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Who is being robbed? Throughout my teenage years I taught myself to program by writing bots to play mmorpgs for me then I would sell the gold. I made a fractio
by nmjohn 12y ago
Who is being robbed?
Throughout my teenage years I taught myself to program by writing bots to play mmorpgs for me then I would sell the gold. I made a fraction of what this guy did, but for a 13-17 year old I was doing quite well.
I have no delusions that what I was doing was "virtuous" or benefiting the world and what have you. But by the same token I don't think what I did was the opposite of that either - I certainly wasn't selling a product based on theft as you put it. And in the end it's the main reason I'm a programmer today, nearly a decade later.
- Terr_ 12y agoThe same people being "robbed" when you counterfeit money: It's divided across everybody else whose achievements and items are reduced in value.
- nmjohn 12y agoExcept that isn't at all the case. By botting a video game money isn't being created out of thin air like with counterfeiting. Resources are collected which are sold for gold pieces from other players. The difference may not feel like much - but it's night and day in terms of the practical economic implications.