Hmm.. I'm just wondering about this. I had 2 servers throughout my RO career and I always let my players deal using their real money for in game items. In my server rules, I allowed players so long as they are willing to take the risk of doing it. I also ban players who admits scamming other players and return the items taken so long as it is proven. So far, we had a very healthy community.
I'm just here wondering why it is illegal and what's your reason behind putting this rule up?
Because they don't want any competition and it may affect donation to the Server/economy. /heh /pif
BTW i share my experienced in Talon RO..wherein they can ban all your accounts in a snap..with one real scenario below:
a RMT transactioned is done OUTSIDE THE GAME let's say facebook or twitter then someone took a screenshot then reported it = banned which is pure BS IMHO. Even small discussion or keywords may ban you. Banning is ok if you transact or discuss it in server's forum or in game but which is not the case. Talon RO is known for banning these instances.
I had a great time playing and I met IRL friends.
Because if there is real money involved it shall go in the form that supports the server and the work behind the server. Money going to people playing the game means money taken awayfrom the developer's (hoster/owner) pocket. Of course official and private servers are against it.
Also as you pointed out, scamming is an issue becuase the trade don't do at the same time in the same platform. Any aftermath of a failed rmt will need people from the server side to deal with.
That's just cruel. It's more of being greedy in my opinion though. How can players have fun? Also, having the items utilized by another person if you decided to quit isn't really bad. Why set up a server if you don't want to go against competition. haha. These are all just my thoughts.
Actually, there is nothing cruel about banning real life trading for pixel. Server owners understand and know that they cannot truly ban it, but why would they go through the trouble of looking up logs about it? Since your server is fairy new with a low population it wouldn't be a problem checking logs. Just think of a server with constant chatting, and you would need to read through all of these claims about 'scam'.
To be honest, there are players that believes all GMs should listen to all of their request since they're paying them to work. Then when things turn sour for them, they turn around to sell their items to other players. Why should we read days of chat log to help them? I don't think it's a matter of profit. It's time consuming. Looking up logs for a player that doesn't want to be there or doing something for the server. With a rule at least they will understand it's their own responsible to take risk doing a real life trade on the server.
Also, there are servers paying hundreds of dollar each month to keep their server up and running. They should not be combined with servers that only cost a few dollars to keep up. If money is what help developers continue their project, then what is wrong with helping them? Just nailing it all down to greedy is kinda a blanket comment.
I will not go through my own entire day reading someone else conservation to check if someone is planning to do a real life trade. But if it is brought to my eyes, I will punish them for breaking the rules.
So maybe this is more than just about money, but also about time. Not to mention, reading players conservation is sometime very tedious and cruel for the GM. (Try reading a player that is ranting about the server while selling their stuff to another player.)
Because you're changing the way things work:
◙ play4fun to play4money
◙ server profit to player profit
If anything, instead of letting players do real life trades, make tournaments with real cash prizes each X days.
I see no problem with real money trading done by players, so long as they take the risk of it. Only for private servers though.
Hmm it's not anything about being greedy or about money leaving the owner's pockets.
Yeah, most small/new servers ban RMT simply because its illegal in most successful servers however, as a big server owner myself, the reason it is banned in my server is because RMT = money laundering.
How? Quite simple..
- Player finds a compilation of stolen credit card information -->
- Player donates to server using a bunch stolen credit cards -->
- Player earns a bunch of "donation credits" and sells them to another player (usually same country/cash transaction)
- Real credit card owner issues a chargeback = owner of server refunds the money = server owner loses money and player who used stolen credit card came out with some clean cash that cannot be traced by authorities.
So in short the server owner ends up using real donation money to give it to an RMT'er who used stolen credit cards to donate and convert that money into clean cash he can use at the store.
P.S no my "big" server is not called tabooRO lol
Quote from: TabooRo on Sep 29, 2014, 01:56 PM
Hmm it's not anything about being greedy or about money leaving the owner's pockets.
Yeah, most small/new servers ban RMT simply because its illegal in most successful servers however, as a big server owner myself, the reason it is banned in my server is because RMT = money laundering.
How? Quite simple..
- Player finds a compilation of stolen credit card information -->
- Player donates to server using a bunch stolen credit cards -->
- Player earns a bunch of "donation credits" and sells them to another player (usually same country/cash transaction)
- Real credit card owner issues a chargeback = owner of server refunds the money = server owner loses money and player who used stolen credit card came out with some clean cash that cannot be traced by authorities.
So in short the server owner ends up using real donation money to give it to an RMT'er who used stolen credit cards to donate and convert that money into clean cash he can use at the store.
P.S no my "big" server is not called tabooRO lol
Couldn't they still do that even if RMT was illegal? They could just use the stolen credit card info to get stuff for themselves instead of trading it to other players.
@Remia
You are correct, making RMT illegal does not protect a server against fraudulent donations, however, there is a difference between donating to get the equipment you need and donating to "withdraw" money out of a stolen credit card. If RMT was allowed then a player can withdraw unlimited amounts of "cash" as long as he can keep getting new credit card information instead of donating maybe 100 bucks to get everything he needs. (Some people consider RO RMT as their job)
It's kind of like the law against speeding in the USA, it does not stop people from speeding but it allows police officers to punish those law breakers in an attempt to reduce the amount of accidents. No law = no consequence.
In any case, any respectable server owner should take the necessary precautions to make sure he is not accepting stolen credit cards.
Lmao at all you jokers bringing money laundering and credit card stuff into the conversation.
The reason why private/official servers don't want real money trading is pure and simple. Because then money doesnt go into their pockets.
But if it's something like an account or something not in the item/cash shop, they wouldn't get any money either way.
ITT when people say "illegal" they actually mean "against the rules / terms of service".
Well in some countries it actually IS illegal, but that has a different reason: Children getting forced into hard labour (grinding all day).
Quote from: Playtester on Sep 30, 2014, 03:23 AM
but that has a different reason: Children getting forced into hard labour (grinding all day).
I know some that would accept this idea :D