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Ragnarok Players READ THIS!!!!; Level-Up! surrenders to underground econ
Topic Started: Jun 24 2006, 06:30 PM (238 Views)
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Level-Up! surrenders to underground economy

By Alexander Villafania
Last updated 11:50pm (Mla time) 06/21/2006

If you can’t beat them, join them. And for online game distributor Level-Up! it would be time to capitalize on the growing popularity of real-money trading (RMT) and “bots.”

Instead of weeding out cheaters and sellers of game items, Level-Up! is supporting the growing underground economy by coming up with some activities related to RMT and bots.

For one, Level-Up!, which distributes several titles including the widely popular Ragnarok, is already letting its players to sell items through its official online forums (www.levelupgames.ph).

The company is even planning to have an online auction of rare items on June 28. Although the online auction is not new for the company, the money would be real and not just using Ragnarok’s “zenny” currency.

And for users of automated Ragnarok characters called “bots,” the company said it is allowing players to continue using them if only to collect zennies and items. Only during guild competitions would bot users not be allowed entry.

RMT is trading of virtual game items, especially rare ones, for real money. Some trades could go as low as a few hundred pesos to as high as thousands of pesos.

Likewise, bots are software added to the installation client of a game. Bots have specific functions but mostly are used by players to collect more zennies or items.

“The online game community has become so organic and so diverse that it would be hard to control people from going beyond the bounds of game rules. It’s not cheating anymore because everyone is doing it already and it’s becoming beneficial for everyone,” according to Level-Up! Chief Operating Officer Sheila Paul.

Paul stressed that RMT is beyond the control of any game distributor since its players can do their trading discreetly.

On the other hand, bot users are hard to identify especially since some of the bots responses are “intelligent” unless these become repetitive.

She added that bot users are also the same ones who sell the items they found for real money.

“It’s becoming a lucrative business and for one thing, even bot users still have to pay for the time they play the game,” Paul said.

Paul admitted that at any given time, a fifth of Ragnarok players are using bots.

While Level-Up! has limited methods against RMTs, the company is still hoping to manage bot users by telling guild masters to monitor their members.

“But our message about RMT and bot usage is this: if you’re using them, be responsible,” Paul said.

*Taken from inq7.net

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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:lol: Ang galing nmn,reporter! :lol: Thanks! :thankyou:
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