Hello fellow buddies, since DB is still down and most of us have nothing to do right now, I decided to do a follow up on my original post about my research paper (http://www.thebuddyforum.com/demonb...fellow-buddies-i-need-your-help-research.html). Long story short, I digested all inputs from everyone and did some throughout research, and finished the paper in a day. It's not perfect and possibly has some grammatical/citation errors in it, but I guess it's a good read in the mean while. Enjoy guys! FYI I got an A- on it, thanks guys! The Ethics of Botting in Online Games Real money trade (RMT) for virtual items within massive multiplayer online games (MMO) has never been more robust than before. According to research, approximately one in four MMO players engage in real-money purchases on a yearly basis (Lehdonvirta and Ernkvist). With the current success of Blizzard Entertainment Inc. in implementing the industry?s first in-game real money auction house in its blockbuster title, Diablo 3 (a fantasy/horror-themed action MMO), the concept and profitability of in-game RMT is finally, officially validated. Regarding RMT of in-game items, the nature of supply and demand, as well as the huge real-world profits that can be made from those virtual items, have also attracted numerous businesses and producers to form within the virtual economies. In recent years, producers have also invented ways and logistics to hire unskilled game laborers all over the world, who are widely known as the ?gold farmers,? to farm/produce virtual currency and items that can be sold for real money (Lehdonvirta and Ernkvist). Yet, with the advance of technology and computing power of personal computers, developers and virtual good producers, nowadays, are replacing human laborers with automated bots, which are software that run and control several instances of the game. Yet, due to the power of those automated bots, it has become a controversial issue within the gaming industry. While botting advocates claim that botting can bring huge benefits to gamers, some claim that botting is in fact an exploit and has huge negative impact to the in-game community and economy. Gamers, game developers, producers, and individual farmers alike are debating whether botting should be allowed. In this paper, I will explore deep into the arguments and debate why it is ethical to bot in games, followed by my opinion and what I believe to be a plausible solution to part of the controversy. What is botting? Before being able to look into the arguments and take a stand on the issue, one first has to understand what exactly ?botting? involves. In gamer parlance, the practice of using programs to automate the play of a character within a computer game is called botting, while the botting program itself is called a bot. In an MMO such as World of Warcraft (another award winning title developed by Blizzard Entertainment), a great deal of the game play involves killing monsters, taking the loot they leave behind, and collecting crafting materials. A bot automates this process completely and requires minimal supervision from the user. Most of the time the user can simply walk away and let the bot to run 24/7. However, since botting programs are so powerful, many MMO have a Terms of Service (TOS) that prohibits the use of bots and similar third-party programs. Yet, botting programs nowadays are sophisticated enough that they can often perfectly emulate human behaviors and interactions and is therefore extremely difficult and costly for game companies to catch. Why would people want to bot? For many gamers, the enjoyment of playing an MMO comes from the game play experience and the interaction with other players within the virtual world. Yet, many MMOs are designed in a way that the more time a gamer spent in playing, the more reward (in terms of experience, gold, and equipments) he or she will get. To make the game more challenging and extend gamers? subscription habits, game companies would make end-game content very difficult in a way that requires players to spend a great deal of time fighting monsters to accumulate wealth and upgrade equipments. Due to this reason, the process of accumulating wealth and getting gear (loot/equipment) usually happens slowly over several months. Many gamers refer to this process as ?grinding,? which is a highly repetitive and uninteresting process. As a result, given the chance to use automated bots, many gamers would let botting programs do the grinding for them. For gamers and producers involved in in-game RMT, it also makes more sense for them to use bots or replace human laborers with botting programs since a bot can just farm all day and night without sleeping or eating like humans. Simply put, it can greatly increase their profits and reduce the costs of operation. So, how does botting affect a typical player and the in-game community? The