The virtual gaming world

By: Wurk2hard

All too often the question comes about: "Who owns virtual online gaming items?"

The question should be: "Why are we letting corporate arrogance run what we sell or buy?"

In any event, the question is still in debate legally. For Americans, this is an even harder problem to overcome, as we are governed by a bunch of hypocrites that only make these types of laws for the complete and sole profit of the large corporation. Overseas it is not illegal to sell or buy virtual items, as it should be here.

Virtual items are exactly that: VIRTUAL.

Main Entry: vir·tu·al
Pronunciation: 'v&r-ch&-w&l, -ch&l; 'v&rch-w&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, efficacious, potential, from Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus strength, virtue
1 : being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted ~a virtual dictator~
2 : of, relating to, or using virtual memory
3 : of, relating to, or being a hypothetical particle whose existence is inferred from indirect evidence ~virtual photons~ -- compare REAL 3
4 : being on or simulated on a computer or computer network ~print or virtual books~ ~a virtual keyboard~: as a : occurring or existing primarily online ~a virtual library~ ~virtual shopping~ b : of, relating to, or existing within a virtual reality ~a virtual world~ ~a virtual tour~

I made number four bold for a reason. That is what we are referring to, virtual reality, in other words, fake, simulated, unreal, not touchable. Therefore NOT OWNED BY ANYONE!

The reason we are stopped from selling virtual items on this site is simple. Laziness. E-Bay charges the entire community millions of dollars per day to list things here. Why is it that when another corporate giant badgers them, they just stand off and pass the crap to us, the little people? To be honest, it should not be tolerated. Virtual items are not real. MMORPG game designers are also making millions per day for people to play their games, but alas, it would be way too much to let the consumer turn things in thier favor and make a measly 200 - 500 bucks for their time spent playing these games. No way, that money is theirs! And they are not about to share! Corporate greed, sadly, is just another fine line that government allows. Is there not some laws for the little people? Oh yeah, guilty until proven innocent, forgot that one...

The bottom line is this: MMORPG servers own exactly that, their servers. Do they have copyrights on every single character name ever dreamed up? NO. Is the EULA (End user license agreement) A viable thing to hold up in a court of law? NO. No-one physically signed anything, unless you did, it is not worth the VIRTUAL SPACE it is written on. Payment to these companies is for server access, not for anything else. No-one else can use YOUR characters or items without your permission, if they could, THEN and only then, your characters/items would not be yours anymore.

To the people of E-Bay: Stop letting them bully you. Stand up and be proud. Let the little guys make a little table money too. I am quite certain that these corporate giants will not feel any pain. And I am in serious doubt that their Lamborghini and 3 sluts a day will disappear.

~Wurk2hard of the internet.