Runescape Puts Rulebreakers on Public Trial in "Botany Bay"

Bots aren't a problem only in Second Life. In the MMO game of Runescape, they're a problem for both the staff and honest players alike. For those not familiar, a "bot" in Runescape is a player put under the control of "macros" to perform a repetitive task, such as mining and woodcutting. Illegal, if a player is caught, it results in a warning and a short ban. The second time is a more severe warning and a longer ban. The third time results in a permanent ban with the account removed.

Lately, the Jagex staff  "decided to have a little fun" with the disposing of those caught three times. So they came up with "Botany Bay," a dreary prison-looking place that can be visited in only one manner, accept an invitation from a town caller to take part in a "trial" of a three-time offender.

 As we hunt for and identify botters, you - the good citizens of Giellnor - will be the ultimate deliverers of justice! Unrepentant and persistent bot-users will now find themselves banished to Botany Bay. This foreboding island is the staging ground for trials run by the Botfinder General, where there's only one verdict, and justice is swift and uncompromising.


Those accepting a town crier's invitation to take part in a Botany Bay event will be teleported to the courtroom. Rotten tomatoes are available to pelt the condemned, whom is cowering in a small platform in the middle of the court. The players have no say in whether or not the account on trial is guilty, that's already been decided. Instead they decide on a choice of three fates: crushed by a giant limb, fried into dust by an energy beam, or devoured alive by some unknown something from below. Repeat jurors are awarded the "Pitchfork of Vigilantism" and later the "Pitchfork of Justice."

The accounts in question have been banned anyway, so the purpose of these trials is for show. There's just something about seeing a cheater get his/her coming.  There's also the possibility that Jagex also had in mind these trials were to cut down on criticism. By giving these show trials, that would give the impression something is being done about theft.

Such a system could easily be replicated in other MMOs after adaptations, and perhaps Second Life. It's easy to imagine a "Botany Bay" for copybotters. But suppose if such a system was being set up on the Grid? Why not allow the jury to determine an avatar's guilt or innocence?

I  imagine though that those accused of griefing would prefer to take their chances with the Lindens instead of a jury. Suppose someone accused of dropping particle bombs on Luskwood found themselves facing a jury of furred avatars?

Oh well, one can dream.

Source: Jagex

Bixyl Shuftan

Runescape's Free Trial Membership

Before playing World of Warcraft and Second Life, I had been a player in Runescape. Probably the most popular of the MMOs, it's gone a long way since the days when only a few thousand were on at once when I gave it a try in 2003. Currently, it boasts 10 million active accounts. It's been called a "freemium" or "velvet rope" game as you need to pay a subscription to get the full membership, which gets you access to more than half the map, more bank space, being able to use certain items, more quests, etc. Someone called the free version a good starting MMO for anyone new to this genere of games.

Recently, I got a notice in the mail about free two week trial periods for full memberships available. So a little curious about the game I used to spend so much time in, I signed up and went back in. Going about, I noticed after about five years, quite a bit was still the same, and a few things had changed. For one, the world now had a name: Gielinor. Before then, it had simply been called "Runescape" like the game.

One place I went to was probably a good one for those who hadn't played for a while (like me) was Burthorpe, just west of the area where free players are limited to. There, a number of miniquests reintroduced me to the skills, as well as introducing me to a new one: Summoning (the other introduced since I was away was Dungeoneering). There was also the baby troll pet I got from one of the smaller quests.

The two week free memberships are available until September 7th. For anyone interested, head to http://www.runescape.com/. For help, two hint sites I'd found useful in the past are Rune HQ and Tip.it.

*Addition* Oh, the thieving training quest in Taverly, south of Burthorpe, take it, it's hilarious.

Bixyl Shuftan

Dutch Supreme Court Rules Runescape Virtual Theft a Real-Life Crime

On Tuesday Jan 31st, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled over a case in which two boys had beaten up a third and threatening him with a knife forced him to log onto the game and drop his possessions where one of his assailants was waiting to pick them up. Most notable were a knife and amulet. The crime took place in 2007, and a lower court found the defendants guilty in 2009. One of them appealed to the Supreme Court of Holland.

The convicted thief based his appeal on the argument that the stolen goods "were neither tangible nor material and, unlike for example electricity, had no economic value." He also brought up the Runescape terms of service, stating the virtual goods were the property of Jagex, the company behind the game.


You agree that all intellectual property or other rights in any game character, account and items are and will remain our property. Jagex owns all rights in the Jagex Products, and you are only granted permission to use such products, subject to and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.


The court ruled that the items had value because of the “time and energy” spent in getting them, and at the time of the theft they were the “exclusive dominion” of the victim. Therefore, the taking of these virtual goods was just as against the law as real items.

Tateru Nino thought this ruling was an interesting landmark ruling. Although virtual goods are legal property, in just about every legal jurisdiction they are the property of the “service provider.” This ruling she felt gives the Dutch users themselves property rights to the goods. So at least in Holland she felt, MMOs and virtual worlds didn’t have quite the same power over their users that they used to.

Virtualpolicy.net commented, “This case is significant because it changes the relationship between individuals and service providers in respect of digital objects. That is, Runescape’s contract clearly states that the players of the game do not own the game or any of the digital objects within it, whether they control them or not. This has long been a contentious matter as there is a large trade in the sale of objects between players for hard currency, so called Real Money Trading. This ruling means that there is a degree of control that someone can have over an object which is sufficient for that object to be stolen.”

For now, only Dutch gamers and virtual world residents are affected by this ruling. But there have been similar legal cases in South Korea and Asia in which “judges have displayed a general trend to grant more rights to players than are stated in their contract and to see digital objects as being akin to physical property in certain important respects.” This case could very well influence similar ones that are likely to come up elsewhere in Europe and the Americas.

Currently, Second Life’s Terms of Service allow residents intelectual property rights over their creatied content in the game. But the legal jargon is a bit slippery, Tateru Nino stating Linden Lab says they own “the bits and bytes of electronic data stored on its Servers.”

Sources: MSNBC, Jagex, Dwell on It, Virtualpolicy.net

Bixyl Shuftan