Boggs bills, 60

Boggs, J.S.G., 60

Caillois, Richard, 44

Gibson, William, 79

"Imitation Game", 74

Loebner contest, 74

Malas, 51

"Neuromancer", 79

Snow Crash, 79

Stephenson, Neal, 79

Tech Model Railroad Club (MIT), 78

"True Names" (Vernor Vinge), 79

Turing, Alan, 74

Turing Test, 74

Vinge, Vernor, 79

 

 

Addiction, 6–7, 41, 256–257

Adenian, 12

Adventure (game), 105–106

A.L.I.C.E., 99, 110, 112

Anarchy Online, 14, 184

Artifacts, 244–245

Asteroids, 24

 

Barding, 97

Battletech, 34

Baudrillard, Jean, 24

Big, Mr., 2, 183, 184, 191, 229, 248

Birds, 114, 129, 204, 205, 207, 208,

210

Blacksnow Interactive

• business of, 10–11, 14, 17, 19–21,

22, 23, 26–28, 212

• business of: gold farming, 93, 94,

114, 116, 120, 121, 127, 134,

204, 210, 294, 297

• legal battle with Mythic

Entertainment of, 14, 15–16, 28,

198

• See also Caldwell, Lee

Board farming, 137

Boggs, J. S. G., 83

 

Boggs bills, 83–84

Bolts (Bandaids), 114, 119, 125, 127,

129, 205

Bone Crusher, 167–170

Bots, 94, 111, 112, 121, 129, 134,

211, 239

and defensive measures, 97–98, 99,

110, 122

girl, 101

and Mithra, 204, 205, 209, 210,

240–241, 242

and Ultima Online rules, 91–92

Brazil, 224, 225, 226, 254

Bulk Order Deeds (BODs), 114, 137,

141, 179

Burke, Timothy, 150

 

Caillois, Roger, 62–63, 64, 294, 298

Caldwell, Lee, 44, 45

and Blacksnow Interactive, 10, 14,

17

and Blacksnow Interactive: gold

farming, 94, 112, 113–134, 204,

205, 241

and Blacksnow Interactive: Tijuana,

18–19, 20–21, 23, 26–27, 28

and Blacksnow Interactive v.

Mythic Entertainment, 15–16

and computer sales, 28

 

Capitalism

and asceticism, 61, 62

and dematerialization, 21–23

and play, 23–24, 61, 62, 298–299

 

Card, Orson Scott, 296

Cartography, 96–97, 114

Castronova, Edward, 110, 293

 

and EverQuest, 13, 19, 41, 50, 166

and scarcity, 41–43

and State of Play conference, 198,

 

199

Chargeback scam, 113

Chat rooms, 148

Chaum, David, 83

Cheat books, 10

Cheat sites, 46

Cheffe, 120, 123, 124, 128, 132, 133

Clardy, Miss, 308–311, 313

Coleman, Gabriella, 297

Collins-Rector, Marc, 200

Computer games

 

and careers, 7, 8, 79, 290 (See also

Play (and work))

emergence and history of, 3,

100–101, 104–105

and infiltration of play in creation

 

of wealth, 24

and scarcity and constraint, 41–43

and upward mobility in them,

 

52–53, 67–68

 

See also Massively multiplayer

online role-playing games

(MMORPGs, or MMOs); specific

games; other specific topics

 

Computers

and dematerialization, 22–23

 

and games, 103–104, 105, 109

and human conversation, 99–101,

 

108

invention of, 101–103

software for, 109, 296–297

 

 

Consignment crafting, 19–20

Counter-Strike, 24

Crypto cash, 83

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, 36–38

Currency

 

e-gold, 82–83, 85

inflation of virtual, 88–90

private, 83–84

selling of virtual, 12, 20, 88, 90

as social convention, 81–82

and taxes, 162–166

trading rates of virtual, 12–13,

 

245, 253, 260, 274, 277, 284,

308

See also Gold

Cyberspace, 106–107

 

Dark Age of Camelot, 14, 15, 16,

 

19–20

Debord, Guy, 24

Deep Analysis, 97, 146, 177, 178,

 

253, 261, 265, 274, 277, 284

Digital Entertainment Network,

199–200

Digital Games Research Association,

 

