China bans gold farming

[Professor S]

I find it hilariously ironic that a supposed communist nation has adopted a corporation's terms of service as law.

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I find it hilariously ironic that a supposed communist nation has adopted a corporation's terms of service as law.

Just because they're communist doesn't mean that they can't have some morals. :P I think many times every country including NA is guilty of the "We're not in their/our country, so we don't have to follow their/our rules"

But yeah it is funny that they banned it.. I think gold farmers completly killed FFXI and its concept of a player run extremely conpetitive economy. WoW is different since the game has a better design, and you can make tons of money without having to stand in the way of other players.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by TheGame

Just because they're communist doesn't mean that they can't have some morals.

So changing the laws of a sovereign nation to fit in with a massive corporation's business practices is moral/ethical. We must have a different definition of morality and ethics.

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by Professor S

So changing the laws of a sovereign nation to fit in with a massive corporation's business practices is moral/ethical. We must have a different definition of morality and ethics.

Allowing your people to make a huge industry out of something that would be considered illegal if you were in another country is moral/ethical?

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by TheGame

Allowing your people to make a huge industry out of something that would be considered illegal if you were in another country is moral/ethical?

1) I'm not sure that gold farming is illegal anywhere BUT China. I certainly can easily buy gold on-line in the US. As long as you pay taxes I'm pretty sure the US government doesn't give a crap. If it's against Blizzard policies then let Blizzard police it. But to involve the government in enforcing a corporate policy is a shade away from corporatism/fascism. But once again, we're talking about China so why should any of this be a surprise?

2) Legality and morality are not necessarily mutual. Hence my point about the IMMORALITY of the Chinese law. To me, having a government involved in enforcing corporate policies is immoral and blurs if not eliminates the line between government and industry. If that is moral to you, so be it, but it's best we're clear.

3) God forbid people who play a game for hours on end make a living from it, whether it was intended as a part of the game or not. It's called a "cottage industry" and shows a spirit of enterprise that is healthy in a free society.

As a statement of protest, please buy your Gold on-line

http://www.google.com/search?source=...q=0s&oq=by+wow

There are some lovely volume packages available!

[TheGame]

As for legality, you're right it isn't illegal. Though I think that it should be because of its affect on some of these games and companies. I guess coming from a game where RMT (aka gold farmers) completly destroyed the game and cost them countless users and countless amounts of money..

Granted, as I said before that's in big part SE's fault for poor game design for handling such things vs WoW. You could also blame it on the buyers for killing the game, because if nobody had the desire to buy it, nobody would be able to sell it.

Honestly this is a complex subject, and its hard to say who's guilty. But the bottom line is that I don't like gold sellers, or buyers. So I have no problem with that type of thing being made illegal here or anywhere else. Virtual money shouldn't have a real value.

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I find it hilariously ironic that a supposed communist nation has adopted a corporation's terms of service as law.

If anything I find it more a showing of being a strict dictatorship-style communism than anything corporate.