Tales of Pirates: Hosting and Heir Service to Protect In-game Property

Veteran Tales of Pirates players sometimes boast of their honors and achievements in this popular swashbuckling fantasy game. Yet no matter how great their accomplishments, when they stop playing they may as well have never existed. Recently the ToP Team has been looking into implementing the Hosting and Heir service, which allows players to bequeath their characters and in-game possessions to someone else if they should stop playing.



At first glance, this may seem a strange idea, essentially giving players the ability to will their online personas and gear to anyone they choose, but upon further study it seems an obvious answer to the question of whether game accounts and virtual items can be considered similar to real world property. Though this has been a controversial topic among gamers, there are still no laws governing the issue. Some legal experts argue such virtual items and accounts should be protected under law, which is where the Hosting and Heir service comes in.



A player’s account, equipment and other in-game belongings would be guaranteed to be kept in existence within the game database once they apply for the Hosting service. To avoid useless data cluttering up the game, however, the ToP Team would use the Heir service to allow players to appoint an heir for their accounts. Heirs would not be limited to current ToP players, but instead could be any relative, friend, or acquaintance the player chooses. If the player does not log into the game for set period of time, ToP officials would hand the account over to the appointed heir. This helps prevent account hacking while keeping the virtual property available for use even if a player stops playing or doesn’t return for a long time.



With the Hosting and Heir service, players would have the option to allow their accomplishments to live on without violating common agreements that prohibit account sharing or trading.



So far the Hosting and Heir service is still being considered, but should it become a reality, the plan might allow for the necessary fees to be paid in game currency. For more info, players should visit http://top.igg.com/main.php on the official ToP site.

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