[Watch this video] Games, virtual economies, and ownership of digital goods

[unjapanologist]

Distracting myself from a bigger post about the State of the Research. Here's an quick 101 about virtual economies in games, prompted by the fact that players in Diablo III get a store where they can sell virtual items. As the video explains, this is significant in part because it's a legitimization of a widespread fannish practice: exchanging virtual goods in games for money in ways that were hitherto not recognized or even forbidden by companies. Much more importantly, though, the new store amounts to an "official" signal that the virtual goods made or earned by gamers can and apparently should be able to make people real money, if they want it.

Idea Channel: Is Diablo III Turning Virtual Economies Into Real Ones? (8min, but only the first 6min are about games)

ETA: Via Boing Boing.

Comments

[samjohnsson]

Does D3 not have the usual "you do not maintain ownership of the character nor any in-game items" clause that I think every other MMO has?

(On a random shallow note, can we keep him? scruffycute!)

[unjapanologist]

I have no idea!

We can. He helpfully digitized himself for us, so now we can have as many copies as we like.

[samjohnsson]

I mean, I've played FFXI, Guild Wars, and STO, and I've seen plenty of forum conversations where someone quotes that section of the ToS. Weird.

[unjapanologist]

You'll know much more about it than I (gaming experience pitiful and 15 years ago here). All I can find right away is this online ToS:

Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appear in the Service or the Games. You agree that, except as set forth in a Game EULA, you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in any Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service. Blizzard does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual property executed outside of a Game, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the “real world” of anything that appears or originates in a Game, unless such transfer is made using a marketplace explicitly authorized or administered by Blizzard, including without limitation, the Diablo III Real Money Auction House.

No idea if Diablo III's EULA has more details. Sounds like you don't own the stuff so much as have official permission to "transfer" it. Which may be something like licensing use of it, in legal terms? Though maybe not, since the person "transferring" the stuff doesn't "own" it in the first place.

There must be reams of meta on this sort of thing... Somewhere.