I spend a lot of time in the PC rooms - sometimes doing research and sometimes playing my favorite game Lineage. I have seen a lot of angry players. People who have had their character hacked and end up losing all of their items. There is a great deal of money in it - and people can really (literally) get hurt if they don’t follow a certain etiquett.
Evidently someone in China didn’t.
Qiu Chengwei, 41, stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his “dragon saber,”
I think that someone really needs to do a paper on the Korean Gaming rage - I thought that it would eventually die down somewhat but it actually seems to have gained in popularity and I know several people - unable to find work in today’s Korean economy - have now turned to game playing and selling characters and items as a source of income. I thought it was merely an excuse to play games, but some of them do fairly well.
Th local supermarket owner’s daughter plays the popular Cart Racer game and recently sold her character for 700,000 won. Not too bad - not that she actually played all those hours - her father would just let the game run while he was working. Many of the PC Game Room owners also operate two or three computers at a time and “raise” a character and then later sell it.
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Do you remember that movie way back when where Tom Hanks was a kid who plays DD and eventually goes crazy because of it? I think it was Tom Hanks… been a while.
Well, I’ve noticed that video gamers tend to be just like that at times. I used to game myself and I know how much of yourself you can invest into into it. It’s how people treat their cars. Anyone bumping into a person’s car is treated like they’re performing a personal attack, and I think the same holds true for gaming.
And now that money is starting to enter into the situation, I figure it’ll get uglier.
Are you talking about Mazes and Monsters? 10 points to me for getting that one…without the aid of the interslice. Believe it or not.
Gaming-what else are you going to do in todays world. Perhaps the only thing less productive would be if pot smoking were more prevelent here-then the gamers would be super loosers-not that gaming in and of itself makes anyone a looser-its just that people who spend too much time doing it loose touch with reality. You always know when you meet one because one of two things happens-they only speak “game” (they can’t hold a conversation about anything other than a game OR they have a hard time communicating and leaving the other person looking for a keyboard to use to interface with the gamer. As for paying money for a character-if that is the best thing you can do with that money-more power to you. It could be worse-there are people in the US that collect guns or the people that spend money on other vices. If little kids can con other people out of 700$ that is pretty smooth.
game rage…..killing……I say let them go for it. its kinda like a form of social darwinism……..
Did anyone reading this hear about the Dokdo game being released through LG teleco? If any Korean readers can get screenshots of the game or any information I’d really like to hear about it.
Super loosers? They need tightening?
Sorry, I’m not a “spalling geeneeus” myself.
Yeah! Mazes And Monsters! Rokken
I’d love to develop a game based on a bike messenger having to complete a timed delivery in different parts of Seoul while dodging your average Seoul commuter, adjumas in the street and even the police. I would call it “3-D Delivery”. I bet it would sell even though not many would want the real job.
Lineage? Blah you really are a “super looser”. Get with the times grandpa, try RFOnline.
are you telling me that I am old because I play Lineage? Oh my God - this guy sitting next to me looks only 18 - Koreans really do look young even when they are really old - which I could age so gracefully - the only thing graceful about me is my belly - it gets a little larger every week.
I’m an adjoshi
I’m addicted to Kart Rider, an unintentional work of art. The gameplay itself is a perfect metaphor for Korean society - to succeed in a race you have to adopt the same strategies and mores that dictate domestic culture.
An example: The game grants you a number of power-ups with which you can cause others ahead of you to stall, thus letting you (and everyone else) catch up to their level. There are four of these.
But only one power-up grants you super speed, allowing you to quickly advance to the forefront along with the other overachievers.
Another: Between matches, it’s possible to literally buy new cars that give you a speed advantage. While it’s possible to work hard and earn faster cars, the really elite cars - and thus the really big advantage - go to those with the cash to afford them.
Reminds me of the Dungeons Dragons murders back in the ’80s.
I have a friend here who did a paper on a related subject - lawsuits arising from “stolen” weapons/equipment in video games. In fact, his main test case involved a lawsuit in China, and it was over Lineage. The judge ordered the defendant to pay a large fine and return the item (I think).
Anonymous -
Thanks for the link - but I wasn’t really aware that Lineage thought of selling weapons on and off line was illegal.
There are so many sites that you can go to on the Korean web that deal with Lineage where you can buy items for real money. They sell characters, weapons and even Lineage money for real money.
The game seems to have no boundaries and what starts on-line quickly spreads off-line. Several years ago I remember the PK - player killers - that not only killed players on-line but also some that took it home - to another players home - and beat the living crap out of them.
When it was discovered about four years ago that some people were cheating groups of people went to the headquarters of the company, NC, and protested outside the gates demanding that changes be made.
I wrote an article about the game during the uproar of the Koreans over the Chinese historical “land grab” up north. At that point the company did away with the English part of the game in Korea - before that there was an English patch that non-Korean speakers could use and still play the game with the normal Korean players. Suddenly it disappeared and the game was entirely in Korean - the Company said they did away with it because it caused too many problems but the timing seemed really suspicious. Most people using the patch were Chinese.
Speaking of manners. Not sure about the other games but for the most part I find that Koreans are extremely well-mannered players. Let me qualify that - Koreans are extremely well-mannered players to each other. During the anti-Chinese sentiment players that had English names were routinely assassinated. My own character - now a wizard of the 54th level (I say that proudly - anyone who has played a wizard knows that raising wizards to that level is an extremely slow and difficult process) was attacked several times - to counter that I would greet every character I met on-line in Korean so they would not mistake me for Chinese. Even now - I don’t use English because it draws too much attention - most of it good, but there are some die-hard racist out there who would love to kill an American just because he is an American. Racist players - if you are listening - remember, I say 54th level - wizards are the most powerful PK players - we hit from afar and hard. Sorry about getting off the subject.
