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Virtual Muggings in Lineage II

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-need-my-widgets-back dept.

electro-donkey writes "A man has been arrested in Japan after on suspicion using a bot to beat up and rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II. The stolen virtual possessions were then exchanged for real cash, according to this report from NewScienist.com. "I regularly say that every form of theft and fraud in the real world will eventually be duplicated in cyberspace," says Bruce Schneier."

10 of 745 comments (clear)

  1. Where the fault lies... by bigwavejas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This sounds more like an issue with game design. The whole fact you're able to mug someone in-game makes this a non-crime. If the developers are worried about mugging then they should take the "looting other Player Characters (PC)" out of the game. It seems to me the only thing "wrong" this guy did was use a Bot (making his PC unbeatable). Show me where in the manual is says, "If you use a Bot you will be arrested." If they (Lineage II) don't want Bots in-game, then track down the offenders, ban their accounts and give the loot back to the rightful owners.

    --
    "Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Thoreau
    1. Re:Where the fault lies... by TrippTDF · · Score: 4, Interesting

      NOW we get into an arena of virtual ethics. Yes, this guy could comit a crime in-game based on the rules (features?) of the game, but what he did is still ethically wrong.

      Now, it is up to the government to decide if an in-game crime is a real crime or not, and THEN they need to decide if the company that built the game can be held responsible for using a rule-system that allowed for the crime to happen. Remember, these are suddenly real-world tax dollars fighting a problem that could be solved through changing the rules of the game. As a taxpayer, I vote for that option.

    2. Re:Where the fault lies... by Nuttles1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am assumming the poster is not a programmer. Programming is a complex task! I don't think online games will ever be hack proof. It is more like the real world, an arms race between the game programmers and the exploiters.

      A simple solution to this mugging problem that I use is having LAN parties. I think they are more enjoyable because you know who your playing and you don't have to worry about hacking. Well, if someone hacks the game, then you can simply get up and beat his a@@.

    3. Re:Where the fault lies... by jacem · · Score: 5, Interesting

      IANAL and I am definatly not a Japanese Lawyer but I think that the issue is that the individual commited fraud and made money off of it. It is the last bit that is so important. There have been other articals on /. about the real world money side of online games as well as the murders By using a bot the defendant fraudulently came into possesions of real value in the game world and sold them for real value.
      I don't know how seriously the courts should take this but it is going to set some very funky presidence.

      JACEM

      --
      DOC Disinformation Obfuscation and Confusion
      The carrot to FUD's stick
    4. Re:Where the fault lies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
      He should be sent to jail in the fantasy world, surely?

      Exactly!!

      I have always thought that 'crimes' in online games should be reported to the 'police' (ie: game masters or whatever they call them)), investigated (looking at logs, etc), and then punished. THe punishment is simply- a certain number of hours/days in jail. To make it better, the character MUST be logged in for that time, and randome questions requiring answers would pop up to ensure the player is actually there, and not just letting his account idle while at work or something. Having to sit view the inside of a jail cell for 24 (gameplaying) hours would be a good deterrent, I think. ANd them you can throw a die to see if the charactr gets back all his stuff afterwards. ;-)

    5. Re:Where the fault lies... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually MUDs (the precursor to MMORPGs) came up with the concept of jail. Better yet, the more evil you were, the more the reward went up for your capture.

      Of course, people then went around being deliberately evil, ran up the bounty, then logged in their good character, and had the good one kill the bad one for the reward.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  2. How is this illegal? by th0mas.sixbit.org · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How is this illegal?

    Certainly he broke the EULA by using a bot.

    Certainly he broke the in-game rules by beating up and robbing people.

    But.. it's a game. They didn't get mugged, their characters did. I can see how the company could, say, return the items to the original owners.. but charged?

    --
    twitter.com/gravitronic
  3. Real life crime will be more dramatic than online by ReformedExCon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Case in point, I'm watching real police arresting real people who are protesting the real pullout of the Israelis from the Gaza Strip. Nowhere online will you find anyone so attached to items, parcels of land, or characters that they are willing to risk their real lives to protect them.

    It is foolish to think that anything online is in any way reflective of real life. There is an offensive, yet quite insightful comic strip which shows a normal guy+anonymity+audience= a troll. Put someone in a video game where there is no real punishment for actions which would get them in trouble in real life, and you'll end up with a bunch of people willing to kill, rob, join gangs, and a host of other activities that are frowned on in real life. It doesn't help that the games themselves promote this sort of activity.

    One of the obvious concepts that arises from that view is that online "crime" ought not be policed with real life authorities. This arrest is wrong, and sets a bad precedent. The game companies themselves ought to be up in arms against this action. It takes away their authority to enforce in-game rules, and gives excessive power to the police.

    --
    Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
  4. Racketering by DeeSnider · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Friends and I used to debate this all the time in Ultima Online. What if we sold someone a virtual weapon, say, on e-bay, exchanged it in-game, but had a gank squad waiting to mug him seconds later for the same weapon? After asking lots of pre-law friends, we came to the conclusion that, while definately a grey area, that it probably was illegal, and could be charged as racketering. Basically the problem lies in whether or not he intended to deprive someone of real world assets before hand. My guess is that was exactly his intent, and if so, I'm not sure he'll get off as scot free as we might think. Personally I'm suprised it took this long for such a well publicized case to come up.

  5. Nothing more than racism. by neo · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Quoting the article:
    The Chinese exchange student was arrested by police in Kagawa prefecture, southern Japan, the Mainichi Daily News reports.

    I bet if it was a Japanse kid this wouldn't have happened. They're just using some Chinese exchange student as a scape goat.