first argument why botting is ethical is because it helps to drive progress of the in-game economy.The main reason why in-game RMT is so profitable and robust is because, like the real world, there are supply and demand of items within the virtual world, and certain items are scarce. As a result, some players are willing to use real money to buy items that are hard to find or take a long time to acquire. Similar to the idea of globalization, botting introduces an alternative method to acquire goods in a much cheaper and efficient way. Since bots are more efficient than human beings and can be run continuously, they continuously bring new goods to the in-game economy. Some people argue that bots can ruin the in-game economy by constantly putting goods in the market, but in an online interview, Hawker, the Development Director at Bossland GmbH whose company creates bots for various online-games, reminds us that bots ?bring in items that players wouldn?t otherwise be farming. When the item is in greater supply, the overall price should drop because it is in lesser demand.? In other words, bots drive and accelerate the progress of in-game economies and make items much cheaper. As a result, items are more affordable and accessible to gamers in terms of both in-game currency or RMT. People against botting also claim that bot programs ?make the game appear unfair, decreasing the quality of game play and even driving players from the game? (Castronova). Yet, virtual game worlds are never fair to begin with and bot programs in fact help to level the field. As mentioned before, most MMOs are designed in a way that players have to sink in a lot of time in order to acquire certain items or end-game content. As a result, people who can invest a great deal of time into the game will have huge advantage over others players, and this is also unfair. Just because a player cannot spend eight hours a day on a game does not mean that he or she should be deprived from the same enjoyment that a hardcore player can get. However, bots can help to balance the discrepancy. In Hawker?s words, botting ?is a way for casual [players] to compete with players who don?t have families or jobs to distract them from the game.? Hetsig, an individual farmer/botter who runs his own RMT business in Diablo 3, also argues that botting helps to create a balance; ?If it is a good balance then everybody wins on it.? After all, MMOs are not just for kids. There are working adults and gamers who love gaming but cannot invest as much time as students who can possibly play 16 hours a day during summer breaks. Botting, to a certain extent, would help these people to enjoy the game. Of course botting 24/7 can be a potential issue to legitimate players, but since bot programs are relatively cheap and are accessible to the general public, an average gamer and the in-game community as a whole would be better-off with bots rather than without. Is botting an exploit? How does it affect the game companies? From the perspective of the game companies, there have been a couple major arguments against botting and why it should be prohibited. The first argument is that botting skews in-game economies, accelerates players? game play, and thus decreases potential revenue. For example, because bot programs constantly bring new items into the market and accelerate players? game-play experience, it decreases the time required for a player to level or to acquire certain end-game contents. As a result, botting damages game companies by ?depriving subscription revenue for every user of [botting program]? (Castronova). However, Dr. Broll, a professor at Ilmenau University of Technology in Germany, who compiled a 37-page expert opinion used in the court case between Bossland GmbH and Blizzard Entertainment, argues that those claims are based on arbitrary calculations. He asserts that the contrary effect should rather be assumed because ?the gaming fun is demonstrably much more intense with a strong gaming character? and thus players would continue to play the game as opposed to quitting the game. As a result, this would make comparable income for the game company as would be the case with a non-botting user (Broll). Indeed, as mentioned before, botting helps players to acquire equipment and end-game content efficiently and effectively. Without bots, players, at a certain point of the gaming process, will have to grind the process to accumulate gear and wealth. This process is a major obstacle for casual player to continue playing the game since equipment and experience grinding is not an enjoyable process. However, with bots, the equipment and content become more accessible, and players will have much more fun playing the game as opposed to quitting the game. Due to this reason, botting in MMO should be considered an ethical process as it brings enjoyment to players and helps retain players