal are illegal actions being done to obtain the gold (sweatshops, hacks...). And that is allready illegal.
edit - it is actually illegal in China I believe
The line is drawn when the selling of gold prevents or causes the developer of the software to lose money or prevents them obtaining the money. That won't happen until the developer themselves start selling gold.