InformationWeek reports that the Chinese government has officially banned Gold Farming in China.
“In addition to its ongoing crackdown on Internet porn, the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.
Virtual currency, as defined by Chinese authorities, includes “prepaid cards of cyber-games,” according to a joint release issued by China’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
“The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services,” the Ministries said.The Chinese government estimates that trade in virtual currency exceeded several billion yuan last year, a figure that it claims has been growing at a rate of 20% annually. One billion yuan is currently equal to about $146 million.
The ruling is likely to affect many of the more than 300 million Internet users in China, as well as those in other countries involved in virtual currency trading. In the context of online role playing games like World of Warcraft, virtual currency trading is often called gold farming.
The most popular form of virtual currency in China is called “QQ coins,” a form of virtual credit issued by Tencent.com.
Tencent.com, which has about 220 million registered users — about as many as Facebook — is quoted in the Chinese government news release as “resolutely” supporting the new rule. The government justifies its ban on virtual currency trading as a way to curtail gambling and other illegal online activities.
The extent to which the Chinese government will apply its virtual currency rule to online role playing games remains unclear. A report in the English-language China Daily says that in-game gear is not considered virtual currency, so selling virtual items may be allowed to continue.
The trading of virtual currency for real cash employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and generates between $200 million and $1 billion annually, according to a 2008 survey conducted by Richard Heeks at the University of Manchester.
He estimates that between 80% and 85% of gold farmers are based in China.
“[M]any online games have a virtual economy and an in-game currency,” he states in his survey. “Gold farmers can play in-game to make some currency. They then sell that for real money — typically via a Web site and using the PayPal payment system — to other players of the game.”
Game companies typically forbid gold farming but committed virtual currency traders find ways around such rules. Some game companies have recognized the futility of trying to ban the practice and have built virtual commerce into their game infrastructure.”
We wanted to give everyone a very early heads-up that, in response to player requests, we’re developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance. There’s still much work to do and many details to iron out, but the basic idea is that players will be able to use the service to transform an existing character into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction on the same realm. Players who ended up creating and leveling up characters on the opposite factions from their friends have been asking for this type of functionality for some time, and we’re pleased to be getting closer to being able to deliver it.
As with all of the features and services we offer, we intend to incorporate the faction-change service in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience on the realms, and there will be some rules involved with when and how the service can be used. The number of variables involved increases the complexity of implementing this service, but we plan to take the time needed to ensure that it lives up to expectations before officially rolling it out. We’ll go into much more detail on all of this here at http://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as development progresses. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that because this type of functionality requires extensive internal testing well in advance of release, you may be seeing bits and pieces of the service in the test builds we use for the public test realms moving forward.
Following our temporary fix to address the recently identified Warcraft III exploit, we have begun preparations to implement a permanent resolution of the issue on Battle.net. As a consequence of this fix (which prevents the possibility of malicious software being spread through Warcraft III maps), we do anticipate that some functionality in current maps will need to be adjusted before it will work properly. Before deploying the fix, we’ll be working closely with the makers of some of the most popular maps to ensure that their maps continue to stay playable on Battle.net with little to no interruption. In the meantime, we’ll be hosting a Public Test Realm (PTR) for map makers to test their maps beginning on June 9th, 2009. We will also be hosting online guides to help map makers make the transition into the new patch during this process. Throughout this process we’ll keep everyone posted on any updates leading up to the release of the patch.
FAQ Will I be able to play my favorite custom maps online on Battle.net? We’ll be working closely with the map creators of many popular custom maps on Battle.net to ensure that they’re consistently playable online throughout this process.
Will my computer catch a virus while playing on Battle.net right now? Our temporary fix has addressed the immediate issues that have been identified on Battle.net, but we still recommend that players avoid downloading maps from unofficial sources or websites they do not trust — be aware that corrupted maps may share the same name as other popular maps.
How do I know if my map will work with the new patch? The PTR will be going live on June 9th, 2009 and you will be able to test your maps there.
How do I fix my map if it does not work properly on the PTR? A guide will be up on Battle.net shortly giving more technical details on how to fix many of the issues that may cause certain features on the map to malfunction. A link to that guide will also be updated in this forum thread as well when available.
For Map Makers - Transition Guide into v1.23b http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=17730193178
Note: Only english-US builds will be allowed to connect with Westfall
A large number of young people who regularly play video games, 8.5 percent of them, show signs pathological dependence on this type of entertainment, the conclusion is a new study of American scientists.
