Legal Affairs has an article by Julian Dibbell entitled “Dragon Slayers or Tax Evaders?” in which he admits that he actually asked the IRS whether or not earning virtual currency in an MMORPG could be construed as taxable income on the grounds that it could be sold for real money.
He got back a non-binding “probably.”
All I can say is, Julian, please stop talking to the government.
Mirjam Eladhari has an interesting talk up on her blog that considers what she calls “the Holy Grail” for MMORPGs: making stories meaningful for thousands of players.
As is my habit, I’ve pulled out the statistical results that were most interesting to me. You can read the whole issue here.
There’s been a lot of heavy, arguably negative stuff here lately. So I thought it might be interesting to talk a little bit about possibilities instead.
In general, I’m a big proponent of treating players like people. The reverse is what game companies are often accused of, of course: treating players like numbers. Dehumanizing them. Viewing them through a purely statistical lens. All very mechanical.
But wait… what can be done if we really treat players like cogs in a machine?
The Daedalus Project: Yi-Shan-Guan connects to “The Evil We Pretend to Do” in uncomfortable ways. Discuss.
