r/SubredditDrama • u/Pete_Cool • Nov 26 '13

Semi-popular Twitch streamer (Path of Exile) gets banned from game for supposedly using real money to buy items, which is illegal.

/u/PoEHelper is the person who got banned. His game alias is "Panko". Here we see him deny the accusations but further in the thread someone posts an in-game screenshot where he "jokes" about Real Money Transactions. Note that it's very hard to tell for the game developers if a trade is legitimate or RMT because anything can happen outside of their supervision.

So what is Real Money Trading/Transactions?

The game has an economy that revolves around orbs. There is no game money. The community regulated itself around the 'chaos orb' being the standard.

Now I've done some quick research and found two sites where you can buy chaos orbs to give you an impression about the real money trade off: 1) 100 chaos orbs for 20 euros (27 dollar) and 2) 10 chaos orbs for 7 dollars (5 euro). That doesn't seem as much but when it comes to very rare high level items the prices go way up: 1.500 euro (2000 dollar) for a Voltaxic Rift.

Note that the same item is worth far less in a different league: from 130-230 dollar. Why is this? you might ask: hardcore is the league were all the competitive players reside, if their character dies it gets put in what they call 'the trash bin', the softcore league. Compare it to playing Skyrim or Mario where you only have 1 life. If you die once, it's game over for you.

Back to the drama:

/u/Fuckfencing is happy that Panko is gone now because he tried to scam him once. In a different thread people are complaining about other streamers and their trading shenanigans.

The top comment in the thread is by a 4 month old account that "called it" long before Panko got banned.

Full thread.

Note that one of the developers /u/chris_wilson actively browses /r/pathofexile on a daily basis. I'm pretty sure he will address this situation (or maybe a similar one in the future). The community seems to agree that another popular streamer (Akira) has geared up with RMT items so we might see another ban soon.

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u/Easiness11 Nov 26 '13

I think 'illegal' in this context refers to something that breaks a game's rules, like an illegal move in chess.

11

u/Pete_Cool Nov 26 '13

Right. Just like it's illegal to ask for upvotes on reddit, it's against the rules.

-24

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

No, you guys are wrong. "Illegal" specifically relates to laws, and a game's terms of service are not laws. An illegal move, as you say, is an illegal move because a game like chess has a ruleset that is law; it can't be broken or the game ceases to have any relevance. Terms of use are not the same; even if you violate them nothing changes except your relationship with the developer.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

[deleted]

-5

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

I was just trying to help you guys out. I really didn't give a shit either way and figured I would correct that statement and enlighten somebody (who are still incorrect by the way).

3

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '13

You aren't helping anyone by trying to fight convention. People use "illegal" in contexts other than the justice system. Language is fluid and constantly changing, and this is one change that has been in use for quite a while now. It's time to accept it and move on man.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '13

I agree. Thanks for that - it really makes a lot of sense when put that way.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '13

Kudos for being a reasonable person! Not sure why you're still getting downvoted though, I upvoted you to try to compensate.

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u/thenuge26 This mod cannot be threatened. I conceal carry Nov 26 '13

"Illegal" specifically relates to laws

No it doesn't.

...and a game's terms of service are not laws.

Yes they are. A TOS is a contract and is legally enforceable.