193

Diplomacy, 270

Donkey Kong, 105

Douglas, A. S., 104

Dugger, John, 31, 56, 64, 67

 

and National Public Radio, 172,

174

purchase of virtual house by,

32–33, 49, 50–53, 58

selling of UO account of, 174, 178

 

Dungeons & Dragons, 34

Dupers, 46–47

 

EasyUO, 97, 114, 121, 204

eBay, 11, 12, 43, 76, 110, 146, 153,

184, 185, 236, 239, 309

and author, 71, 72, 79, 80, 81,

138, 147, 160, 161, 175, 176,

177–178, 217, 218, 222, 223,

225, 237, 238, 245, 248, 262,

266, 267, 273, 274, 276, 283,

304, 305, 310, 311

and Blacksnow Interactive v.

Mythic Entertainment, 15

and cartography, 96

and currency selling, 20, 88, 90, 97,

113, 116, 117, 118, 164, 165

and Dugger purchase, 32

and EverQuest auctions, 47

and Kiblinger purchase, 44, 45, 49

and protection policies, 186

See also Deep Analysis

Eikenberry, Marcus, 172–174

Electronic Arts, 47, 95

Ender’s Game, 296

Eval, 153–155

EverQuest, 106, 193, 195, 265, 312

and Castronova’s analysis, 13, 19,

41, 50, 166

and Gordon, 201, 202, 211

Sony’s response to RMT in, 47

and Taylor’s analysis, 38

widows, 256, 257

Exevents, 120, 123, 124, 125, 126,

127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132

 

Factory farming

See Gordon; Loot farming

FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation),

185

 

Federal Trade Commission, 28

Final Fantasy XI, 212, 218, 223, 259

Flow, 37–40

Forterra, 295

Fresh Air from WHYY, 11-15-06

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, 11-15-06

Full Spectrum Warrior, 296

 

Game companies

direct sales of resources by, 47–48

and market in virtual goods, 14,

15, 47, 192

as threat to dealers, 47

yearly sales of, 105

Game masters (GMs), 219

and gold farming, 94, 97, 98, 99,

121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 128,

205, 239, 241, 242

Games (noncomputer), 103–104,

105

See also Computer games; specific

games

Gaming Open Market, 228

Garriott, Richard, 312

Gibson, William, 106, 107

Gifford, Kathie Lee, 27

Globalization, 21, 22

Glover, Paul, 83

Gold

Britannian piece of, 85–86

e-gold, 82–83, 85

farming, 2, 86, 90–99, 110–112,

113–134, 169, 179, 181,

204–210, 213, 214, 239–242,

270–271, 285, 291, 292–293,

294, 295, 298, 299, 312

inflation of virtual, 88–90, 95

and Markee Dragon, 173, 175,

180–182, 231

“sinks,” 47, 89

standard, 22, 85–86

See also Currency; Virtual goods

 

Gordon, 201–203, 211–216, 218,

223, 224, 243, 259, 262, 293

 

Greenspan, Alan, 86, 120

 

Grind, 39, 299

 

The Hacker Ethic, 297

 

Hackers, 46, 84, 105, 107, 120, 184,

185, 205, 207, 297

 

Hackers, 106

 

Halo, 24

 

Happiness, 36

 

Harcourt, 168–169

 

Hart, Keith, 84

 

Higinbotham, William, 104

 

Himanen, Pekka, 297

 

Hitler, Adolf, 82

 

Homo Ludens, 59, 60, 62

 

Huizinga, Johan, 31, 59, 60, 62, 63,

64, 294, 298

 

Hunter, Dan, 198, 199

 

Identity theft, 184

Ingotdude, 90, 92, 94–95, 114, 115,

116, 219

Ingots, 114, 119

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 145,

162–166, 246, 302–311, 313

Internet

boom, 23

earliest virtual worlds of, 41

and scarcity, 40–41

and truckstops, 256, 258, 264–265,

267, 271, 280

Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE),

195, 196, 197, 199, 200, 203,

216, 291, 294, 312

Inverted, 128, 132

Ithaca Hour, 83

 

Jacobson, Mark, 14, 15

Jammaster, 167–170

 

Jenkins, Henry, 172

 

Josh (Rain Dog), 123, 126, 127, 128,

131

 

