Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Callisto on June 08, 2005, 10:01:33 AM
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It’s a bizarre case involving murder, online gaming and a weapon that wasn't real.
And it’s put a man in China behind bars for the rest of his life.
The strange tale centres on 41-year-old Qui Chengwei who won a ‘dragon sabre’ playing the online game “Legend of Mir 3” with a friend. The competition involves heroes and villains who wield enormous swords, and getting one of them is considered a major accomplishment.
So when Qiu lent his prize to competitor Zhu Caoyuan for use in a game, he expected to get it back. But Zhu wound up selling it for $870 U.S., infuriating Qui.
The victim went to police in Shanghai, who were stymied. They told him it was impossible to steal something that didn’t really exist and informed him there was little they could do.
Enraged, Qui broke into Zhu’s home and stabbed him in the chest. His injuries proved fatal.
A Chinese court found Qui guilty of murder, and sentenced him to life in prison. But that’s small comfort to the victim’s family, who don’t think justice was done.
"My son was only 26 when he died," an anguished Zhu Huimin cries. "He was sleeping when Qiu broke into his home. He was barely able to put on his pants before Qiu stabbed him. We want Qiu to die, and immediately." He plans to appeal the sentence.
It’s a new twist and it has implications that even the best legal minds were never forced to consider before: can a monetary value be placed on such non-existent items and how can they be assessed?
It’s a question the courts in other lands may well have to ponder, as the popularity of something that doesn’t really exist becomes a virtual reality.
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Can't such items be classified as "Intellectual Property"?
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Originally posted by Curval
Can't such items be classified as "Intellectual Property"?
My only MMORPG experience is in Eve Online, but as I recall their EULA very explicit as to the non-ownership by players of in-game items.
Some of the obsessive behaviour these games generate is very scary; I know people in Eve who have pissed people off in-game and as a result have been subjected to out-of-game threats and other intimidation including hacking of BBS accounts and home PCs.
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Thank you for posting that. I have learned a new and valuble life's lesson: When someone breaks into your house, investigate first, put your pants on later.
-Sik
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See, now he totally messed up by just turning himself in. If he was smart, he would have quested for the "Stone of Alibi" with some mob. He could have totally gotten out of it if he had collected that.
At least he didn't get permadeath'd, lucky n00b.
When's he gonna learn that you never camp the spawn? GMs will get you every time.
Ultimate griefer.
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I know when I was playing NWN, on the more restrictive servers custom created items are fierce competition points. It's a constant battle over the rights of people who create characters who's sole purpose is to rob and steal from other characters. I know of at least 2 instances where such fighting spilled over into RL.
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Originally posted by Curval
Can't such items be classified as "Intellectual Property"?
Most online games, all items are the property of the game company. Even in games like Star Wars were players can create and craft their own items, those items are still the sole property of Sony Online Entertainment.
And I don't buy the other guy's story about it being his prized sword he wanted to keep for himself. There is a major problem in most MMORPG games with large groups of very well organized Chinese players that have created "virtual sweat shops". What these groups do is pay Chinese kids and an increasingly larger amount of adults to play certain games 24 hours, 7 days a week in shifts to get stuff like rare loots, gold, credits or any other item they can sell in the real world.
One gaming company in the US recently banned close to a 1,000 of these players over a course of 9 months. It was later figured out that this group made close to $500,000 (US) in selling rare loot and credits. This was just one group and in one game. Most of these groups will have teams that play a specific MMORPG.
ack-ack
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Originally posted by Ack-Ack
Most online games, all items are the property of the game company. Even in games like Star Wars were players can create and craft their own items, those items are still the sole property of Sony Online Entertainment.
Ahhh...good point.
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Some people are just crazy tards…; BTW don’t ever mess with my perk points or I’ll have to resort to extreme RL consciences.
eskimo
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Originally posted by Momus--
I know people in Eve who have pissed people off in-game and as a result have been subjected to out-of-game threats and other intimidation including hacking of BBS accounts and home PCs.
We've had two out of the three right here.
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Keep yer eyes off my perkies.
I don't wanna have to hurt you.
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But did Qui say, "pwnd!!"?
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Originally posted by Drunky
But did Qui say, "pwnd!!"?
