Police in Japan recently arrested a Chinese student for mugging other players in Lineage II for virtual equipment (there's a smallish probability of dropping your equipment each time you die) and selling the items for offline profit via auction sites. The story can be found here and here. Both articles spend the majority of space discussing the fact that the guy was pulling it all off with bots and it's left fairly ambiguous as to whether or not the student was arrested for the use of such programs or for the muggings themselves. Both issues are pretty interesting.
As to the former, will I have to give up PvP in Lin2 one day as a too much of a "Liability." I mean, avatars are worth offline money as well (Castronova, 2003), so am I now going to have to retire to carebear town from all things PvP because I'm decreasing the value of someone else's avatar by killing it again and again (yes, there are many contexts where this is not harrassment but standard gameplay)?
As to the latter, I sometimes play two accounts simultaneously - a healer and a tank - with the healer on follow to the tank, there to cast periodic heals and share in the experience. Is she a bot? And am I in trouble now for having her there? I use macros with her, but Lin2 permits them. When does she become a legal issue?
