Has anyone read this book?

While looking for some other book by Peter Wayner (he writes about data security and other niche IT stuff), I discovered he also wrote

"Policing Online Games"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967584426

The Amazon "review":


Do you yearn to build a safe, secure online worlds where orcs, cowboys, aliens and cocktail waitresses can live, scheme, love, and conqueor with trust in the game? Do you want to create a more perfect world where the players advance according to their skill playing the game instead of their ability to download the latest cheating code? Do you want to stop cheaters, modders, hackers, and other schemers from ruining the fun?

This book lays out the philosophical and mathematical foundations for building a strong, safe, and cheater-free virtual world. It explores how the right equations can let people roll dice, shuffle cards, pay bills, and trade things like swords without worrying about fakes, frauds, counterfeits, or tricks. The right decisions in a game’s architecture can provide trust and stability for everyone.



Did anyone here read this book? and if yes, any opinions about it, especially as it relates to SL?

Its a great book and very informative about Online Gaming. I especially love how he talks about how online games are taking over the roles of shopping malls and Arcades because you either spend twice as much in the game or never leave your house so whats the point in clothes. LOL

Sadly tho, this bares little to no reference to SL. Now I am not trying to get into the whole Game vs Metaverse debate, BUT no one can deny that SL is on a whole nother level from your run of the mill onlines games. Even TSO had challenges and to do as a part of the games program. SL does not, it is completely user designed with the help of the Tools system provided by LL. SL's currency even has an a RL exchange rate. True you can buy money in other games, but how many of those games let you exchange it for RL cash? Not many I bet.

Anyways, while I do find it a great read and recommend it to anyone who does get into online gaming such as WoW or CoV, its irrelevant to SL.

Hopefully it's only a matter of time before Second Life catches up then.

Lewis

How does one 'conquer with trust' as they mention?

I picture an elf fighting an orc to the death - but a policeman standing there to ensure that only $L 25 is removed from the loser's dismembered corpse?

Funny in a way.


Purely Hypothetically, let's say I had played on a private Lineage 2 server for a year or so. Not that I would have ever done such a thing, nope, nosiree

There are two levels of players - same game, same world.

1) those battling it up from level 1, scraping for every little thing
2) those who figured out how to get ahead, competing with others doing same about 40 levels above the other guys

Both games are quite fun - and other than the occasional noob getting pwnd, they existed side by side with ease.

(well, then again, some can't figure out how to 'bot' 20M adena per day - literally one google seach, one install and 10 minutes of fiddling does the trick on many servers) *whistles innocently*