Kiblinger, Bob, 200, 256, 293

and author’s Ultima account, 67,

69, 88, 137, 138, 139, 140–142,

146, 147, 149, 151–152, 157,

160, 167, 169, 170, 175,

178–179, 218, 219, 223, 234

and end of author’s project,

290–291

and gold inflation and farming, 88,

89–93, 94, 95, 110, 111, 134,

179, 182, 242, 291

and Gordon, 211–213, 216, 218,

259, 262

and Markee Dragon, 173, 243

and purchase of Stolle’s account,

44–49, 50, 51, 52, 178

success of, 312

Kidder, Tracy, 105

Knight, John, 303–308, 309, 311, 312

Krongold, Steve, 27–28

 

Lancy, David, 59

 

Lastowka, F. Gregory, 198, 199

 

Legends of Mir III, 312

 

Leger, Lance, 252–253, 261, 266,

274, 277, 284

 

Lessig, Lawrence, 56

 

Level Up games research conference,

191, 193–194, 224

 

Levy, Steven, 106

 

Li Hongchen v. Arctic Ice, 185

 

Linden Lab, 192, 193

 

Lineage 2, 306

 

Longbow, Sarlock (Lance Leger),

252–253, 254, 261

 

Loot farming (Tijuana), 19–21, 22,

23, 26–28, 212

The Lord of the Rings, 34

 

Neuromancer, 106

Lower Reagents Cost (LRC) armor

 

Noobs, 5, 6, 174

suits, 140–144, 157–158, 160, Noughts and Crosses, 104

180, 219, 248–249 NPCs (non-player characters), 47

Man, Play and Games, 62 Open Source Metaverse Project,

Markee Dragon, 2, 172–173, 175, 107

176, 180–182, 200, 231, 243, Open-source software, 296–297

273, 291 Owning of competitors, 6, 7

Marx, Karl, 21–22, 24

Massively multiplayer online role-Pac-Man, 24

playing games (MMORPGs, or PayPal, 196, 236

MMOs), 291, 303 and author, 69, 71, 79, 80, 137,

and camaraderie and community, 146, 151, 153–154, 156, 157,

74, 149 158, 162, 176, 181, 182, 183,

and compulsive play and widows, 186–188, 231, 237, 242, 261,

256–257 276, 307

and debate over market in virtual and chargeback scam, 113

goods, 15 and protection policies, 186–188

description of, 11 Phim, Ray, 28

and dreaming and imagination, 150 Pierce, Brock, 195, 196, 199–200,

and property rights, 192, 198–199 293–294, 312

and Turing Test, 110 Play, 31

and wealth creation, 12, 13 and capitalism, 23–24, 61, 62,

and work, 295 298–299

See also Computer games; specific definitions of, 7, 39, 62–63, 290

games emergence of, 3

The Matrix, 24 infiltration of creation of wealth of,

Maxwell, James, 152 24

Merrill, Kenneth Michael, 228–229 in Western past, 59–61

Metaverse, 107, 191, 268 and work, 38, 57–64, 201,

Military, 295–296, 297 289–290, 293, 294–295, 296,

Mithra, 204–210, 240–242, 262, 291 297–299, 305

Money in an Unequal World, 84 Play Between Worlds, 38

Mortal Kombat, 24, 105 Play Money. See Virtual goods

MUD (multi-user dungeon), 106 (buying and selling by author)

Mythic Entertainment, 14, 15–16, 28, Pong, 105, 194

198 Power players, 39, 243

Production (and play), 57–64, 293,

National Public Radio (NPR), 172, 295, 296, 297–299, 305

174 Project Entropia, 12, 47

 

 

Property rights, 192, 198–199

See also Blacksnow Interactive

(legal battle with Mythic

Entertainment of)

 

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of

Capitalism, 60, 298

 

Qiu, Chengwei, 312

Quake, 193

 

Radny, 75–78, 80–81, 134, 136,

147–149, 216, 228, 235

Rares, 48, 49, 51, 76, 136, 167, 244,

282

Ray, James M., 82

Real-money trading (RMT), 12

and factory farming, 212

and Linden Lab, 192

players’ dislike of, 14–15

record sum of, 12

Sony clamps down on, in

EverQuest, 47

Red, 230–235, 238

Role-playing games, 106

See also Massively multiplayer

online role-playing games

(MMORPGs, or MMOs);

specific games

Runebooks, 71, 72, 73, 76, 137, 180

 

