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Gold selling just become legal in Korea
nariusseldon
Member EpicPosts: 27,775
Does that mean that MMOs cannot stop gold selling?
Comments
Only in Korea.
Though the speculation is of course this would influence MMOs worldwide. Games made in Korea and published internationally will be a grey area, and of course anything even remotely tied into real world finances will be regulated to death, so if there wasn't enough of a reason to avoid Korean MMOs before, there sure is now!
Honestly why not just do what EvE does? They have all but eliminated farmers and spammers while still offering a legit and safe way of purchasing game time with real money or in game money. They also control how many PLEX can be out at a single time, forcing the marking price to remain just about average all the time.
They have a secure way to earn extra cash from people who are looking to bolster their in game wallet and people in game who are looking to save some real life cash can go and purchase these for in game money. Really its a win win for everyone and is 100% safer than going to these farming sites who install as much crap on your computer as they can so your account becomes the next farm bot.
My Guild Wars 2 Vids
Govt regulations will solve all of that. The only reason why there is a security reason is because no one is scrutinizing the industry.
Plus, buying gold is pretty safe in terms of hacking. There is really nothing a farming company can do when they mail you gold. They will try to hack non-customers as well as customers. And if selling gold is sanctioned, all of these shady activities will go away.
Why not design games so you cant easy "farm" gold?
Those "Asian grind games" are almost build so you need to use bots to get anywere : (
Then you clearly don't know the failures of governments in any prohibition/regulation sphere. *sighs*
I will wait and see where this goes, but I doubt it isn't going to end up a train wreck.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
Then you clearly don't know the failures of governments in any prohibition/regulation sphere. *sighs*
Prohibition is different from regulations. Alcohol and tobacco is regulated here in the US and it works to a large extent. It obviously does not eliminate all the problems, but it does eliminate the crime problem came with prohibition.
Train wreck for whom? There are quite a few companies benefited from RMT so far. For example DDO is doing much better as a business after it turned RMT.
Games released here from Korea still will fall under american/european law on the issue, whatever they may be.
Then you clearly don't know the failures of governments in any prohibition/regulation sphere. *sighs*
Prohibition is different from regulations. Alcohol and tobacco is regulated here in the US and it works to a large extent. It obviously does not eliminate all the problems, but it does eliminate the crime problem came with prohibition.
The counter argument to that is all the attendent costs/crimes associated with alcohol have increased and worse than the gangsters. Domestic violence is one of the largest demographics of violence, most domestic violence has an alcohol component.
Not saying I believe that argument but the alcohol and violence part is certainly true I have seen people come at their girlfriends with tire irons in bar parking lots due to being drunk and jealous.
The analogy being they can both have bad side effects and they can both be of similar character, the only difference may be who is doing it.
Just to give a little clarification from within the industry.
The issue of "legalizing" MMO Currency sales has nothing to do with it being "legal" in game, it is essentially a decision that allows for the citizens of said country to list it as a job/career, which allows for them to be taxed on income earned, it also places the individual/individuals in a clear state from litigation, ie. Subject X runs a website selling gold in Generic MMO, Generic MMO's developer cannot take legal action to shut the website down, or attempt to take court action to recieve damages.
However, in terms of EULA contractual agreements, it does violate the creative property of the company, which means that it would still be against the rules within the MMORPG itself, which would lead to banning of accounts and such.
I hope that clears things up a little.
Thanks.
Cayll
Then you clearly don't know the failures of governments in any prohibition/regulation sphere. *sighs*
Prohibition is different from regulations. Alcohol and tobacco is regulated here in the US and it works to a large extent. It obviously does not eliminate all the problems, but it does eliminate the crime problem came with prohibition.
The counter argument to that is all the attendent costs/crimes associated with alcohol have increased and worse than the gangsters. Domestic violence is one of the largest demographics of violence, most domestic violence has an alcohol component.
Not saying I believe that argument but the alcohol and violence part is certainly true I have seen people come at their girlfriends with tire irons in bar parking lots due to being drunk and jealous.
The analogy being they can both have bad side effects and they can both be of similar character, the only difference may be who is doing it.
Ah but we are not comparing regulations with prohibition. The original thesis is whether regulations have a positive effect.
Just take DUI laws as an example. Don't you think society is BETTER OFF with strong DUI laws than without? Don't you think there are FEWER DUIs because of the associated laws & enforcement?
Obviously it won ELIMINATE DUI, but any reasonable person should agree that such regulations are decreasing the level of DUIs.
This.
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court made a landmark ruling Sunday, allowing "cyber money," or fictional money used in online games, to be exchanged for hard cash.
This is the first such ruling in Korea, court officials and game experts say, raising expectations that it will provide new territory for the booming online game industry by attracting people seeking not only entertainment but also money.
