Korea Bans Commercial Game Item Trades

MammothBlade

It's not that I LIKE you b-baka!
Oct 12, 2011
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GG Korea, nice job shooting yourselves in the foot.

Whether people like it or not, there is a market based on virtual items. If no fraud is involved, then there is no problem. It may well be considered dishonourable by other gamers, but it creates some extra money on the side for those who are not all that well off.
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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Good fucking grief!
Well, here's the rare topic that actually stuns me...and I was just talking about it with my friend last night (Operant Conditioning, Grind, and the Real-World-Value of virtual items).

I'm not confident that this will fix the root of the problem, though I do agree with the principle behind the changes. The reason those items even have real-life value to begin with is because you have to grind for them (As much as we hate them, botters, when you get right down to it, are a natural economic response to this market. They aim to increase supply by streamlining the collection process. The real problem is that this market should not even exist in the first place).

As long as the degree of required grind remains high, there will always be a market for those items and services; illicit or overt.

More than anything, it's the source of this law stuns me; as one of the world's largest MMO Markets, this is like a nuclear bomb going off. Japan has recently cracked down on games that resemble virtual slot machines too, IIRC.
 

Ashoten

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Aug 29, 2010
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Instead of trying to ban something that people are gonna want anyways(Prohibition) they should try to regulate it so individuals won't be forced into the shadows to operate. If you label someone a criminal then they will become one. Meaning that someone would be more likely to operate within the bounds of a regulated system if its fair. This is because everyone craves to belong to their society and feel better when they are accepted by it. Making their once legal actions illegal will alienate them and force them to look for others that will accept them. This is how gangs and other organized crime start.

This will not solve the problem. It will make it worse.
 
Apr 5, 2008
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Might be a little on the harsh side but not a bad idea. Such a law I'm guessing would make Diablo 3 illegal along with probably every F2P MMO there is. They specifically mention a rising crime rate, particularly among teenagers so enacting a law to combat this is a good thing.

The USA is one of few countries I can think of where when teenagers are regularly being shot dead in large numbers but instead of doing something about it, they just say "Second Ammendment" and allow it to continue unabated.
 

Aeshi

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Dec 22, 2009
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Stop me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this basically kill the Free-to-Play market as well? Heck if you boil it down to its most basic principle (no trading virtual/digital goods for real money) you could even count online game stores like Steam (or even video games in general, given how they're all basically digital goods, albeit ones stored on physical devices.)
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KingsGambit said:
The USA is one of few countries I can think of where when teenagers are regularly being shot dead in large numbers but instead of doing something about it, they just say "Second Ammendment" and allow it to continue unabated.
What? Are you referring to a specific event?
 

theultimateend

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Nov 1, 2007
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shintakie10 said:
South Korea has been on a hateon for games lately honestly. The government seems to feel that people are spendin an unhealthy amount of time playin video games and are tryin to cut it off with stuff like this. I'm not sure what they exactly hope to accomplish with everythin other than alienatin anyone who actually enjoys the hobby, but meh.
To be fair have you seen the quality of games made in Korea?

I have...

It's not pretty more often than not. They are predatory to the most heinous of degrees.

They do the kind of things that would give Bobby Kotick an erection that would require doctor's assistance.

Ashoten said:
Instead of trying to ban something that people are gonna want anyways(Prohibition) they should try to regulate it so individuals won't be forced into the shadows to operate. If you label someone a criminal then they will become one. Meaning that someone would be more likely to operate within the bounds of a regulated system if its fair. This is because everyone craves to belong to their society and feel better when they are accepted by it. Making their once legal actions illegal will alienate them and force them to look for others that will accept them. This is how gangs and other organized crime start.

This will not solve the problem. It will make it worse.
The most common activity is to just make it slightly more complicated. Add an extra step so that its "technically" legal. It'll just get too complicated for buyers to actually notice how much money they've lost on the game. :D (and by :D I mean :( )
 

Don Reba

Bishop and Councilor of War
Jun 2, 2009
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What if you get caught trading in-game items for cigarettes in jail?
 

Treblaine

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Jul 25, 2008
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JESUS! Either Korea has an incredibly low crime rate before or there are a carpload of super-serial Korean Gamers it games is actually leading to a crime wave amongst teenagers!

If only this dedication could be harnessed for good.
 

Treblaine

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Jul 25, 2008
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KingsGambit said:
Might be a little on the harsh side but not a bad idea. Such a law I'm guessing would make Diablo 3 illegal along with probably every F2P MMO there is. They specifically mention a rising crime rate, particularly among teenagers so enacting a law to combat this is a good thing.

