Re: I need to brag for a sec
Do you consider playing internet poker immoral? Those people have put their own money on the line by themselves; it's their fault if they lose it thanks to their bad skills/not educating themselves (again, I've lost a few 100 $ playing poker and I do not blame my opponents).
In your poker example - money is a major part of that game. The money is on the table so to speak and the person signing up for a game knows exactly what's at stake when he enters his details. The rules are crystal clear and there's no place for cheating or bending of rules.
If you trade in D2 without checking forums for value of items, you pay the cost of your laziness (and that of Blizzard for not implementing a better system of trading
). Scamming people for their life savings is different since it impacts the mind and quality of life of the victim(s) significantly.
Again, this is all haggling over the details - you agree the principle is the same. If you wouldn't do it in rl why do you allow yourself to do it on the net?
someone trades their Perf CoA in D2 for 2 Ist and remarks "Oh shoes should've known better! Next time I'LL rip someone off!"
So you're also perpetuating some king magic circle of low grade evil among players, well done!
Tbh, I still don't feel that sorry for the victims of the 'Nigerians' et al, even though I wouldn't do that myself. God gave you a brain, people; let's use it. Meh.
I fully agree, you may be under the impression that I'm motivated by sympathy for the victim but I'm not. This has nothing to do with the victim and everything to do with the what
you (as the 'aggressor') believe is right or wrong. It's the principle of the thing, it irks me to see people lower their standards when they're interacting with people online.
On a related note: I consider good trading to be 'legit scamming'. I will never do the Tal armor switch scam, etc, since it is clear deception: not offering what was promised. However in the case of over/underpaying, I haven't made a promise that I break; the agreement is mutual, if based on faulty info on the part of the other party. It is not my fault if they refuse to educate themselves, nor is it my duty to do it for them. Ofc they still get the benefit afterwards (if they bother checking the true value out). Now, if you do consider poker immoral, I concede that you're free to call ripping people off immoral too. However I will continue to lose and win money and items in poker and in D2 (respectively), and not lose sleep over it.
Ofc I would not do stuff like, say, ask an Ist for an Ik maul from some poor noob. However if someone sells me 40 crap jewels and there's a 15/40 among them, then I won't flap my lips about it. If you do, let me know when the pope canonizes you. Maybe us *rich* sinners could use a prayer or two. :smug: :wink:
Now you hit on the nail, intention is a deciding factor in my eyes.
In the jewel trade example - both parties entered a deal that they considered fair (in contrast, predator here knew full well he was ripping the guy off when he made his deal), if you found a nice jewel in a pile of crap jewels - good for you, enjoy your unintentional profit. Secondly, there's 'good trading' and then there's giving some newbie 1/20 of what his item is worth...not everyone is worldly, internet proficient (or even smart) enough to research item values on forums and just because a weakness is there doesn't mean you should exploit it.
You yourself say you wouldn't try to trick a noob into trading an IK hammer for an ist, how is this any different from the op's trade?
Getting very rich in D2 (and in most of these games in general) is easy enough without resorting to legal scamming, I can say this from experience.
just ignore the little communist :wave:
Can't deal with someone criticizing your actions and morals? Eh, call him a commie and ignore anything that may actually make you think :thumbup:.
I concede this debate is rather pointless though, people are rarely open to new views in rl, doubly so over the internet.
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