regulating virtual environments

Regulating Virtual Environments

Foundation of Digital Games Conference,Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

30 May 2012

Darryl Woodford,CCi ARC Centre of Excellence

Queensland University of Technology dp.woodford@qut.edu.au / @dpwoodford

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TodayKey objectives

Methodology

Why it matters

Founding principles

Preliminary results: Eve & Gambling

Preliminary Conclusions

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Key Objectives

Original goal of research was to consider how we might regulate virtual environments

Because, eventually, they will be regulated somehow...

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Dispute Resolution

Image: Wikipedia

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Real world governments

Virtual world admins

Players

Admin Perspective

Image: IJMC

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Key ObjectivesDesigners know A LOT about what they intended to happen.

Lawyers know A LOT about what the written documents say & how to interpret them.

But NEITHER knows what’s actually happening in-world.

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MethodOriginal plan: Ethnographic research to understand Virtual Environments & what stakeholders wanted.

Began with three environments -- Second Life, Star Trek Online & Eve Online -- eventually narrowed to Eve for detailed ethnography.

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Eve is Complex

Image: EON Magazine

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MethodAs project evolved, it became clear that many of the issues that impacted on stakeholders (automation, dispute resolution, appeals etc) were not new.

A comparative with offshore gambling was worthwhile -- a second ethnographic site.

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EthnographyTradition in Game Studies of Participant Observation Ethnography (Dibbell, Taylor, Humphreys etc..)

Work throws up as many questions as answers, and often focuses on individual aspects of the experience (co-operative play/design, emotions etc)

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Ethnographers...But how do we study what underlies it all?

How communities form?

What social standards they create?

How they enforce them?

We need a framework - NORMS...

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NormsNorms are “informal social regularities that individuals feel obligated to follow because of an internalized sense of duty, because of a fear of external non-legal sanctions, or both” (McAdams, 1997)

Ultimately akin to Ostrom -- what communities use to regulate themselves.

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Why it matters: RMTEssentially the exchange of bona fide currency (US$, AUD, GBP) for virtual currency.

Impacts upon: Fair Play (Cheating), Design, Economy Balance etc, but importantly has LEGAL IMPLICATIONS.

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Real Money TradingTo the extent that “It’s just a game” is ever justified, that argument loses validity when real money is WON or LOST, EARNT or STOLEN.

If I lose a sword in MONKEY ISLAND I might go back to my previous save; if I lose it in ENTROPIA replacing it may cost $200+.

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GamblingVirtual Worlds look a lot like gambling

30% of the time the monster drops nothing. 40% of the time it drops Item A, worth $3 on the market. 25% of the time it drops Item B, worth $4 on the market. 5% of the time it drops Item C, worth $15 on the market.

Why is this different than playing a slot machine in an online casino?

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Second Life c. 2007

Image: http://static.pcinpact.com/images/bd/news/45025-second-life-casino.jpg

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UIGEA

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Second Life 2010

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Gambling in Lineage

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More closely...

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More closely...

http://worldsinmotion.biz/2010/02/neverdie_sells_virtual_egg_for.php

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More closely...

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GamblingSome of it certainly *is* gambling.

Others are just gambling-like, but so are other things:

Day Trading, Trading Cards, MTG: Online

But that they’re similar perhaps means we can learn something.

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SimilaritiesGeographical Disparity

Terms of Service enforcement problems.

Potential for disputes -- player vs player, player vs provider.

Strength of community: knowledge of mishandled issues travels fast in both environments.

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Findings: Eve OnlineCommunity agrees:

RMT should be prevented.

Mining (to the extent people like it at all) should be limited to manual methods - not automated.

But somebody always disagrees - defining norms can be difficult.

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Not everyone agrees

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Findings: Eve OnlineCCP’s enforcement has improved in recent months, but still evidence of it.

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Findings: Eve Online

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Regulation Options:

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Governmental:

Regulation Options:

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Governmental: Player power:

Regulation Options:

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SBRThe sportsbook mediator SBR was my chosen comparative; they also deal occasionally with poker & casino disputes.

Lots went before: TheRX, Majorwager, TOW, EOG; Forums, Mediation Panels, News & Rankings.

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The pastMore detail if interested but in summary:

Forum-based regulation worked for a while, whilst internet & industry boomed. Problems started when they started relying on advertising.

Mediation panels lost traction after US F1 GP Dispute w / Olympic.

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SBR ModelPlayers submit dispute. SBR attempt to resolve with book behind scenes. Report back to community via news wire.

Has evolved over the years. Some disputes are raised in public first (opinion: lower & resolved). Communication now includes forums, video.

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SBR ModelWhat hasn’t changed is that this amounts to REPUTATIONAL REGULATION.

A negative report from SBR is enough to impact upon your business.

Any different from how gaming media covered ‘Greed is Good’ or Mittani?

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Preliminary Conclusion

Many of the disputes we see in VW’s would not be new to observers from the gambling industry.

Automation happens in virtual environments just as it has in poker / video poker / slots / blackjack.

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Preliminary ConclusionCode has bugs that allow players to gain an advantage just as sportsbooks have long had code that accepted correlated parlays.

Enforcement is not always simple, and over-enforcement is possible. Players need a way to resolve this. “God” argument increasingly losing value.

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Preliminary ConclusionThe models that worked (and did not) in the offshore gambling industry are worth considering

No reason to repeat the same mistakes. Courts an ultimate remedy, but perhaps not the first.

Why wait a year vs a week?

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Future: #tweetfleet

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Future: #tweetfleet

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