Privacy; Blizzard; and being the only one in costume…

Lucious the Luscious; Sabrina the Sorceress; Paul Philbaum, Crombie, PA, acct.; Rena Tsolitias, adm. asst to Mr. Philbaum; Larry Goldberg, CPA; Crombie, PA. (All names totally fictional, for the purposes of illustration)
 
Maybe your teammates figure out that you’re an accountant, too.  After all, if your friends all go by their real name and you’re simply “Grandmaster [...]

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Lump of Coal(for some MMOs)

This is the best definition of “Griefing” that I have found. Buy Mortal Gold calls it ” the act of chronically causing grief to other members of an online community, or rather, intentionally disrupting the immersion of another player in their gameplay.”
There aren’t any lawsuits for griefing, or glitches, or general screwball hatefulness that [...]

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Danger in Online Worlds

FTC’s report on adult content in online worlds
A full story from PC Mag says report claims adult content still viewable by children, despite precautions. Notably, “It is far too easy for children and young teens to access explicit content in some of these virtual worlds,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. ”
One [...]

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Banned in Videogames – a Brief History

Today’s article is MAINLY about lifetime, universal, or at last long-term banning.
Let’s break down the component parts first of all. No discussion of legal terms is complete without a glossary, so I’m going to give you the abridged version. There will also be a referral for outside reading to understand the history [...]

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World Of Warcraft China Server Now Reinstated

The World of Warcraft MMO, an Activision/Blizzard product, is now back online in China with NetEase as the administrator.
Earlier this year World of Warcraft was suspended in China. The Chinese government administration did not license the continuation of a server for WOW.
This online game has about five million active users in China, accounting for [...]

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Second Life sued in class action

JUST AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of the linked articles, even though digitally blurred, may be NSFW.
Copy of the public record lawsuit, Eros v Linden Labs, may be found here.
I know to most followers of virtual worlds a lawsuit within Second Life is not news, it’s a huge world, and it is the most litigious by [...]

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