ali wrote:
Now I dont know who exactly devised the CoC but I bet the devs have quite alot of power over it and if they wanna do something differently they possibly can.
Good point. Let me elaborate a bit more and present another view. If I was a MMRPG service provider/publisher/developer etc. I would be confronted to one particualr dilemma, in this case: first, unrestricted and unlimited account sharing can be exploited, is negative etc. and it has to be noted clearly in the terms of use and EULA. Second, on the other hand, I don't want to alienate my playerbase, and allow them to have a great player experience and faciliate them getting involved in the game.
A common status quo in MMRPGs is that having families, friends etc. that in a limited scope share their accounts, usually as a means of convenience or simply in some cases because they can't afford a second account (or most probably, a second PC) is not an unreasonable statement. I would think that strictly enforcing the unallowed account sharing policy and actively pursuing CoC breaches does not mean another subscriber (kinda like stating that a pirated CD equals a lost sale, one could say), and their time is their resources.
So what are the options? of course, I can decide not to mention this aspect in the EULA and leave the door open to uncontrolled account sharing, ooooor, most likely, what I could do is to mention it, using boilerplate text, having a safe net for it and... well, tolerate some slack, as long as it's within limits, does not affect other players game, does not provide unfair advantages, is not used to exploit, etc. -- sidenote, in some countries with ID cards, those cards are personal and cannot be transferred , yet it is common to, even if it only to ask a friend to run some errand with it, like paying vehicle taxes, getting parking rights, etc. paperwork --
In other words, we can have laws, unambiguous, clear, concise...the CoC is clear about this. But we also have judges and lawyers to interprete them, admit extenuating or aggravating circumstances, and to decide. To me, It's not only the fact of account sharing -- true, it is at the root of the problem --, but the use of the shared accounts. One use was clearly disruptive, mean, and aimed at spoiling the game for some.
Ryzom as game has been run in a particular setting, there are drawbacks but there are also advantages, and one of the latter is the flexibility and customer care. Some issues can be looked at on a case by case basis.
sen wrote:
Not that I had any doubts about it, but it's always nice to hear it being said...or, well, see it being written
I agree. It is reassuring, and I personally think those are not words stated only to calm down the masses. Kudos !
))