as opposed to what game companies claim. If botting is unethical, then the fact that game companies design games that force players to go through long process of equipment/experience grinding so as to make more profit is also unethical. The second argument used by game companies against botting is that bot programs appear to be exploits and, thus, people who bot violate the Terms of Service agreement, or even infringe the copyright. Again, Dr. Broll argues that ?bots can only influence the virtual world in the same way as a real human player - no differently and also no faster. Such bots should not be mistaken for cheats or *****s where the client software is deliberately manipulated to acquire skills in the game which other players do not have.? Likewise, Dr. Behrmann and Dr. Hartel, lawyers representing Bossland GmbH in the court case against Blizzard Entertainment, argue that bot programs are just like other automation tools, such as multi-boxing applications (automation software that allows a user to control more than one character across multiple accounts simultaneously) and macro-keyboards (keyboards with programmable hotkeys that automate complex in-game controls and interactions) that enhance the gaming experience. If those automation tools are widely accepted by game companies and game industry, in the same fashion bot programs should also be allowed (Behrmann and Hartel). Likewise, in the court case between MDY Industries (the creator of the bot program for World of Warcraft) and Blizzard Entertainment, MDY argues that its bot program does not violate Blizzard?s copyright or interfere with Blizzard?s contract with users because ?Blizzard cannot prove it acted with improper motive,and cannot prove damages? . In a nutshell, bot programs are just one type of automation software in the market. They simply emulate human behavior and interactions. If botting is unethical and considered cheating, then other automation softwares and tools, such as the ones mentioned above, should also be considered exploits. Due to this argument, botting should be considered ethical. Another argument used by game companies against botting is that botters damage the reputation of the game and force game companies to incur extra cost on monitoring and detecting bot programs and handling customer complaints (Castronova). Broll, in his expert opinion research, argues that those accusations are indeed questionable because they are hardly quantifiable and appear negatively prejudiced against bots. As opposed to the accusations, bot programs improve the gaming experience of the users by making high-end content more accessible and driving prices of RMT much lower. Bot programs thus help promote MMO by making the game more enjoyable. Due to this reason, the claim that bot programs damage the game reputation stands no ground. Likewise, the claim that bot programs force game companies to spend more on customer services is ?in any case doubtful, since neither partial costs nor the basis for the calculation have been disclosed? (Broll). However, in the example of Blizzard Entertainment?s Diablo 3, bot programs indeed accelerate, if not increase, the profit generation from the in-game real money auction house, as the company takes a 15% cut on any sales made through the system. The more items found and supplied to the market by bot programs, the more profit Blizzard Entertainment will bring in. As a result, in certain cases, bot programs create a win-win-win situation (regarding botters, other players and the in-game community, and game company) for all the involved parties. Such an outcome is hardly an unethical consequence created by botting and bot programs alike. From a technological standpoint, is botting ethical? In a technological era, humankind is experiencing its most intense technological revolution. Computers have exponentially become more powerful and cheaper than ever before.Under such circumstances, the upcoming trend of task automation, using computers to improve human life, is inevitable. For instance, in the financial market, high-frequency trading that uses sophisticated technological tools and computer algorithms to trade securities on a rapid basis has already accounted for over 70% of equity trades in the US (Wikipedia). This is the result of using computation power to automate the process of decision making and human interactions. Another similar example would be the research conducted in building artificial intelligence and software programs that automatically play poker, or to support decision making in poker games (Computer Poker Research Group). Examples that are more relevant to our daily life include automated corn farm tractors that allows farmer to hire less labor and harvest the field in an efficiently and cost effective way. Indeed, the idea of using automated programs to farm virtual goods in game is similar to using