Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

MMO Gaming - Virtually Too Real?

Posted by simoniker on from the griefing-for-fun-and-profit dept.

bippy writes "The Rocky Mountain News has an article about the evolving face of massively multiplayer online games. PC MMOGs have fostered debates about free speech, made money for people and been home to virtual and real crime. Or as the Rocky put it: 'In a time of global terrorism, high crime rates and world hunger, the virtual evils of a computer game are really trivial. But in a way, that's the point: Why do even our games have to be subject to crime, no matter how virtual?'" A spokesperson for Ultima Online comments on Electronic Arts' view of virtual crime: "EA owns your gold, your swords, your characters - they are all just digital bits. If your entertainment is to destroy other peoples' entertainment, you're going to be tossed."

17 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. pwn3d by mattjb0010 · · Score: 5, Funny

    EA owns your gold, your swords, your characters - they are all just digital bits.

    Translation:
    EA: pwn3d

  2. Mandatory Zero Wing Reference by syberanarchy · · Score: 5, Funny

    All your bits are belong to EA.

    Don't buy EA, for great justice.

  3. obl pun by dandelion_wine · · Score: 5, Funny

    When the world first opened, players immersed themselves in a hedonistic world of sex and crime

    later, they started playing the game.

  4. Re:;e by kmweber · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://games.swirve.com/utopia

    I've found utopia online :)

    --
    "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
  5. Hello... by ScottGant · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm Troy McClure...you may remember me from such MMORPG's as "The Passion of the Christ Online" and "Latoya Jackson's Fiasco-World"...

    --

    "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
  6. dwarf tossing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    can even the mighty EA dare to toss a dwarf???

  7. Ummm... Alcohol?? by _Pinky_ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why do even our games have to be subject to crime, no matter how virtual?

    Ummm, my friend, whom you don't know, told me he normally plays games while relaxing, late at night, sometimes real late... And during this relaxation period he may consume a few beverages which could hamper judgement...

    So during this period of late night, beveraged game playing, he may do things that he may otherwise not do... or so he says...

    This could also explain my, errr, his Karma...

    (Whats really sad is I had to use google to make sure I spelt alcohol right, you'd think they would have that on the can somewhere)

  8. Re:This is bound to happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I might add one exception I've found; puzzle pirates. When I tried this game during the beta testing, I thought I'd accidentally connected to the wrong internet or something. In general the users are helpful and benign, and there's hardly a mention of 'I w1ll 0wnz0r j00 f4gg0t!!'.

    And now that you've posted the link on Slashdot, what do you think will happen?

  9. Re:Some experience by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Funny
    The grief of losing an item on which you used many hours of your Very Real time to obtain can be big.
    As a fellow MMORPG player said it best: "They may be just pixels, but they are my pixels".
    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  10. Re:;e by gnu-generation-one · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Why do even our games have to be subject to crime, no matter how virtual?"

    Because the first Matrix wasn't believable enough.

  11. Re:Some experience by cout · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've timed out in conversation on more than one oc

  12. That's probably why some people won't be in heaven by TheLink · · Score: 2, Funny

    Coz their idea of heaven would be making it hell for everyone else.

    And people ask why God sends people to hell. I bet there's a limit to trying to change people against their will (given free will, and people being made in the image of God).

    Perhaps hell is you, playing alone, for eternity.

    --
  13. I don't like how it sound... by S3D · · Score: 3, Funny

    "EA owns your gold, your swords, your characters" Replace "EA" with any of your favorite scarecrow, like government, employer, corporations, ISP, phone company... Customer handling in MMORPG may create a dangerous template of thoughts, too tempting for others... Better to be paranoid now then to regret later...

  14. Re:That's probably why some people won't be in hea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Perhaps hell is you, playing alone, for eternity.

    No... hell is browsing Slashdot at -1 for eternity.

  15. Re:This is bound to happen by wheresdrew · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ummm. t3h f4gg0t$ w1ll b3 0wnz0r3d?

  16. It's a teaching tool by aztektum · · Score: 3, Funny

    So that when I get attacked by Orgres I have memorized the spells I need to vanquish him

    Sorta like self defense classes

    --
    :: aztek ::
    No sig for you!!
  17. Re:I made $12,000 in 3 months off EQ by Animats · · Score: 3, Funny

    This guy will be a venture capitalist when he grows up.