There are four essential parts to a fourm policy: 1. Instruction  2. Limitation  3.Legal protection  4.Input/Discourse   Of course, there’s more to it than this: full discussion after the jump…

The first part is instruction.  Even though a game maker has seen dozens of forums, for many users they have no idea what is OK or not OK to talk about.  The instructions should be fairly clear about the general range of  topics allowable in the forums, or if the forums are categorized, the instructions should direct the user  towards what category where a certain post should be posted.

The second part is limitation.  Most common limitations include language, racism, religious discussions, personal attacks, and other common-sense limitations on touchy subjects.  Also often excepted is discussion of the developer’s choice’s in the game making, known bugs and cheats, and unsolicited suggestions as to how to improve game-play.  This part depends upon the developer’s concept of what a forum is for.  Other limitations include commercial posts, spam, linking-out to other games/sites, or any subject that doesn’t help the game-player.

Legal protection:  This in some way reiterates the topics in the second section.  Limits on personal attacks on other forum users, racism, religious rants, off-color language, and off-topic posts are prohibited.  This gives a legally defensible position if there is litigation related to some one feeling they were libeled or illegally attacked on a forum topic.  For the legal protection to have the best effect, the developers’-publishers’ have to have a person(s) moderating the forums for these unacceptable posts.  If the legal protection language is done properly, then the administrators have the right to warn, and then eventually ban the person from the forum, and even from the game/MMO itself. 

Input/Discourse:  This is why most people come to a forum to participate.  If the first three elements are taken care of efficiently and seamlessly, the valued customer can discuss, suggest, and gently vent to their hearts content.  A little teasing, good-natured ribbing, or even over-familiarity are allowable if the administrators can guide the discussions in a firm yet direct way.  And the meaning of community is most at evidence here if you can use that forum to worry about building inertia and good-will for the game rather than constantly fighting the legal aspects, which can be invisible yet well-done if you use some foresight, planning, and a good lawyer (with the common sense of a gamer).  Most gaming lawyers will have a solid template that you can customize for your independent or small gaming site.

Finally, here are some links (for example’s sake only) given without commentary.

World of Warcraft Forum Rules http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/forum-coc.html?sid=1

 Eve Online Forum rules  http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/W/index.php 

Second Life Forum rules https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/02/25/second-life-discussion-guidelines

 Activision Forum Rules http://forums.activision.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=517

 EA Forum Rules   http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/335106.page

Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.

So does that mean “security” in the sense that the playing field is level? Is that the utmost goal in security you wish?  No cheats, bots, account-sharing (I know that dude hasn’t slept in 3 days, he’s creaming me), gold-buying from third-parties, or mysteriously-appearing floating islands that are incredibly “bought up” before your pathetic little avatar can run on her short legs to get there?  Well? What about second-level?  Does that mean security in the sense that the money you’ve put in your online bank has disappeared?  All your hard-earned dollars transferred to virtual dollars, and then trounced by a virtual run on the virtual bank?  Or the sword that you so carefully saved from your RL savings account is bought, only to see that every Tom, Dick, and Leif from Europe has bought it for half the cost? And now the serious part, third-level?  Have you ever had your credit-card hacked from your online ongoing subscription account?  Have you been overcharged by a 3rd-party goods dealer within the game that took $200 for a $20 scarf (these 3rd-parties are not sanctioned, sorry).  Have you ever gotten an in-game email asking for confidential information?  (It’s not us, we’d never ask for that information… didn’t you read the 14-page EULA that you clicked on?).

           First off, the very basic act of your MMO that you are playing being defrauded.  An interesting article from 2008 talks about how easy it is for some users to defraud MMOs with stolen credit cards, fake user information, and other stolen items. Now you may feel that this is the problem of the MMO alone, but if a substantial percentage of your compatriots on the game are using “other people’s money” to buy virtual goods, upgrade their armor, increase their levels… then where does that leave the honest player?  Exactly.  Does it rise to a legal duty; probably not… but then again from an economic standpoint word gets around and in time your “personal investment” is worthless once the looters have started in on a “vunerable world.”  Another related whitepaper from Information Week (download requires registration) talks about how easy it is for bots, illegal scripts, and unscrupulous characters to overwhelm an online game that is soft on security.

       Secondly,  the example of Entropia being licensed for an in-game bank (in Sweden) may fall in the second AND third category.  If you’ve real money invested, then it could be a real money loss, as well.  There’s another groundbreaking article on How Security Breaches ruin it for all of us  by ruining the illusion of a common playing field.  If you’ve fought the long fight for that “special sword”, and then seen it “reproduced” in a hundred other hands… how does that make you feel?  Is it a security breach, or just a peace of mind breach?

        Thirdly, and probably the only category that will (eventually) bring ground-breaking legal judgments, is the real-world loss of money.  Credit-card thefts, in-game robberies of online banks (with RL assets), these are few and far between.  The only examples I am aware of so far are the Eve bank from last year, and the PSN incident from this year (which really didn’t count because only passwords were compromised, not credit cards).

       The best link I have found so far in keeping up with security issues is Play No Evil  which is written by a security expert, but with the subject of video games.

Jay Moffitt is a TN attorney.  The statements made are not legal advice, and no attorney/client privilege is created.  He claims no certification in the subject matter listed, and TN does not offer certification in this subject matter.  Comments are welcome and will be responded to with courtesy and timeliness. Copyright September 27, 2009.