知识交易

即使是体验最大的网络游戏，玩家也会有离开的一天。这是现实经济与虚拟经济最主要的区别。许多学者和设计人员把大量的精力放在了如何控制游戏虚拟世界的现金流上。但是虚拟货币产生的根源在哪里呢，为什么虚拟货币能够与现实生活走得这么近。 

在网络游戏的虚拟世界里，人们通常使用某种形式的虚拟货币来购买其中的虚拟物品。有些网站专门负责跟踪这些虚拟货币的价值和兑换率。其中，最著名的要数GameUSD。你可以在这个站点上实时地查到《第二人生》《魔兽世界》等网络虚拟世界的货币兑换率。（这个站点主要是作为一个门户网站，同时提供一些实时的数据；但也有某些数据不是实时的）大多数的网络游戏虚拟世界里都会有现金交易存在，即使官方不认可不宽容。一系列的问题随之产生，虚拟经济衰退之后，钱会到哪里去呢？由谁决定是否要和什么时候挽救市场？用户是否具有真正的财产权益？用户的权益被公平或不公平地终止后怎么办？

大多数网络游戏把货币当作“点数”系统来使用。网络游戏为什么要用货币代替点数呢？最直观的答案就是，货币看起来要比“点数”更加生动和感性。“点数”系统一般用在弹子机这类游戏中，在网络游戏虚拟世界里，为了表示了时间的价值，使用了虚拟世界的货币。但是，虚拟世界里的货币或者是钱到底具有什么样的价值呢？她是如何发挥与现实世界的货币一样的作用，又具哪些不同点呢？

虚拟世界开发人员最基本的责任和最主要的目标是最大限度地保证网络游戏虚拟世界的可玩性和娱乐性。这就要求开发测试人员在测试游戏的过程中找出游戏中包含的Bug，并进行后续的监视。许多网络游戏的用户服务条款中明确地规定了，任何欺骗其他玩家，利用游戏漏洞进行游戏的行为将直接导致用户账号的停止使用。在《The Sims Online》用户服务条款中，EA明确声明，“尽管《The Sims Online》是一款角色扮演游戏，但不能作为任何人扮演骗子欺骗玩家的借口。”就算没有明确声明，用户服务条款也还是保留了管理人员在适当的时候行使封号的权利。

网络游戏对玩家负责莫过于防范那些过于聪明的玩家。然而，许多问题是防不胜防的。于是游戏中出现了特别治安委员会这种形式的组织专门负责惩罚破坏规则违反条款的玩家。这种组织在早期的网络游戏中就已经存在，他们就想世界的警察一样，但不常有。目前《第二人生》还有几个由用户提出诉讼案件仍然悬而未决，原因在于用户没有办法使用现有虚拟世界的工具解决这些问题。

如果虚拟世界具有现实世界的价值，那么，虚拟世界的作弊行为也就变成了现实的作弊行为。说到这里又出现了争议，在网络游戏虚拟世界谋生的金农，不过是利用了自己比别人掌握得多一点的游戏知识尽可能多地赚钱而已，如果没有明显地伤害到其他的玩家，这种处于灰色地带的行为应该也是合法的。

  感谢www.item4u.com 的友情翻译。

原文：

Even in the largest online game experience, the player can always leave. This is the primary difference between a real world economy and a “virtual economy.” Much academic and game-design attention is focused on controlling cash flow in games and virtual worlds. I’ll cover some of the roots of virtual currency, and illustrate why in-game currency can only go so far in approximating a real life economy. Along the way, we’ll take a close look at the terms of service (TOS) of a number of well known games and virtual worlds and examine how they handle virtual currency.

Online games and virtual worlds generally use some form of in-world currency for buying and selling virtual goods. There are several sites that track the exchange rates and valuation of these currencies, one of the best known is GameUSD. You can use that site for up-to-date exchange rates for Second Life, World of Warcraft, and other virtual worlds and games (the site is mainly a portal, but it does provide some real-time data; some the data is out-of-date).

Real money trading, (”RMT”) is available for most world and games, even those that do not acknowledge or condone it. This raises several questions, including what happens as the world shrinks after the expansion - where does that money go? Is there a responsibility to the user to continue, even if the game fails? Who decides when and if the plug if pulled on a currency market? Do users have a true property interest; what happens if they are terminated - fairly or unfairly?

In most games, currency serves as a “points” system. Why is currency used in online games? The obvious answer is that it is lifelike — sexier than points. “Points” seems like a ballgame or a pinball machine, but in an alternate universe, “money” validates the time put in. But what value is money in a virtual world or game? How is it like money in real life? How is it different?

Consider the base duties of a developer in an online world. The main goal for developers is an “even playing field.” Known bugs and cheats must be sought out through the testing period and then ongoing monitoring. The terms of service (TOS) for many games make explicit that a player can be banned from the game for “cheating others” or making use of exploits outside of the contemplated game or virtual world experience. In The Sims Online’s TOS (from Electronic Arts) states, “[t]hough the Game is a role-playing game, the claim of ‘role-play’ is not an excuse to commit any of the disruptive behavior mentioned above. For example, you may not defraud another player because you are ‘role-playing a con man.’” Even in the many games that don’t explicitly state this, the TOS always grant a right to ban within the sole decision of the administrative staff.

An online multiplayer game arguably has no greater duty to its users than this: outsmart cheaters, beaters, and whiners. However, many games have seen ad hoc vigilante justice committees form to punish those who break rules or act against their spirit. These groups, which have been around since the early days of online MMO gaming, typically operate within the confines of the world, but not always. In the case of Second Life, there are several pending user-driven lawsuits that arose because users found that they could not successfully curtail activity that fell outside of the terms of service (and allegedly the law) using in-world tools.

If virtual worlds have real world value, then “video game cheating” becomes “real world theft.” On the other hand, if you are a gold farmer using a game or virtual world to make your real world living, and you are taking advantage of your extensive knowledge of the world to make money as fast as possible, you may argue that actions in the gray area of not-prohibited-but-not-authorized are just part of your legitimate business plan, particularly if there aren’t obvious victims.