Scarcity, 40, 41–43

Second Life, 107, 191–193, 198, 229

Semi-rares, 48, 51

Situationist International, 63, 64, 294,

298

Smith, Adam, 86

Snow Crash, 106, 107, 268

Sonic the Hedgehog, 105

Soros, George, 86

The Soul of a New Machine, 105

Space Invaders, 105

 

Spacewar!, 105

 

Staarkhand, 269

 

Stanford Law School, 56, 197, 286

 

Star Wars: Galaxies (SWG), 195, 201,

212, 213, 218, 223, 229, 256,

295

 

State of Play conference, 191,

195–199, 313

 

Stephenson, Neal, 106, 268

 

Stolle, Troy, 39, 58, 64, 172, 174,

178, 295, 297

 

and Ultima Online, 33–36, 38, 43–45,

48, 49, 50, 51, 52

 

Strange, Susan, 23

 

Taxes. See Currency (and taxes);

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Taylor, T. L., 38

Terra Nova, 198, 269, 288

There (online world), 107, 295

Thurman, Richard

and gold farming, 86, 95–99, 110,

111–112, 113–134, 181, 182,

208–210, 214, 239, 240,

241–242, 262, 270, 291, 293

and LRC suits, 157

Tijuana, Mexico, 18–21, 23, 26–29,

214, 293

TopCoder.com, 296, 297

Torvalds, Linus, 297

Trump, Donald, 275

Trust, 148, 149

Turing, Alan, 100, 101–103, 108,

109, 110, 111

Turing Test, 99, 100, 101, 104, 108,

109, 110, 111

Turkle, Sherry, 108–109

 

Uber players, 12, 67

 

Ultima Online (UO), 14

and Adventure, 106

author’s account in, 51, 57, 65–81,

136–170, 177, 178, 179, 180,

184, 191, 218, 223, 227–235,

236–243, 244–249, 250–253,

256, 257, 260, 262, 269, 272,

273–274, 276, 283, 289, 290,

302, 306

 

direct selling of resources by, 47–48

and Dugger, 32, 58

and gold farming, 91, 92, 94, 110,

 

111, 112, 115, 120, 204, 205,

 

206, 207, 209, 210, 240, 242, 271

and gold pieces, 85

and Gordon, 201, 211, 212, 213,

 

215, 218

and IGE, 196

and Kiblinger, 44–49, 312

and loot farming, 20

and Markee Dragon, 172, 173, 174

and Publish 21, 205, 206, 209,

 

210, 213, 218, 240, 242, 270

and static vendor pricing, 205–206

and Stolle, 34, 45

Stratics, 92, 94, 95, 218

and Thurman, 95–96, 110, 111,

 

112, 209, 240

toleration of RMT by, 47

Ultima (the player), 67, 69

 

Vinge, Vernor, 106

Virtual economy, 23, 199, 293, 302,

306

Virtual goods

 

buying and selling by author, 2–3,

65–70, 71–73, 79–81, 136–170,

174, 175–182, 183–188,

 

190–191, 199, 200–201,

217–219, 222–224, 225–235,

236–243, 244–249, 250–253,

255, 259–262, 266, 267,

269–272, 273–277, 280–287,

289, 291–292, 302–313

 

and calculating profits, 250–253

and debate over ownership, 16

economy of sales of, 2, 12, 13, 24, 50

and price, 152

reluctance to disclose profits from

sales of, 46

why players buy them, 11–12,

281–282

why players dislike selling of,

14–15

 

 

See also Currency; Game

companies (and market in virtual

goods); Gold; specific buyers and

sellers of

 

Virtual-world studies, 313

 

Virtual worlds, 110

 

Warhammer, 34

 

Weber, Max, 60–62, 298

 

Whitman, Meg, 283

 

Wired magazine, 17, 28, 65, 160,

175, 193, 224, 226, 289, 294

 

Woolley, Liz, 257

 

World of Warcraft, 12, 24, 106, 256,

294, 306, 312

 

Yee, Nicholas, 257, 295, 297

 

Zhu, Caoyuan, 312