When is a fraud not a fraud? When it happens virtually. Or that’s what players of Eve Online, a hugely popular online game, discovered when one of their world’s banks turned out to be a scam.
Inside Eve, one player set up what was called the Eve Intergalactic Bank, offering to let players store their virtual cash in the game currency known as the Inter Stellar Kredit, or ISK. The banker, known as Cally, gave others the chance to deposit their money with the bank and earn a few percent interest — a handy option when the ISK was rapidly depreciating.
Many took Cally up on the offer and deposited their virtual money with the bank, before discovering that it was all an elaborate ruse. Instead of safeguarding the billions invested, Cally made off with the cash — believed to be in excess of 100-billion ISK — and is now thought to be living the Eve high life, while hundreds of disgruntled players shake their virtual fists in fury.
The episode has caused controversy inside the game, but outside has highlighted the increasing problem of how virtual societies deal with real-world problems. Cally’s excuse — that Eve is ”only a game” — implies that breaking unwritten social rules against cheating is nothing more than a malicious prank.
Given the popularity of games such as Eve, Warcraftand Everquest, selling virtual currency in the real world has become increasingly profitable. Players will often spend their real money on buying virtual cash to get hold of new items, objects or simply to pump up their character’s abilities.
GameUSD, a virtual currency trading house, has the game’s exchange rate pinned against the US dollar at about 40c per million ISK. That puts Cally’s takings in the region of $40 000 (£21 000, $40 000) — even if, for now at least, the cash can only be spent inside the game.
But Eve itself is a profitable venture. The game has been running since 2003, and broke the landmark of 100 000 subscribers earlier this year. Although it might be dwarfed by huge efforts such as World of Warcraft, which can boast millions of players, at $15 (£8) a month per player, the success of Eve creates a substantial turnover for its creators, Icelandic firm CCP games.
Given the investment in time and money that players put into online gaming, what rights do they have to their in-game property? That point is being explored daily, and police in various countries have acted in previous cases where accounts have been hacked, or in some cases of in-game blackmail.
Some gamers are now wondering whether real-world law enforcement should get involved in cases like Cally’s. – Guardian Unlimited Â