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Japanese gov't looks into gold farming

By Walt Wyman, GameSpotPosted Jul 18, 2006 12:48 pm PT

METI is surveying major gamemakers in an attempt to address real money trading and other illicit behavior in online games.

The practice of real money trading, the exchange of in-game currency from a massively multiplayer online game for actual real-world money, is becoming a growing concern. No longer is it simply a concern of the publishers who operate these games; now the Japanese government is opening up its own investigation into the practice.

The Kyoto Shimbun reports that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) intends to look into wrongdoing perpetrated in connection with online games and virtual currencies. METI has begun its survey by interviewing major, albeit unspecified, game manufacturers on the matter.

This action was triggered by the recent boom in real money trading and the use of unauthorized programs to tamper with data and/or automatically obtain large amounts of virtual currency or items. Particularly troubling to METI is the appearance of organized groups capable of committing fraudulent activities on a large scale, sometimes from overseas locations. In addition to conducting its own inquiries, METI is urging the industry to take appropriate damage control measures and establish self-regulation quickly.

Last month Square Enix banned 250 accounts for using third-party software to collect massive amounts of gil, the game's currency. The publisher removed 250 billion gil from the game's economy, warning that real money trading "will not be tolerated" in the game. Earlier this month, Electronic Arts removed 15 trillion gold from the Ultima Online economy and banned more than 180 accounts for taking advantage of an exploit in the game.

45 Comments

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:17 am PT

    Heh, the governments can try as much as they like, but RMT could never be stopped.
    If a publisher asks why you gave a large sum of virtual money to someone in the game, you can just claim you "donated" it out of charity, even if it appeared like you were selling it to augment you experience.
    So this cannot be stopped on the publishers site.
    Furthermore, if the government tries to monitor auction sites such as eBay and catches someone, they can`t accuse them of anything because that person can say that was a joke. The government can`t prove that a transaction took place, as the rest of the conversation and transaction happens through email or other untraceable means. Even if they remove such auctions from these sites, they wouldn`t be fast enough and so the seller would still have some clients that contacted him.
    So this also cannot be stopped by the government in the real world. So in the end, you come to the conclusion that this cannot be stopped at all.

  • need_id07

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 11:26 am PT

    Right just think what would happen if bill gates got rid of a **** of his cash in vertual gold before filling out taxes, then was able to sell it off and spend it slowly.

  • HuxleyHobbes

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 11:57 am PT

    The governments of the world care for one reason and one reason only about this - taxation. They wouldn't give a crap about it otherwise.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    so wats a gold farmer

  • baz_3001

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 3:52 am PT

    Has anyone noticed that one of gamespots sponsored links takes you to a site which by the looks of things (I didnt log in) will give you info on how to make money by buying and selling in game currency?

  • Devicehead

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 4:20 pm PT

    I think the point everyone is missing is the fact that people useing an exploit in the game or a third party program to generate "unearned" virtual money to sell it for real cash online, makeing a huge profit. I'ts kind of a form of counterfieting if you think about it. And I think the stink about the government getting involved is the basic principle that the generated income isnt being reported for taxation.

  • jwsoul

    Posted Jul 20, 2006 2:43 pm PT

    I feel that if people choose to spend there time farming in a game they possibly pay to play and using there valuable hours to do this then why should they not attempt to sell the items they have earned. I understand the goverment would like to monitor and Tax this which is fair enough but i also feel that the devloper should not be forgotten either.... Im not sure how a system could be implemented but i feel that abolishing this practice is the wrong thing to do i feel that people should be allowed the choice to earn there items or take the easy way out and buy the items for real money. Although this could then i guess impact on MMORPG's in the gameplay area we could start seeing games aimed at farmers and people who have a lot of time on there hands this would then ruin the experience for more casual players...........arghh

  • japam

    Posted Jul 20, 2006 1:19 am PT

    While I don't support gil/gold selling in any way, I really don't get how fraud in a virtual, IMAGINARY economy breaks any real-world laws....

    Unless people are setting up meth labs to make money for gil... though I doubt that. A big "Domo Arigato" to anyone who can explain this!

