Rules of the Game

Questions are from Susan Carmichael's blog entry on Grimes article about Terms of Service agreements.

1. Grimes states that only a few adults actually pay attention to contents of TOS contracts.  Do you always read and fully understand TOS contracts for adult online gaming sites, and what is your reasoning for either way?

I don't I've read a complete TOS contract in my life. As long as I'm playing the game as intended, I see no problems. However, I have never had to deal with the issue of "who owns player created content" in a game.

2. Do you think that a child would understand the following example from MyUville?

I seriously doubt a child would understand the 2530 word TOU example. Who wants to take the time reading when you could be playing something instead?

3. What is your position in the ownership of players' virtual property debate? (E.g. do you think that players should have partial or co-ownership over player-generated creations, or is the industry entitled to sole ownership based on the fact that they own the game code?)  Does your view change or stay the same regarding children?

If the property is in-game, then the company who developed the code owns it. If someone makes fan art or fan fiction, the the fan would have ownership over that but still cannot sell it for a profit.

4. Do you think that if challenged TOS contracts hold up in court?

Yes, only because the player had to agree to it before playing the game.

5. What are some of the ethical implications of conducting marketing research without first establishing informed consent, particularly when the participants are children?

Players information are gathered without their knowledge of what the developers will do with it.