The USA is one of few countries I can think of where when teenagers are regularly being shot dead in large numbers but instead of doing something about it, they just say "Second Ammendment" and allow it to continue unabated.
Actually they don't allow it to continue, places with the high murder rate in the USA have stricter gun laws than the UK. If you get caught with a gun, you will go to jail for JUST that but still the high murder rate and gun supply asymptotes, i.e. double the effort only halves the guns out there, you'll need an infinite effort to reduce guns to zero. Part of the problem in america is all that they ARE doing to combat it, the "War on Drugs" is no mere euphemism, the police take an extremely hardline stance has lead to geometric growth in prison population.

The thing is if they can smuggle in cocaine by the metric ton from south of the border then they can also smuggle a few guns and ammo. Britain has a similar problem with high murder rate from drug gang violence though it errs more towards knives the killing is still high just at close quarters. Gang bangers tend to be such bad aim they have to be almost knife stabbing distance to kill anyway.

The problem in America is millions of people want to use drugs and sell drugs and operating outside the law they easily kill by the thousands to secure their drug supply either securing place to sell, stealing money to buy or stealing from other drug dealers. The solution is to bring as many drugs as possible under the law and regulated. Legalising and regulating cannabis would be a great step, it is a "gateway drug" not due to the attitude of consumption, it's the attitude of going outside the law to unregulated drug dealers. If cigarettes were illegal they too would be a gateway drug. In fact alcohol functions as a gateway drug for those under 21 as they get used to going through illegal channels to get high.

I think Korea has a similarly bad solution to their problem here in they aren't directly addressing the root of the problem. Which is that people are getting obsessed with games and there is no regulation, either within the industry or from any legal authority. Games are easy to pirates or run underground.
 

Eternal Visitor

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Sep 14, 2010
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one thing I'm unclear on, does the wording and execution of this only criminalize player player transactions, or ALL transactions, cause that's a pretty massive difference...
 

iceykitsune

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Aug 10, 2010
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Eternal Visitor said:
one thing I'm unclear on, does the wording and execution of this only criminalize player player transactions, or ALL transactions, cause that's a pretty massive difference...
player to player transactions only (i.e. selling your epic loot on e-bay)
 

Excludos

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Sep 14, 2008
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Dexter111 said:
YES, PLEASE LISTEN TO SOUTH KOREA AND IMPLEMENT PROGRESSIVE LAWS LIKE THIS EVERYONE ELSE!

Sorry for caps, but this is fucking awesome.
Only if you think crippling evolution is awesome. The entire industry is moving towards cheaper games and microtransactions and/or other ways to gain income. Do you really want to go back to stone ages where games cost a fortune, and once you buy it any support for it will shut down after a couple of years? Thanks for your input, but its turned up invalid.
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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and the monetization of item trades is partially responsible for the nation's rising crime rate amongst teenagers.
Actually I imagine that has something to do with them having passed laws that turn any teenager engaging in perfectly normal gaming habits into hardened criminals in the eyes of the law.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Sep 26, 2008
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Exactly what counts as a "virtual item"? Is the entirety of Steam going to be illegal? After-all, I'm not buying a physical disc, I'm buying a virtual copy of the game. And if we're okay with the sale as long as it's the entire game, what about DLC? Does it also get past the filter as long as said DLC has a level to play on (as to argue that you're buying a level, and not the weapon)? I dunno, this law is a little too vague to really work, imo. Unless they really do mean to ban the entirety of digital distribution.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Sep 26, 2008
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KeyMaster45 said:
and the monetization of item trades is partially responsible for the nation's rising crime rate amongst teenagers.
Actually I imagine that has something to do with them having passed laws that turn any teenager engaging in perfectly normal gaming habits into hardened criminals in the eyes of the law.
Um... I'm pretty sure they mean that kids are turning to robbery and other such already illegal activities in order to pay for said item trades. Not the fact that making the item trades illegal will suddenly make them into criminals.
 

Moromillas

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May 25, 2010
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Hmm, I'm not so sure about this. I mean, what do you call your cartel that trades in virtual items?
 

CrazyCapnMorgan

Is not insane, just crazy >:)
Jan 5, 2011
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Grey Carter said:
"The main purpose of the games is for entertainment and should be used for academic and other good purposes," said Kim Kap-soo
Wait a minute...someone else understands???

Am I still on Earth? The hell is this??? o_O

Sylveria said:
... and anything that hurts Activision's bottom line brings me joy.
This as well.