Goblin Squad Member
|
"People make "real money" on Second Life making and selling in-world objects, and getting paid to let other people access the in-world environments they've assembled/created."
And this is the very real and scary reason the IRS wants in. They want to tax in-game money made on in-game transactions. I can see little good from IRS intrusion. But as players and developers create more ways to generate real world cash it appears inevitable.
I don't believe it's the IRS as such, FinCEN is a branch of the US Dept. of Treasury, who prints money and also includes the IRS, but they are separate, even though an implicit interest of FinCEN is preventing avoidance of tax payment.
But they do that with Linden Dollars because you can convert both ways, from real dollars to linden dollars and in reverse.
Other games that do not allow 'withdrawing' real money do not have that issue.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
A principle of criminal investigation is to 'follow the money'. If you have a virtual repository where real money enters a virtual existence then to 'follow the money' requires a way to trace transactions, otherwise you have a place where the trail will vanish.
Yes, the State has an interest in being able to trace every transaction.
Likewise, the People have an interest in being secure from government intrusion into their affairs.
The most common result of giving the State that kind of power is that the human beings in control of the State apparatus will use that power to further entrench their position.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'd rather a non-profit and benevolent State could trace criminals than for-profit corporations that already track everything I look at, everything I say, sell my information to the highest bidder and shape all my forms of expression, news, and entertainment based on their personal preferences and avarice.
Big Brother, it turns out, isn't your government.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I'd rather a non-profit and benevolent State could trace criminals than for-profit corporations that already track everything I look at, everything I say, sell my information to the highest bidder and shape all my forms of expression, news, and entertainment based on their personal preferences and avarice.
Big Brother, it turns out, isn't your government.
Sadly every time a people have turned over their wellbeing to a "benevolent state" the state is eventually morphed into an oppressive force, holding the people down while increasing personal power of the individuals who control the state.
States are also rarely non profit for those running them. There are very few people who leave high political position without seeming to have acquired a lot more wealth than they went in with
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Way way derailed haha
I would still really love to hear something about this:
Question concerning management of the crafting queue:
Can the head blacksmith, for example, bump specific jobs to the front of the queue or change the priority of a critical job to be handled sooner than others?
In the case of something that might be needed for the city, or preparations for war, it seems like managing priority is rather important. Plus it opens the way to other forms of monetary gain, like bribing or simply a tax to further line the city's coffers (or the blacksmith's pockets).
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Can the head blacksmith, for example, bump specific jobs to the front of the queue or change the priority of a critical job to be handled sooner than others?
I do like the idea of jobs having different priorities, and the priority being set by characters with certain permissions. Like you say, there could be taxes, bribes, citizenship rights, war material, and the whim of the forgemaster all affecting the priority.