Hahah..:rofl .. i gotta get off the floor now.
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Originally posted by Ack-Ack
large groups of very well organized Chinese players that have created "virtual sweat shops". What these groups do is pay Chinese kids and an increasingly larger amount of adults to play certain games 24 hours, 7 days a week in shifts to get stuff like rare loots, gold, credits or any other item they can sell in the real world.
That would be absolutly hilarious if it werent true.
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It is and also incredibly frustrating to deal with. Literally, no matter how many you ban, there are 10 that take that person's place.
What would be really funny if this was some Chinese conspiracy to undermine the western world's economy.
ack-ack
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This one dude not far from me blew his brain's out because his so called buddy in EQ 1 killed him and took his gold in a PVP server. Was on the news at the time.
I was a wussy playing on those non PVP servers. hehe.
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I have over 3K fighter perk points... do you think this can get me to be popular with chicks? (Like a virtual set of BMW car keys?)
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wait wait wait wait just wait-a-minute folks....
There's one question that we're all forgetting to ask:
Was it a nice sword?
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two lessons from this,
chinese cops are stupid. The 870 proves it has value.
and notice that even totalitarian gun laws didnt save the geek.
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One gaming company in the US recently banned close to a 1,000 of these players over a course of 9 months. It was later figured out that this group made close to $500,000 (US) in selling rare loot and credits.
Who are the idiots that actually buy virtual goods with real money ?!
On second thought I know exacly who they are. I recently tried and quit several MMORPGs. I found them to be increadibly repetative and the players had 14 years olds mentality and no life. I wish my computer could run AH so I can come back :(
Bozon
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I imagine they sell these on Ebay or something like it? I used to play a stupid online RPG for which I can't remember right now. Anyway, people would build accounts one way or another and then they would actually sell them for $100+ on Ebay. The ones that sell are pathetic, the ones that buy should be shot.
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What a moron, someone breaks into his house with murder on their mind, and he puts his pants on.
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Originally posted by Saintaw
I have over 3K fighter perk points... do you think this can get me to be popular with chicks? (Like a virtual set of BMW car keys?)
Send me your password and i promise you that all catholic chicks from the district will knock on your doors :cool:
We are friends... right ? ... so you probably know that im not kidding :D
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Originally posted by bozon
Who are the idiots that actually buy virtual goods with real money ?!
Bozon
Hmm there are quite a few people right here that pay $14.95 a month for virtual fighter planes.:p
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Pretty crazy stuff
Few years back EQ1 account was going for US$23K on ebay. There were some boots or swords etc.. going for $700+.
Or that game that lets u buy/trade virtual real estate among other things. I think its called project entropia..Some guy bought virutal island for about $20K (it was on CNN few months back).
Apparently he resold lots on that island and generated $120K from sales.
Sony online enternatnment recently accounced they will allow EQ2 virutal stuff be trade by players for real cash..
Those chinese gaming sweatshops might be more profitable then we think.. :)
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Hell there are even people making a lot of money selling how-to books about getting rich, both virtually and really, from everquest. There's even a casino in everquest. It's the only game online that will order pizza for you, has an alarm clock that you can set, and an mp3 player so that you don't have to run another app. as your playing. A game built around the psychology of progress bars and chatrooms became a video game hyperpower.
EQ took videogaming to strange new places.
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Hell I used to play Diablo 2 and it's full of spam in games and in the lobbies about stuff like "www.d2items.com" these people run bots to constantly hunt certiant areas for good items and then they sell em to stupid kids for 50 bucks. Hell I had a friend who ran a bot and hunted items for one of those sites. he was making about 3000 a month doing it. i don't make that much at my job. course he had 2 computers on 2 phone lines running 24/7. He invested like 50 bucks to purchase his characters and gear from the very website that he was selling to. It's weird stuff in this world.
Also another MMORPG named Xenimus. I played it for about 3 years. some people team-built characters. 3 people built this one uber super powerful character. was atleast 10-15 levels above everyone else. one lived in oklahoma, one lived in norway, and one lived in australia. they played the character 24/7 in shifts. then turned around and sold that account with a level 57 cleric (next highest was like 41 or so). and afew level 20's-30's that were expierements for $17,000 to a guy in new york. be damned they let the guy play it for about 2 months, then hacked the account back and sold it again for $9,500! Then hacked it back afew months later, brought it up to lvl 61 to put it back above the rest and sold it for another $5,000! so for 4 months total work not counting time they let the buyers play it, they made $31,500. not a bad profit. to boot they made another account and repeted it for i think $27,000 more while the buyers of the first account played that one.
