[MUD-Dev] BIZ: Who owns my sword?

[John Buehler]

Corpheous Andrakin writes:

> Who owns my sword?

> The game company AND me.

There is no spoon.  Er, sword.

What you have there is a "graphical hit point reduction service".
And I'm not being clever here.  That's what it is.  It is a service
that you are paying to use.  It is also "transferrable".  So you can
transfer that service to another player.  You can let the other
player use that service.

Swords are the same as direct damage spells, except that the ability
to transfer use of the service isn't available.  You can't give the
right to cast a spell to another player.  That's because it's part
of the structure of the service.

You never own anything in the game environment because it's only a
depiction of an object.  Even the ability to transfer an object to
another player's character is part of the service of the game.
You're paying for that right.  If the game didn't let you "sell" the
sword in-game, you wouldn't be able to do it on your own.  That's
why they govern the rules of the transaction.

If the sword existed outside of the game and could be transfered to
other players outside of the game, the game company would have no
say over the transaction.  The company that owned the sword database
and that implemented the transfer code would.

Your comments about "working" for gain is simply part of the
perceptual problem with these games.  People think of it as WORK,
and that they are entitled to something in return.  You aren't
getting paid to play these games.  You are PAYING to play these
games.  Enjoy them as they are offered to you (and as you agreed to
use them).

Your comments about the TV rental are equally off the mark in my
opinion.  When you rent an item, you are subject to the terms of
use.  It's not your item.  It doesn't matter what you think would be
good or bad business for the company you rented it from.  If they
say that you can use the item under certain terms and you then agree
to them, you abide by them.  It's called Keeping Your Word.  If you
don't like the terms of use, don't rent the item.

JB
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