Study researchers from the Iowa State University in Ames say that not only are children spending too much time playing video games, but how their activity interferes with success in school, interacting with friends and families, and even brings health problems.
“What’s most concerning to me is really the total percentage, just the vast number of kids that are having real problems in their lives because they play games, and they may not know how to stop it,” said study leader, psychologist Douglas A. Gentile.
Video games as alcohol
Gentile believes that “we’re at the same place now with video gaming as we were with alcoholism 40 years ago”.Alcohol was not listed as a disease, and dependence on video games has not been listed as a psychological disorder.
The next edition of the Manual for mental disorders American psychiatric society will be the 2012th, and Gentile hopes to do it could redefine the term dependence on video games.
The study is based on data from a national survey that included about 1200 children and adolescents throughout the United States and aged between eight and 18 years.
Respondents answered questions like “Have you ever played video games to escape from the real world” or “Have you ever lied to family and friends about how much you play games.”
Questionable methodology
Gamers were classified as pathological players if they exhibited at least six of the 11 criteria. Pathological players play games more often and longer, get worse grades in school, and often notice problems with the monitoring of school attendance of non-pathological players.They have a greater chance of having attention.
His critics doubt the methodology, and ask how the 8-year child is able to adequately fill out the survey. They said that a pathological dependence on video games is only a symptom of deeper problems.
Remember playing browser based MMO games as a teenager? One could say they are a precursor to bigger and better MMO’s. Many gamers think browser based games are “simplistic”. However, browser games have evolved since their were first introduced. They can compete with their big brothers in many ways. Sure they may lack the detailed textures and graphics, but they can contain just as many quests, npc’s, monsters, well… you get the hint.
Introducing: Travian
The objective: To build and upgrade a World Wonder to level 100.
Gameplay: Players begin with a village containing only one building. Players gather wood, clay, iron, and wheat as resources. With good resource production players can begin to add and upgrade buildings. At some point players will need to forge alliances and declare enemies. At this point the gameplay involves not only your village but neighboring players and factions.
Factions: Romans, Gauls, and Teutons.
The Romans are your all around jack of all trades, master of none. Romans get faster upgrades, powerful infantry, and a so-so cavalry.
Gauls are fast and geared towards defensive rather than offensive. Their speedy horses are great for ambushing.
Teutons are very aggressive. The units are cheap and powerful but lack nearly all elements of defensive abilities.
Pros:
Players can play on normal or speed3x servers.
Great support including Forum, Chat, E-mail, IRC, and more
Constantly updated. Up to version 3.5 now!
Supports many languages
FREE!!!
Cons:
Players can purchase in game currency and other abilities that some players believe gives them an unfair advantage.
Enemies can pillage your village… Oh wait, that’s part of the game.
I like to spend my free time exploring hidden areas and doing exploits, this is what I found recently in northern Hinterlands. A waterfall that you are able to swim up.
Do you think secondary markets harm the player experience in MMO’s? Listen as Geoffrey Zatkin and Martin Herdina argue for and against secondary markets. This debate will only grow and intensify as the secondary market grows in the years that follow.
I have received personal information from a *very* reliable source (that will go unnamed) pertaining to SC2: WoL’s current planned release date. As of now, they are strongly hoping to meet a shelf-date of NOVEMBER 4, 2009. This date will *most likely* change (probably an extra week or two), but it’s a very high chance that SC2 will hit shelves in November of this year.
Blizzard Poster Bashiok had an update regarding the newest Diablo II patch:
So yeah, we’re still working on the patch. It’s coming along really well. We’re getting there. I can’t give an estimate or date, we’re expecting there to be a good amount of testing required due to the types of changes being made. We want to take our time and put out a solid patch, and that means we don’t have a release date right now.
Some exciting news - and it also may be some comfort - due to the types of changes we’re making we will be offering the Diablo II 1.13 patch for testing and feedback on a test realm before its release. We’ll have more information about how you’ll be able to help test it in the coming weeks.
Mike Morhaime @ the Activision/Blizzard Conference Call wrote:
This summer we will beta-testing, this phase will signal the final stretch of development. During the Starcraft II beta test, we’ll begin external testing of our new Battle.net, including some features that are designed to connect all future Blizzard games. This includes new tools that will make it easier for players to communicate with each other between games. We are also introducing a centralized system that would let players manage of all their Blizzard entertainment games and future games in one place without having to remember multiple sets of login information.
