[MUD-Dev] Ebay bans character selling

[John Buehler]

rayzam writes:

> > Ebay and Yahoo have banned the sale of virtual characters based on
> > the fact that doing so violates the intellectual property rights of,
> > say, Verant.
>
> Out of curiosity or ignorance: does it truly, in a legal sense violate
> intellectual property rights? would that stand up in a court? Or are
> those auction sites trying to avoid a mess?

  The intellectual property argument seems valid to me, but I'm no lawyer
(silly that we can't even understand our own laws).  That is, it seems valid
if the intellectual property involved (artwork, etc) is what is actually
being transferred.  I have seen sales that explicitly state that they are
not transferring the character or item per se.  They are selling the time
and effort that it took to obtain it as a player.  What makes the whole IP
notion a bit on the odd side is that being able to sell such a thing
suggests that the player OWNS it in the first place, which they clearly do
not.  So obviously, the players are transferring something besides the
intellectual property that constitutes one element of virtual item value.

  I personally disapprove of the transfer of 'accomplishments' in games for
money, but the answer lies in making the accumulation of items and character
capabilities the greater portion of entertainment.  Eliminate the incentive
instead of banning the reward.  If the 'having' of these things presents the
greatest entertainment, then the desire to purchase them will continue
unabated.  That, in order to support the competition to see whose <ahem> is
bigger.  Fairly sophomoric way to derive entertainment, if you ask me.
Competition is fine, but making that the primary means of deriving
entertainment is flawed.  It flies in the face of there being FOUR Bartle
types, not just one (achiever).

JB


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