Thursday, September 07, 2006

Some thoughts on the EIB scam

By now, most of the EVE Online community has heard, read, discussed and argued about the EVE Intergalactic Bank scam. Having read a few posts on various blogs (here, here, and the rest here) I didn't see a need to add anything else. Pretty much everyone agreed that though the act was shameful or despicable, it was part of EVE Online. Actually I'd even go as far as saying that the fact that such in-game (and this is very important) criminal activity are allowed, shows just how complex and free EVE Online really is.

But then I read a few more article that really pissed me off. These people really didn't get it. They confused in-game and real-life (RL), as if committing a crime while in-game could have consequences in RL. Take Caroline McCarthy's article "Cons in the virtual gaming world" at News.com, or worse, James Grimmelmann's "When Virtual Banks Fail" over at LawMeme. Please go and read these two articles and comeback to read the rest of my post. C'mon go ahead, and don't worry, the links will open up in new tabs or windows.

Here's where they both fail in their thinking: CCP's EULA does not allow Real Money Trade (RMT). End of story. If you did decide to purchase some ISKs (EVE Online's currency) with your hard earned money, and you lose it in-game, then tough luck buddy. You're shit-out-of-luck! For the same reasons that Vegas casinos won't allow you to bring your own cards at a Blackjack game and slip them in or that Monopoly money for that matter in a Monopoly game with your friends, CCP does not allow RMT, because it destroy the player-run economy and skews the game.

So there you have it. The EIB scam was a disgusting operation and I can't blame the players who lost a lot of ISKs for being upset. But they knew the risks. It was all part of the game, all part of the freedom and opportunities allowed within EVE Online. And like pGSX commented over at QJ.NET "Its part of the game. It would be like suing someone you lost to at poker."

Before you go, please put your vote in and leave a comment. I'm curious to know what's your opinion, even if you don't play EVE Online.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

CCP allows you to trade "real money" for a game time card (GTC) and then sell the GTC for ISK in game. It adds one extra step, but it is still functioning as buying ISK for real money, at least in my opinion.

CrazyKinux said...

Well I'll be damned! Actually, I did a bit of research on GTC and could not find any mentions from CCP on buying them with ISKs.

If you can point me to page that mentions that, I'd greatly appreciate.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, GTCs are the new way to exchange isk for money and vice versa. It isn't new, but it blew out of propertion in the past month or so, especially on the forums.

They need to regulate it somehow imo.