The court acquitted two gamers, who were indicted on charges of illegally making nearly 20 million won by selling 234 million won worth of cyber money earned in the online game Lineage to other gamers.
According to game experts, the cyber money, called "Aden" by Lineage, was surreptitiously traded at a ratio of one million Aden for 8,000 won.
The accused were indicted in 2008 and a provincial court slapped them with fines of two and four million won, respectively, citing a law banning the exchange of cyber money for hard currency.
But an appellate court overturned the decision, drawing a clear guideline on such exchanges.
Justice Min Il-young said that trading game money for cash should be punished only in cases in which it is obtained by online gambling games such as poker or other card games.
The highest court's decision came after the prosecution appealed the case.
"Despite differences in the methods of obtaining cash between the game and gambling, it (Lineage) still contains elements that should be punishable," the prosecution said.
But the top court dismissed the claim, saying "The appellate court's decision was legally based and correct in its interpretation of pertinent laws."
The ruling drew mixed reactions.
Parents' associations and anti-gambling activists criticized the decision, arguing it may set a bad precedent for the younger generation. Others said it will provide fresh impetus to the online game business.
"The ruling has brightened the future of the Korean game market," said Prof. Chung Hae-sang at Dankuk University. "So far, the industry's growth has been interrupted by tough regulations."
Lee Young-yeol, a city official of Seoul, said, "We should abide by the court's ruling. But the decision will surely impact current game trading practices."
The Korea Game Development & Promotion Institute said the amount of game money exchanged online in Korea topped 830 billion won in 2006 and might have exceeded 1 trillion won in 2008.
Meanwhile, a court ruled in September of last year that profits from the trading of "cyber money" should be subject to 10 percent value added tax (VAT).
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/01/116_58775.html
Society took a pretty big dip in its values when this law was passed. Its sad that people think this is a legitimate way to make money.
If I am interpreting this article correctly, this ruling pretty much states that anti-gambling laws cannot be applied to online gaming unless clear instances of gambling are present. So this would really not be much different than what the current lawas are on the issue in the US or Europe. The Korean court did not expand the rights of gold farmers but undid a restriction the government was trying to put it.
Well they're not doing RMT dealings here. It's usually done by some other country. It was realized that it didn't break any laws in Korea so they're fine with it if it will boost the online gaming market as long as it has nothing to do with gambling.
Then you clearly don't know the failures of governments in any prohibition/regulation sphere. *sighs*
Prohibition is different from regulations. Alcohol and tobacco is regulated here in the US and it works to a large extent. It obviously does not eliminate all the problems, but it does eliminate the crime problem came with prohibition.
Nope, most of the regulations are written by the corporations in those industries. Same with toy makers and many other industries. Welcome to reality, friend, it's harsh and unfair.
if i were the game designer in korea!i would translate the game but bring the player to korean server lol.just like dragon oath and countless other game are beginning to do .first it makes for a lot more player in said game instead of being localised
and second no issue with various country since the server are in korea.
Its always been legal afaik. There never was any law against selling gold/plat/whatever. That doesnt mean that the game company cannot ban you for it. Im pretty sure the ruling does not deny the company any rights to ban anyone it doesnt like.
edit: I take part of that back. Apparently there was a law against selling virtual currency in korea. That law is now overturned on the legal basis that it was stupid. There is no such law here in America obviously.
Govt regulations will solve all of that. The only reason why there is a security reason is because no one is scrutinizing the industry.
Plus, buying gold is pretty safe in terms of hacking. There is really nothing a farming company can do when they mail you gold. They will try to hack non-customers as well as customers. And if selling gold is sanctioned, all of these shady activities will go away.
An additional benefit of the system used for EVE is that the "Gold money" is going to the company that runs the game, rather than being 'lost' to 3rd parties.
The system is also inherently self limiting, in that ISK "sellers" only have an incentive to make enough extra ISK to pay for the sub, so the inflationary effects are strictly limited. Conversely, if someone tries to "buy" too much ISK using PLEX, the ISK price of PLEX will fall and they'll get less for their money.
Give me liberty or give me lasers
This oughta turn into a fun post. Selling gold is "legal" in Korea, governments worrying about "prohibition" of gold selling. God, you guys crack me up. Not even one of you has even the most basic knowledge of the law. There is no illegality of gold selling, *anywhere*, and governments couldn't give two shits less about prohibiting gold sales (although they wouldn't mind taking their slice of the pie). Judges and lawmakers are sensible people, and to them the gold sale trade is nothing more than another side market to spring up as the result of another successful market. All they care about is how to tax it. They couldn't care any less that you somehow think your gameplay experience is ruined because of gold sales.
Demand exists, suppliers race to supply it. This is no different than any other job in any other aspect of the economy. Seriously, don't be so daft.