automated tractors to harvest corn fields. With that said, another example of the use of technology would be the commercialization of automated cars, such as Google?s Driverless Car. A law was passed and an operation license was issued in Nevada last year regarding Google?s driverless technology, and we are expecting the technology to be widely adopted across the country in the coming years. As technology continues to advance, one can imagine, in the next 20-30 years, humanized robots would be commercialized and would handle some of our daily routines and tasks. Technology is advancing so quickly that the questions of whether the technology is appropriate, or if they can fit into existing human infrastructure, have become obsolete; the underlying question is indeed how humans can adapt and utilize new technology to better our lives. Based on the same premise, using bot programs and automation software in online games are natural technology advancements which game players, game companies, and the gaming industry as a whole cannot simply ignore. Due to the nature of technology, using bot programs or automation software alike should not be regarded as inappropriate. Simply put, machine automation is the inevitable outcome of technology advancement, and thus related practices should be considered ethical. Final thoughts The virtual gaming world is highly identical to the real world, where there are always mundane tasks that should be ideally automated and made efficient by utilizing technology and computation powers. Using bot programs in games is just as rational and ethical as using technology to improve our daily lives and help solve real world problems. Therefore, the game industry and game companies as a whole should embrace the concept of botting not only because it is simply an extension of software automation, but also because it benefits both game players and game companies if handled correctly. Perhaps, as Marcus Eikenberry, a well-known video game enthusiast and serial entrepreneur, suggests: ?Maybe we can allow people to bot with a tax... instead of charging the botters 15 dollars a month to play, why not charge them 50 dollars or more... and with the money earn off them game company can offset the bots in the game... [and] help fund the development of the coexistence of both the bots and real players.? In the end, if every gamer is able to leverage automation tools without the fear of violating service agreements or dealing with the issue of in-game unfairness, everyone will be happy. Gamers will be able to enjoy the game as much as they want and game companies will possibly bring in more profit with the increased of in-game RMT transactions. Works Cited Behrmann, Malte and Marian Hartel. 21 November 2011. <http://www.honorbuddy.com/Blizzard_Bossland_2.pdf>. Broll, Wolfgang. ?Expert Opinion on the Influences of Bots on the Economy and Gaming Enjoyment in MMORPGs.? Bossland GmbH. 29 March 2012. <http://www.honorbuddy.com/Expert_opinion_bots.pdf> Castronova, Edward. ?Effects of Botting on World of Warcraft.? Indiana University. 13 November 2007. <virtuallyblind.com/files/mdy/blizzard_msj_exhibit_7.pdf>. Computer Poker Research Group. University of Alberta. 2012 <http://poker.cs.ualberta.ca/>. Hawker. ?Blizzard and Honorbuddy Lawsuit: Exclusive Interview with Hawker from Bossland GmbH.? Interview by Aphel. OwnedCore - World of Warcraft Exploits, Hacks, Bots and Guides - OwnedCore News. 21 July 2011. <http://www.ownedcore.com/forums/news/site-news/articles-interviews/329891-blizzard-honorbuddy-lawsuit-exclusive-interview-hawker-bossland-gmbh.html>. Hetsig. ?Is it Ethical to Bot in Online Games?? The Buddy Forum. 12 October 2012. <http://www.thebuddyforum.com/demonbuddy-forum/76164-dear-db-team-fellow-buddies-i-need-your-help-research-2.html>. Lehdonvirta, Vili and Mirko Ernkvist. ?Converting the Virtual Economy into Development Potential ? Knowledge Map of the Virtual Economy.? infoDev Publication. April 2011 < www.infodev.org/en/Document.1076.pdf>. Eikenberry, Marcus. ?Markee Dragon Show: Idea - How to Allow Bots in Game!? YouTube. 12 August 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-o9qjBBVUc>. MDY Industries. ?Motion for Summary Judgment.? 21 March 2008. <http://virtuallyblind.com/files/mdy/MDY_PlaintiffMSJ_2008_03_21.pdf>. Wikipedia. ?High-frequency Trading.? 6 November 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_trading>.
A well deserved mark; very original paper! I do think you are an utilitarist. Although you state botting creates a win-win situation (should be win-win-win? ), you have no real data to back that up. From empirical results I can say at least the botters have won (and lost...), but I am not sure about the community. The economics of Diablo 3 are already complex, even though it is a closed system. I'd love to see some more in-depth research on this matter. EDIT: fixed a typo