Also many of the Lineage characters have also taken the Tokdo Issue to heart and I see Tokdo mentioned everywhere. People carry the slogan over their names that “Tokdo is our Land.” I think it is amazing how the real-world slips over into the on-line world and vice-versa.
Sorry about the huge post…..
Can my spelling and grammar get any worse?
i read an article about a year ago where people were selling swords inside the game maple story … some swords were going for 2-3000 us dollars.
there have been a few publicised cases of beatings *and one killing* that i know of in korea over gaming.
personally, i’m a crazy arcade fan … simple game, but lots of fun.
what does it say about korean ‘personality’ where people are prepared to buy elite characters? hell, i hate that … i’d rather build a character from scratch. pretty sad really!
Thanks for a glimpse of a world to which I was totally oblivious.
One of you “gamers” ought to design one called “Nuclear war in Asia”. Should be a smash hit on the internet, especially if you can figure out a way to win money every time an arrogant American imperialist target is obliterated.
I’ve been playing Starcraft over the Internet for more than six years and I thought Korean players were ill-mannered, but the stuff you hear from people on the U.S. servers can be just as appalling. Once every four or five games that I win, I get accused of cheating and am called things like “nigger” or “Jew” from the other guy (or should I say kid). I mean, shit-talking is part of the game for me, but what’s with the racism.
Don’t you guys know already? Any online game run by Blizzard is mathematically proven to draw stupidity around it like a black hole. It’s a universal constant!
Not exactly about online rage, but there was this story:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6161530/site/newsweek/
los juegos pc son muy zote
I never would have guessed Neff was such a nerd. Up there in Sparksjam territory almost.
Dogbert -
I can’t imagine how you could possibly have not thought of me as “a nerd.” Think about the material that I write, and if that wasn’t enough - just look at my picture - pure 100% nerd material, unfortunately not the same material as Bill Gates
robertneff, about well-mannered Koreans. I agree [within the realm of Warcraft III] to the extent that as long as everybody plays fair, the language level is [un]usually decent. But if one player starts cheating, stealing kills and all, the language flips around 180?, and instead of polite if somewhat abbreviated language, you get abuse the like of which is more appropriate in the mouths of seamen and construction workers. Usually very instructive for the undercover ???????, but still.
Of course, if the cheater is a Chinese or a Japanese, my oh my…
Dda,
I agree with you on the language - I have learned a lot of “choice” phrases from my fellow players - it is amazing the role dogs play - even in language. To be honest I am sure that it is the same anywhere you go - and to be honest I have uttered a few curses at some of the Chinese I have encountered in Lineage - I think that the Koreans have some basis of truth to their complaints that the Chinese are rude and “immoral” when it comes to the game play. I think that they obviously have to take in consideration that the Chinese are playing with a disadvantage - the moment they are discovered as Chinese as there is an assassin character nearby - they are killed off.
Rude and immoral? Bah! The real complaints about Chinese players stems from economic competition. Many if not most of the Chinese players on the Korean version of Lineage 1 or 2 are simple “farmers”. They are there to create in game wealth, and then sell it for real money. They will go out of their way to make money as efficiently as possible, playing 24/7 with bots and scripts and monopolizing the most desired in game materials. Now of course, this pisses off casual players who constantly run into Chinese run bots that hunt around in a pattern and totally ignore them(since its likely no one is at the computer). Sometimes if someone is actually there, the only words used will be a terse equivalent of get lost. It also pisses off the hardcore players because the Chinese are competition, otherwise they would be the ones monopolizing hunting areas and materials and selling it for money :).
I don’t know if its exactly the same in South Korea, but in the U.S. version of Lineage 2 at least, the Chinese almost completly dominate the in game economy. If you want something rare, you will probably have to either wait months or buy it from some farmer. They are so organized that have hunting teams, you’ll find a dozen or some completly identical looking scavenger characters hunting in one area accompanied by one or two high level enforcers to drive other players away. It’s crazy!
the Chinese almost completly dominate the in game economy. If you want something rare, you will probably have to either wait months or buy it from some farmer. They are so organized that have hunting teams, you??ll find a dozen or some completly identical looking scavenger characters hunting in one area accompanied by one or two high level enforcers to drive other players away. It??s crazy!
Sounds like mid-21st century economy. If one wonders what’s gonna happen to the world balance, watch Lineage
I am surprised that North Korea hasn’t thought of the idea of having hundreds of people manning the computers to destroy the evil nation of the United States through Lineage - imagine making all that money on-line and making Americans pay for it off-line. An example of the stupidity of a market economy - but wait……, they have to have computers to do that - don’t they?
And Internet access, and… Hmm Pandora’s box anyone?
I have been gaming for about 8 years now. i enjoy it and play anywhere from 2-40 hours a week. It al depends on my schedule and what else is going on in my life (or with my wife).
For me it is a relatively cheap for of entertainment that lets me explore my imagination in a “digital way”.
I consider myself fairly well-read in a variety of subjects, and for the most part quite athletic. I’m not sure if I fit the mold of the typical gamer out there but maybe that mold isn’t so accurate after all.