Selling GV perks! $5.00 a point! plz contact at swift@yougotjipped.com
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Originally posted by nirvana
I imagine they sell these on Ebay or something like it? I used to play a stupid online RPG for which I can't remember right now. Anyway, people would build accounts one way or another and then they would actually sell them for $100+ on Ebay. The ones that sell are pathetic, the ones that buy should be shot.
Some sell on Ebay but Ebay is pretty good in working with the gaming companies to stop those bids. The main selling sites are sites like IGE, which only deals in these types of sales. And since these sites like IGE are off shore companies, we can't touch them for the most part.
ack-ack
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Originally posted by Callisto
Pretty crazy stuff
Few years back EQ1 account was going for US$23K on ebay. There were some boots or swords etc.. going for $700+.
Or that game that lets u buy/trade virtual real estate among other things. I think its called project entropia..Some guy bought virutal island for about $20K (it was on CNN few months back).
Apparently he resold lots on that island and generated $120K from sales.
Sony online enternatnment recently accounced they will allow EQ2 virutal stuff be trade by players for real cash..
Those chinese gaming sweatshops might be more profitable then we think.. :)
Some dumb bellybutton bought a Jedi on Ebay for $10,000 USD. I've heard reports of Jedi going for more but that was the highest sale for one that's been confirmed.
The reason why SOE started the trade program with EQ2 was to take some of the money away from the Chinese gaming sweatshops. And yes, these gaming sweatshops are quite profitable for those that run it. It's even starting to spread and we're starting to see well organized groups from some of the former Warsaw Pact countries like Romania.
Like Gunslngr said, it would sound hilarious if it wasn't true.
ack-ack
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Originally posted by SkyTex
Selling GV perks! $5.00 a point! plz contact at swift@yougotjipped.com
Hey when u advance your pilot to level 876 pimp, and you have level 88 armour plating and cloak of invisibilty installed on your plane, let me know. I'll buy the whole account.:)
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You're not paying for the actual item. You're paying for the time the person invested in the game to obtain that item/money/character. Well.. at least that's how you get around the EULA.
I can kinda see where the guy is coming from. If I spent over 1000 hours leveling up & getting an item, and somebody cost me all that work w/o compensation, I'd want to stab them too. Not saying I would, but I'd think about it... alot.
edit: on that same line of thought, if I got home and was short 1k perk points (cuz I don't have many), my rl friend that plays would get donkey punched. Definately not stabbed, but donkey punched at the minimum.
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crazy! My little bro plays diablo 2. He showed me the items being sold on ebay, some go for alot. It's a fun game, but I would not buy the stuff. Collecting yourself is more fun I think.
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now Selling, 1 La7. Recently aquired invisablilty cloak, energy shielding module, bonus cannon capacity (now stores over 2000 cannon rounds!), extra 20 minut WEP addition, and the ever lusted for aim-bot!
Starting bid, $5,000 US. place your bids now! soon i'll decide to keep it and shoot you other dweebs down!
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someone can buy my handle (with 6+k fighter, 5+k bomber and 1k or so GV perks - but sorry, no swords) off of me if they want :D
c'mon, its a great name, who wouldnt want to be called furball ;)
let the bidding commence at $100,000
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Originally posted by indy007
You're not paying for the actual item. You're paying for the time the person invested in the game to obtain that item/money/character. Well.. at least that's how you get around the EULA.
That's not a way to get around the EULA. That's like saying you can pay a prositute for her time and she throws in the BJ as a freebie and it's legal. People have already tried that tactic to bypass the EULA for these games and have lost every single time.
ack-ack
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Originally posted by indy007
edit: on that same line of thought, if I got home and was short 1k perk points (cuz I don't have many), my rl friend that plays would get donkey punched. Definately not stabbed, but donkey punched at the minimum.
You'd donkey punch your friend? Female friend, I hope.