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Mabinogi hacked by a 16-year-old for $325K of virtual currency
A sixteen-year old boy allegedly hacked the website of Nexon Japan, and made off with about $325k worth of game points for Mabinogi, a free-to-play MMO that's inspired by Celtic mythology (and on its way to North America soon). He reportedly was able to obtain the password of a former Nexon employee, and then used that info to log on to the game servers and load himself up with virtual cash.Some of which apparently then turned into real cash, as he was able to sell it (as least that's what it seems like) for "web money," which he used to buy books and other software. The bottom line here seems to be not that the kid is a genius, but that the company and/or its employee made a dumb mistake, allowing the password to get nabbed by simple hacking software.No word on what punishment, if any, the kid faces, but Nexon claims they've "re-evaluated" their security software, and created a "24-hour monitoring system." Well that's good -- when they get hacked again, at least they'll be able to monitor it.
AFK punishment is still just a band-aid
The AFK problem has been with us for a long time now, and ever so suddenly Blizzard has decided to step up and enforce a new form of punishment on their side, to take away honor and PvP rewards from people who have been reported AFK a lot. Definitely this is an improvement, and it should help to discourage this unfair practice, yet at the same time it's not a true solution.As Drysc said, the problem isn't just a matter of punishing people who break the rules, it's finding out why they are doing this, and change their incentives, so that they don't want to break the rules in the first place. Our reader Aviel has some insights as to why people AFK and how to fix it, and she (or he) has posted her excellent analysis on the official WoW forums.In short her argument is that, while Blizzard is trying to develop PvP content that is "fun, competitive, and compelling," players are generally making "game theory" decisions, about how to maximize their honor gain in the time they have to play. Fun is definitely an element, but overall, if people can't earn enough honor to make their time worthwhile in a particular battleground, they will quit or seek alternatives. She points out that as long as honor is a kind of currency to be spent, people will choose the method with the easiest honor gain over the one they enjoy most (which can lead to get-rich-quick schemes such as AFKing). She leaves her solutions to this problem for the Suggestions forum (though I could not find her actual post there), but posters in that thread share some ideas, and there are many other player suggestions out there as well. Of course Blizzard is tight-lipped about their own solutions so far, but we can rest assured that they care about the issue and plan to do something about it.
Areae explains MetaPlace's MetaBucks
The MetaPlace developer blog was updated with a description of Areae's plans for "MetaBucks." Unsurprisingly, MetaBucks will be the currency of MetaPlace. They will be exchangeable both ways for real-world currency, and will be used to buy tools and assets with which to build worlds. Also, MetaBucks will provide a system for creators of virtual worlds made in MetaPlace to charge subscription fees.If you're thinking, "gee, that sounds very Second Life-esque," you're not the only one! MetaPlace seeks to bridge the gap between gamers and virtual world residents by providing tools (like MetaBucks) that will be useful to both. For a browser-based title, MetaPlace is unusually ambitious in terms of scope.If you're curious how all this fits into Areae's business plan as a whole, check out the business plan FAQ. Basically, MetaPlace is free until the world you create crosses a certain traffic threshold. After that, it costs money to continue hosting your world there, but you can use MetaBucks to charge players or take donations, and use that income to cover the costs.
Financial bigwig says virtual worlds leading digital currency charge
Andy Kyte, vice president of Gartner, Inc., told Gartner Symposium attendees last week that virtual worlds such as Second Life are "contributing to the drive to use electronic currencies." This comes from a ZDNet report on Kyte's talk about the potential of electronic currencies to reduce overhead costs for pretty much every one. He said Singapore has already introduced an electronic currency and that the rest of the world is watching what happens there.He also said, though, that online currencies like Second Life's Linden Dollar carry with them security issues that create "phenomenal opportunities for money laundering and tax evasion." Those issues would have to be resolved before online currencies similar to the L$ or EVE Online's ISK can be used with confidence in the real world.[Via Worlds in Motion]
Goodbye dollar, hello QUID: intergalactic currency proposed
Does it say something about our priorities as a species that before space tourism has even been proven safe for and desirable to the masses, people are already coming up with ways to spend money in zero gravity? Well according to a group of researchers from the University of Leicester and the UK's National Space Centre, the payment methods we use here on Earth would not make for viable space currency -- due to sharp edges or radiation-prone magnetic strips -- and would need to be replaced with something more suited to the environment. Enter the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination (or QUID -- clever Brits), a stackable, molded chip made of the same material used in non-stick pans, and lacking the chemicals or sharpness inherent to paper, plastic, and coins. The inventors peg the current exchange rate for the QUID at £6.25 to 1Q, which seems not only completely arbitrary, but fairly unnecessary, considering that we'll have already spent all our Earth money (and probably re-financed the house) to pay Sir Richard for the damn flight. Keep reading to peep all five colorful denominations...[Via BBC]
Xerox innovation can add anti-counterfeit measures to digital printers
Xerox, the same outfit looking to extract information from your web browsing excursions, has now churned out a swank anti-counterfeiting procedure that purportedly allows a vanilla digital printer to "create personalized fluorescent marks on documents." Of course, these fluorescent signatures are commonly used to authenticate currency, and Xerox is hoping that people warm up to the idea of slapping the same level of security onto documents ranging from licenses, certificates, or even personal checks. The method utilizes the "dry ink" found in xerographic printers to create the secure imprint, and curious users can spot the tell-tale sign when exposing the document to ultraviolet light. Of course, you should still be wary of that dubious looking bizhub crammed over in the corner office, but if you're interested in Xerox's latest counterfeit squashing technology, you can snag it as part of the FreeFlow Variable Information Suite 5.0 software.[Via Gizmag]
Bad at math? Use this MS Points converter
Been duped into forking over 200 "Microsoft Points" for some fancy horse armor, only to have your waning, embarrassingly poor math skills catch up with your error after the fact? "2.50? 2.50?! I coulda bought a bunch of gamertag pictures for that!"You're right dear reader, although we'd question that expenditure as well. In the real world, $2.50 can buy all sorts of great stuff like: four thousandths of a PlayStation 3, some Taco Bell, or a small water at a movie theater. Using bigsteveouk's Unofficial Microsoft Points Converter, you can convert Microsoft's funny money into real currency before making any more impulse buys, and then save that money for important stuff. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
