J. Michael Monahan, II, Attorney, Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson
Shane McGee, lawyer in DC for Blizzard
Michael H. Pinkerton, COO, Metaverse Mod Squad
Neal Black, General Counsel, Live Gamer
Metagaming: a broad term usually used to define any strategy action of method used in a game which transcends a prescribed rule-set, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.
Why is metagaminf an important issue when discussing MMORPGs? Most MMORPG designers work within a carefully designed virtual universe, precisely balanced to give every player an equal opportunity to play and enjoy the game. Metagaming can upset that balance -- or enhance the experience -- depending on foreign of the designers and the type of metagaming at issue.
Not talking about cheating, hacking, or exploits. Doing things for motives that exist beyond the scope of the game.
Metagaming is not an evil trap, but you must consider whether you want to include it in the game space. Games that have an open sandbox feel encourage this. If rewards are given for PvP combat, then players are going to want to find out about their opponents and will create elements of the game beyond the game. Good use: content creation. Bad use: gold farming, bots.
www.virtualgoods.com: "Virtual goods in Asia: it's even more than you think!" April 9, 2009.
Virtual items + scarcity + collectability + ability to display socially to other users --> user demand for real-money trading (RMT). Itembay and ItemMedia sold $974M in v goods in 2006. How will users fulfill this demand?
Unsanctioned RMT, especially when dealing with overseas interests, is very difficult to control. Hernandez v. Internet Gambling Entertainment (2007) -- RMT in WoW by gamer versus IGE. Theory of interference. Hardcore gamer who sued that IGE was allowing others to level faster due to gold. Tried for class action, but settled.
Playfish Ltd. v. Gosumall Digital Entertainment (2009). Trademark and copyright infringement.
One solution is to join them. Regulatory landscape for sanctioned RMT:
financial services laws
illegal lotteries (gambling)
auction licensing
income taxes (third-party information reporting)
sales tax laws
data security standards
privacy practices
export control
unclaimed property
ownership of IP
TOS/EULAs
Metagaming comes down to TOSs and EULAs and how you license IP to your users. The reason the TOS is a focus for metagaming is that they delineate the game experience. Eve Online is the benchmark for metagaming since big mercantile component, trust no one, PvP environment. TOS says that players can lie to eachother. So a player can tell you they will give you a lot of money for something and this is just part of the game. You have no recourse to this. It results in a lot of media for them. CCP made this decision early on, that they wanted a "wild west" experience. So the TOS describes how they deal with these complaints.
Game communities
Important to engage the kids who may be members of your gaming community. Give a social networking outlet that forwards the experience and builds community outside the game. In forums, there is virtually no liability to the operator who provides this type of forum (Communications Decency Act). Section 230 of CDA: Immunity if operator did not create or develop the offending content.
Ex: Matchmaker.com invasion of privacy case. Profile made on matchmaker.com for another person that was derrogatory. Victim got threatening phone call. Difficult to track down anonymous poster, so victim filed suit against matchmaker. Court said no liability for matchmaker.
One exception: Roommates (fair housing). Site had drop down menu that was so restrictive that the users actually had to specify certain info including gender and sexual orientation, violating the CA fair housing act.
General rule: if you have an open forum and do not create or develop the content, you have immunity for what is posted there.
COPPA: sites directed to kids under 13, any site that collects personal info from children are covered by COPPA. Requires posted privacy policy, verifiable parental consent before collecting personal info from kids. ME prohibits predatory marketting to minors.
Cyberbullying
Digital harassment (anonymous, unsupervised, difficult for kids to separate themselves from it). Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act (pending).
Bots, Examples of Metagaming
Communicating outside of a game: phone calls, IMs? IP comm? Giving away the location of another player. Disclosing the strength of an enemy fortification. Communication across factions (Horde vs. Alliance). How do you limit communications?
Exploits: Terrain glitching, gold/item duping. These happen outside of the rules of the game.
Cheats and Bots: (ex: WoWGlider, developed to run over WoW, designed to play in your absence) can "see" through terrain and other obstructions. Complete situational awareness. Reflexes of computer. Not subject to the RW issues of a player (i.e. sleep, lack of time to play, etc.). Gold farming.
To what extent do you try to police this stuff?
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