Here’s another contradiction about virtual worlds. This one is about character ownership.
The left-wing point of view is that you project some of yourself into the virtual world, you build up social capital, and you become part of a community. So the arguments go, this entitles you to ownership of your character and a say in the governance of the virtual world.
The right-wing point of view is that you spent time and effort creating your character and making it what it is, therefore by right it’s yours. So the arguments go, this entitles you to sell it on eBay or wherever.
Let's think about this.
The left-wing point of view seems to suggest that anyone who buys or sells their character has lost any claim that they own it (because they can’t sell their identity or social capital). In other words, if you buy a character it’s no longer yours!
The right-wing point of view seems to suggest that developers shouldn’t be able to sell ready-made characters because they didn’t spent time and effort making them (or, if they did, then the players shouldn’t be able to do it because it was the developers’ same time and effort that made those, too).
Can either wing be correct? If so, how?
Richard
