Level Up Allows RMT
Posted Friday, June 23rd, 2006 2:40 pm by Mike Abundo
Viewed 6066 times | Related entries: Gaming, Intellectual Property, Tech News, e/m-Commerce
Looks like top Philippine game publisher Level Up is going the way of Sony. They’ve flipped their policy on C2C virtual item real money trade (RMT), now encouraging it.
Now that they’ve got a policy that encourages C2C RMT, they should put in the technology to secure and automate it. That’s what they owe their customers: it prevents fraud. That’s how they can make money: global RMT estimates run as high as $800 million a year. That’s what Sony does with Station Exchange: they handled more than $180,000 in transactions in their first month.
Hey, Mobius, you pioneered B2C g-commerce in the Philippines. Heck, you deployed the first online gaming metacurrency in the Philippines. Level Up’s technology and marketing suffer a disconnect, but it’s only a matter of time before they bridge that disconnect to make money by securing and automating C2C RMT a la Station Exchange. Are you going to let Level Up get the jump in C2C g-commerce?
(Via John Cuneta.)
Related Entries:
13 Responses to “Level Up Allows RMT”
Does this mean I can become a ‘real’ merchant selling MMO goods?
That’s a good question.
Personally, the way I understood the article and the statements made by their COO, that will be ‘yes’.
Zenny-peso trade is essentially forex trade between Midgard and the real world. Wonder if legit forex businesses could grow out of this.
While I think this would have some loopholes that ingenious people can exploit, it does open the possibility of setting up a ‘real’ economy and earning off MMO’s, much like in Second Life.
Shinrai,
…of which I find quite ridiculous, especially for the person who is buying the “virtual” goods.
I wrote about this at Technopinoy: What good are bragging rights?
For the “market” and the “merchant,” well and good that they are able to provide a service and make revenue out of it. But for the “buyer,” there are better things to do with money…
People spend tons of money on golf clubs. Spending money on virtual swords is no different — especially with online games becoming the new golf.
Mike,
Unfortunately, I personally can’t relate since I don’t play golf
But your comment also reminded me of a colleague who was an avid but lousy golf player. Spent a lot of money on golf equipment. In the end, he was still a lousy player. Classic victim of marketing.
True that, Mon. Great equipment does not make a great player.
To all,
Im a player of RO and this type of thing RMT is already being done illegally.
It is in there policy that you cannot sell virtual items for real money.
You may check it at
http://www.ragnarok.ph/dv_illegaltrading.php
Below is listed not unless levelup change it.
What is Illegal Trading?
Illegal Trading is to exchange Ragnarok Online items, zenies, or accounts with real money or goods; or to swap Ragnarok Online items, zenies, or characters from one account in a server for items, zenies, or characters in another account and server.
Current List of Illegal Trades:
* RO item for real money is illegal
* RO item in one server for RO item in another server is illegal
* RO account for real money is illegal
* RO characters in one server for RO characters in another server is illegal
* RO Load for RO item / zeny is illegal
* ISP Card for RO item / zeny is illegal
* Cel Card for RO item / zeny is illegal
* Zeny for real money is illegal
* Zeny in one server for item / zeny in another server is illegal
As you may see it is in their policy but still they will make it RMT?
Even if some bigtime player are already doing it. They sell for as cheap ad 5 pesos for a million zennies(It is available in Chaos server)
What next? Sex for Zeny? Hmmm…..
Five pesos for a million zenny? I remember the exchange rate was PhP30 to 1,000,000z two years ago. Is virtual currency devaluation is good or bad for a virtual world?
And yes, Level Up needs to update its sites.
[...] I am not a proponent of online games, so no such software has been installed. Games are a time sink. The kids have better things to do with their time than trot around with a virtual AK-47 or a wield a virtual sword around some fantasy domain. Except, of course, on my PC. Call me double-standard, but until the kids are paying their own rent, they have to live by MY rules. I can tolerate a few games that promote strategic thinking—like Civilization IV. The occassional FPS is ok for its entertainment value—I am not worried about the kids turning into serial-killer zombies. But unlike Mike Abundo, I don’t believe that online games should and will become the next golf. I’ll elaborate on that in a different post. [...]
[...] Anti-Keylogger Trick Posted on November 26th, 2006 in Security by Mike Abundo Most Filipinos access the Internet through Internet cafes of wildly varying quality — from posh luxury gaming centers to dingy little holes-in-the-wall (mostly the latter). The wide low end of that spectrum is a fertile password-hunting ground for keyloggers. Right now, Filipino script kiddies steal passwords to play infantile pranks on newbies’ social network and game accounts. As a fourth of the population moves online next year with social media advertising and RMT on the rise, things could get serious. That’s why hotseating Filipino netizens should use this anti-keylogger trick. For example the segment [...]
Hi, your post was really interesting. I’m using John Beck’s program and my friend and I have been practicing it for a while now. We’re still looking around for potential properties. Our hard work will pay off.
Add your comments