  • Igwababa

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 12:46 pm PT

    Personnally I like the idea of being able to buy gold or sell gold. I understand how farming should be killed but it aint gonna happen so get on with your life, its not like you really get that affected by it. Hey my friend does gold farming but for no personal gain. He aquires gold and each month sells it to cover his monthly subscription. He feels its his way of sticking it to the man. I dont really see a problem with that just a problem with seling like Millions of dollars of gold, but $15 of gold I just dont see the issue. Just my opinion feel free to bash all you want

  • GKBeetle

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 6:20 am PT

    The comic Foxtrot, which runs daily in newspapers, had a gag about this last week. One of the characters, a nerdy boy named Jason, was sitting there playing a game like Warcraft just to mine for gold, and was selling it online. His brother had an awesome line, something like, "So, they're paying you money so they don't have spend time playing the game that they paid money to play?" I totally cracked up when reading this, as that is exactly what it is. Things like that are the reason I don't play MMRPGs. I don't want to have to spend my time in game doing crap like farming or mining. I want to be killing monsters and stuff. But that other crap is what I ended up spending most of my time doing, just so I could be strong enough to kill something bigger than a rabbit without getting killed.

  • Kfoss

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:38 pm PT

    LOL you stole 65 units of battle armor!!!!! SHAME ON YOU....
    and just how are they going to crack down on this?!?!

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:30 pm PT

    Good to see that the government is getting involved in this. This happens in all MMOs and I'm getting sick of it. I hope they can stop this once and for all.

    BTW, to anyone who listened to the last HotSpot......."Dirty Money......"

  • mr_pops238

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 6:27 pm PT

    This is a big reason why i dont play MMO games.

  • PiMacleod_basic

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:58 pm PT

    Personally, I like that idea: the ability to buy items/game currency from the company at a fixed rate. At least game currency -- because honestly, having a 40+ hour a week job, friends, a gf, and not to mention all social life attachments that come with these, my FFXI time is very limited.

  • majere613

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:35 pm PT

    A bunch of these dirtbags turned up on the Quel'thalas WoW server last week, the first time I'd seen it. Perhaps the only answer to the problem that will really work is for the developers to allow players to buy gold/ items direct from them at a fixed rate- I know there's at least one that does this already, but I can't remember the name right now. Obviously this would lead to proliferation of 'rare' kit in the game world, but that tends to happen anyway on mature servers. The bottom line, though, is that by paying for this stuff you miss out on a lot of what makes the game interesting in the first place- I haven't properly got started on the hunt for my end-game kit yet, but I'm looking forward to it..

  • Fusekazuki

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:25 pm PT

    "xelloss88
    Ok easy solution, Get rid of AHs and NPC all items."

    That is in fact the answer to a good portion of FFXI problems.

    As for the whole gil/gold buying vs. farming the best argument is the fact that some people work for a living and buying gil is just like them buying a new CD or hell TV even a car. They want to maximize their time available in the gime and not clutter it up with "farming". I play a few different MMO's and Farming is a big time sink. Yet it's a game dynamic created to make people have to spend time and play the game so in-fact the developers can make money off the product through monthly fees. So yes there is a hefty group of people that gets mommy and daddy's credit card and buys 500 bucks worth of gil/gold for a birthday present or graduation. But there is also Mr.Smith business man and avid MMO player in his free time. Instead of spending his time(which is short due to the nature of working a 40+ hour a week job.) He hops on IGE and blows 200 bucks for some currency so he can take his 3-4 hours and do something "productive" with his time. People can complain about the farmers and froth at the mouth about them but honestly they are gonna exist much like how prostitution exists.

  • unfoundlime

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:52 pm PT

    This has always worried me about mmo's. Part of the problem is I have yet to a truly fun and at the same time stable and flourishing economy in a one of these games. They all go out of whack, and when that happens its easier for 'some' to just buy in RL what they want instead of earn it in game.

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:31 pm PT

    Why would people pay REAL $$$ for fake gold in a game when they can just farm gold in the game quickly!?!?!?!

  • Kiwi

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:22 pm PT

    You guys do know that it affects both the people in-game plus that country's economy, right?

    You can easily bet there are tax dollars that are not being paid somewhere, it doesn't take a much better excuse to get the gov't involved.

  • elite11

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:20 pm PT

    wow those people are a bunch of desperat n0obs. get gil the old fashion way, bykilling and selling stuff.

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