04-22-2003, 12:03 AM
I've thought about this kind of thing on and off for the last few years. I think that one thing you could discuss is how this is not only a problem with MMORPG's -- it's a problem everywhere on the internet.
The internet allows people to do and to say alot of things that they could never get away with in public. In addition to the fact that there is nearly complete anonymity, it is very difficult to punish anyone in a meaningful way. The idea of charging people while simultaneously banning their accounts and CD-keys helps here, as it makes it costly for repeat offenders who wish to continue re-registering.
At this point it becomes a question of cost vs benefit -- to everyone involved. Blizzard recently banned 131,000 CD-keys -- and yet has the spam from bots advertising websites selling hacked items stopped? Absolutely not. Why? Because paying $30 or whatever it costs is small cost compared to the hundreds of dollars these sites are bringing in. Unfortunately, it's naive to think computer companies will begin charging to deter the repeat offenders -- it's to make money, plain and simple. In most cases, this is simply an excuse to raise prices which is, of course, felt by the legitamite, rule-abiding users.
From my own experiences, I've come to believe that a large online community will invariably have these problems. It simply becomes impossible for administrators to be effective. This can be seen easily in the world of diablo. Online, with thousands and thousands of players interacting, the overal quality is terrible. The "decent" players congregate in small groups or else stay mostly silent, while the channels and games seem filled to the brink with bots spamming advertisements and the "typical" bnet user: throwing racial slurs about with wild abandon, putting down players for not using "1eet" gear and using hacks at every possible opportunity (and then, of course, complaining when they're punished for breaking the rules).
Next consider the forums of popular diablo websites. The smaller the community, the higher the quality (in general). This is because the administrators can have some control over the community.
Finally, I think of the community of players still actively playing myth: the fallen lords and myth II: soulblighter. Those still playing this game are an amazing bunch. Not only is the game currently being played on a server set up and maintained for free by some really great people (the official server was shut down about 2 years ago), the community is the best I have ever seen or had the pleasure of being a part of.
This game doesn't fit into the MMORPG genre, but the quality of the community is still something to be admired. The admins are hard, but fair -- they ban accounts all the time, proof that even in a good community, cheaters abound. Their success is based on the small number of players (on a busy night, ~250 people will be online at any one time). If 5000 new players logged on tomorow, chaos would insue (and not only because of the server probably crashing under the strain :)).
In short, as the size increases, the quality of an online community will invariably decrease. There is simply no possibly way to fully control an online community. However, if a game company (or even the administrator of a small website, for that matter) decides to put a website/game/product on the market, he/she/they has a responsability to do whatever is in their power to control those who become part of the community.
gekko
hehe did I answer any of your questions, or did I just go on a bit of a rant? Oh well, I tried
The internet allows people to do and to say alot of things that they could never get away with in public. In addition to the fact that there is nearly complete anonymity, it is very difficult to punish anyone in a meaningful way. The idea of charging people while simultaneously banning their accounts and CD-keys helps here, as it makes it costly for repeat offenders who wish to continue re-registering.
At this point it becomes a question of cost vs benefit -- to everyone involved. Blizzard recently banned 131,000 CD-keys -- and yet has the spam from bots advertising websites selling hacked items stopped? Absolutely not. Why? Because paying $30 or whatever it costs is small cost compared to the hundreds of dollars these sites are bringing in. Unfortunately, it's naive to think computer companies will begin charging to deter the repeat offenders -- it's to make money, plain and simple. In most cases, this is simply an excuse to raise prices which is, of course, felt by the legitamite, rule-abiding users.
From my own experiences, I've come to believe that a large online community will invariably have these problems. It simply becomes impossible for administrators to be effective. This can be seen easily in the world of diablo. Online, with thousands and thousands of players interacting, the overal quality is terrible. The "decent" players congregate in small groups or else stay mostly silent, while the channels and games seem filled to the brink with bots spamming advertisements and the "typical" bnet user: throwing racial slurs about with wild abandon, putting down players for not using "1eet" gear and using hacks at every possible opportunity (and then, of course, complaining when they're punished for breaking the rules).
Next consider the forums of popular diablo websites. The smaller the community, the higher the quality (in general). This is because the administrators can have some control over the community.
Finally, I think of the community of players still actively playing myth: the fallen lords and myth II: soulblighter. Those still playing this game are an amazing bunch. Not only is the game currently being played on a server set up and maintained for free by some really great people (the official server was shut down about 2 years ago), the community is the best I have ever seen or had the pleasure of being a part of.
This game doesn't fit into the MMORPG genre, but the quality of the community is still something to be admired. The admins are hard, but fair -- they ban accounts all the time, proof that even in a good community, cheaters abound. Their success is based on the small number of players (on a busy night, ~250 people will be online at any one time). If 5000 new players logged on tomorow, chaos would insue (and not only because of the server probably crashing under the strain :)).
In short, as the size increases, the quality of an online community will invariably decrease. There is simply no possibly way to fully control an online community. However, if a game company (or even the administrator of a small website, for that matter) decides to put a website/game/product on the market, he/she/they has a responsability to do whatever is in their power to control those who become part of the community.
gekko
hehe did I answer any of your questions, or did I just go on a bit of a rant? Oh well, I tried
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"