Online Game Governance
Popular online games are commonly bound by an End User License Agreement (EULA). The consequences of breaking the agreement vary according to the contract; ranging from warnings to termination, such as in the 3D immersive world Second Life where a breach of contract will append the player warnings, suspension and termination depending on the offense. Enforcing the EULA is difficult, due to high economic costs of human intervention and low returns back to the firm. Only in large scale games is it profitable for the firm to enforce its EULA.
Edward Castronova writes that "there are issues of ownership and governance that wrinkle the affairs of state significantly". He has divided the online governance into "good governance" and "strange governance". Castronova also mentions that synthetic worlds are good ways to test for government and management.
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Famous quotes containing the words game and/or governance:
“Life is a game in which the rules are constantly changing; nothing spoils a game more than those who take it seriously. Adultery? Phooey! You should never subjugate yourself to another nor seek the subjugation of someone else to yourself. If you follow that Crispian principle you will be able to say “Phooey,” too, instead of reaching for your gun when you fancy yourself betrayed.”
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)
“He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand,
To han the governance of hous and land,
And of his tonge and his hand also;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)