Is it immoral to steal from someone in a game?

I think you’re safe stealing from these other players. Surely they understand the game and that people will try to steal from them, and they may be trying to steal from you! If you are going to play the game at all, do it to the best of your ability which may require a little stealing.

Yeah, it’s a part of the game. Play the way it makes you have fun. Don’t play it anymore. Too bad. But I want to play games I buy once. I don’t want to buy it and then rent it.

IT’S A VIDEO GAME!

I do appreciate your sense of morality though. There are times in MMO’s where I’ve been as kind to give away lots of cash to people, as well as times where I decided to kill everyone in sight and do my best to make their gaming life hell – all depending on what kind of mood I was in. It’s all part of the immersion – being in a world separate from reality, only your consequences aren’t as dire. I think the creators want you to do anything your mind so desires in such a game, especially if you have the ability to.

If you’re somehow exploiting the system or cheating, then perhaps it is questionable whether or not you should be doing it. No one likes a cheater, after all?

I love playing the rogue/assassin class.

I’m an upstanding citizen in real life – never had any traffic tickets, never had a cop look twice at me, never stolen. [Well, I stole tictacs from meijer’s when I was little, but my parents took me back and made me apologize to the manager; that was the end of that!] I never even took sofa coins or stuff out of my parent’s purse/wallet.

But in the game, I go buckwild. It’s fantasy. And since it is against the TOS to sell money, they are the ones truly in the wrong if they were to sell their currency.

[Artfuldodger picks your pocket.]

Follow the laws of the society and you’re golden.

thats how i survive in Oregon Trail.
so i hope not.

lol yeah i didn’t think so either but i wanted to entertain the idea of morality in video games, clearly we are all scoundrels in the gaming world.

If you were stealing from a computer generated character like in GTA, I would say no, but stealing from someone in an MMO, while it is a small transgression since video games are twice removed from reality, it’s still likely to make someone upset and that’s a very real thing.

Stealing in EVE is a bit different from other MMOs because in EVE such deceit is a fully embraced part of the game. As in real life, those who are smart and suspicious enough don’t fall prey to the scammers and fake loan people.

At the same time, when I play EVE I play as a hardworking person just as I am in real life. I don’t believe stealing or scamming is proper to do so I don’t do it. But at the same time I’m not stupid enough to fall for it, and I’m aware that it exists. Thus I think it’s a reasonable part of the game, and if one wants to engage in it, it is not immoral in EVE Online.

Personally, I think it depends on your character’s morality in the game. You as a player shouldn’t be concerned, as it is included as part of the game mechanics and, thus, is part of the game.

Is it immoral to lie in the game of Survivor?

Notice how when someone else does it, it’s “cheating”. When the player is talking about doing it themselves they just think of it as “playing the game”. It’s a game. Play the game or don’t play the game. If you play, you play it like you think it should be played. That’s not for anyone else to say.

If it’s a built-in part of the game mechanics (which seems to be what you’re talking about), then I don’t see any problem. If you’re running a scam, then that’s a different story.

I think u might be getting a little bit too involved in the game! Maybe chill out for a couple of days and go back to it!! Play mario or something (it’s not immoral to eat mushrooms)!!

If it was immoral it never stopped my brother from stealing money from me when we played monopoly.

You say the game money has real world value. Even if it is worth only a fraction of real world money, it is still worth something. A player’s game money actually adds to his real life net worth. Stealing it, even if the game allows you to do so, is still theft. It may not be prosecutable in the real world, but it is still morally wrong. After all, the real world mechanics allow you to steal, but you can make the conscious decision not to.

Do you steal in the real world? Why not? Is it because the law says it is wrong or because your conscience tells you it is wrong? Since you say the game money has some real world value, I think you should treat it the same as real money.

ha see that is the only argument i could think of for it being immoral, however it was never intended to have real world value, players just buy in game money and objects for cash in some kind of “black market” that the developers of the game never intended to exist. But this doesn’t detract from the fact that some russian gamer is using his in game wealth to buy his family dinner or somethin, and then if i steal it from him im still taking something from him. But I have to say since the developers intended people to be spies and thieves then its really part of the game and not really immoral. Prehaps it is immoral to sell something that was never intended to have any value for real world money. hmmm

Use this chart!!

A. It it against the rules. (go to E.)
B. It is not against the rules. (Go to C.)

C. You are cheating the game in order to steal. (go to E.)
D. The game allows you to easily steal. (Go to F.)

E. You should have your account perma-banned for even THINKING of such a thing! (Don’t do it)
F. Unless there is some sort of rule against it that you specifically saw, its ok. (Go for it)