On Fri, 3 Mar 2000, Elijah Meeker wrote:

>
> The problem with enforcement of game laws by actual humans is several-fold,
> to start, nobody (currently defined as OSI and Verant and I am sure this is
> true for AC as well ) can afford to have their support staffed by mature,
> responsible people trained in conflict mediation and resolution, because
> said folks (with or without the training) largely need to earn a living
> wage. So they end up hiring people who think the job is cool enough to
> accept a low salary. And while I am sure the two populations (mature,
> responsible/accepts cool over money) have some intersect, I don't believe it
> is going to be a huge pool to draw from.

I think this is the predominant way of thinking right now, and
I think it's going to change in the next decade.

For years, software piracy and hacking weren't taken seriously
by law enforcement. Now that computers have become so
prevalent, they're coming to be regarded as real crimes within
the judicial system.

Likewise, the idea of credit cards was laughable 30 years ago.
Paying without transferring some physical representation of
money (be it legal tender or an IOU)? Preposterous. Yet,
it's widely accepted now, and stores who don't support it are
at a *dis*advantage.

I make a ton of money producing no physical product.
Everything I create is virtual - intangible electronic 1s and
0s. In payment for this, a computer at the company's bank
talks to a computer at my bank every month and says to add X
amount to a variable that represents my bank account.

Is it really that outlandish to think that it's possible that
people will be paid livable salaries for staffing a virtual
world?

--
John H. Kim
kim@...