Proactive Physics

People who play in a virtual world are bound by that world’s physics, as implemented in computer code. Whatever tangible action they undertake in the virtual world, the consequences of that action are defined by the program. Players must accept this as part of the world, just as they must accept real-world physics in the real world. They may object to certain aspects of it, and they may even be able to persuade the live team to make changes, but they can’t opt out of particular rules they don’t like. If they get annoyed by the fact that their magic sword will eventually wear out, they can either continue under protest or quit.

Proactive physics uses this aggressively. Let’s say you didn’t want players to sell virtual objects to each other in the real world. You could give all objects a “sold on eBay” flag that was set (either manually or automatically) whenever an object was exchanged in this manner. Objects so flagged would wear out faster than unsold objects. Players who complain can be told that objects wear out anyway depending on how they’re used, and that being sold in a different world (the real one) puts interdimensional stresses on them that reduce their integrity. There would still be lawsuits from people who felt this unfair, and they may be able to make some argument about the intent (which is essentially the difference between normal and proactive physics); a consistent fiction is a strong defense, though.

Personally, I’m against using virtual-world physics to achieve real-world ends in this way except when it enhances individual freedom. That said, I’m very much of the opinion that all code and data belongs exclusively to the developers to do with as they wish. Virtual worlds are not tools like word processors, which folk use to create data that they own; virtual worlds are places that people visit. If you come to my house and use my paints on my paper to create an artwork, I’m sorry but you don’t own that artwork and you don’t get to sell it to someone else unless I say so.

Whatever deals players strike between themselves about rights of access to virtual entities, they don’t concern virtual ownership unless the developers say so. If players don’t like that, they can either quit and play in a virtual world where the developers cede data ownership to players (and hope that the real-world laws governing the changing of that virtual data are cast-iron) or they can set up and run their own virtual world.

The discussion in Chapter 3 about the rights of players and characters assumes good faith on the part of developers. Proactive physics can be an extension of this, but designers must be very careful not to set the wrong precedent. If a player uses the virtual world’s physics to make life tough for other players, the exploit can be fixed and the perpetrator banned; if the live team does it, only revolt or emigration can ensue.