Korean gamers massacre Chinese over etiquette dispute
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Feb 21st 2006 at 3:00PM }
According to recent
reports, South Korean Lineage players have been ganging up on Chinese players in an attempt to wipe them from
Korean servers. The recent killings are a response to rumors that Chinese gamers have not been following the unspoken
rule: don't take money or items dropped by a monster slain by another player.Items from the game are sold for real money on online trading sites, and Chinese gamers have been reportedly joining South Korean servers because there are greater opportunities for making real money in these matches due to an abundance of trade. Unfortunately, Korean gamers have begun to see the Chinese presence as a threat, prompting some of these players to stage violent massacres. In areas like the Island of Dreams, where it is relatively simple to earn money, gangs of Korean players have been hunting down any Chinese player that dares to enter the region. One Korean player claims, "you can tell they are Chinese because they can't speak Korean."
Lineage continues to be plagued by identity theft, which may be linked to reports that suggest there are Chinese sweatshops where workers play ceaselessly to earn money using Korean identities. More than 220,000 South Koreans have reported their identities stolen. NCsoft, makers of the game, are aware of the virtual genocide and have begun blocking Chinese IP addresses on Korean servers. NCsoft has sided with Koreans because the company is against item trading, which NCsoft apparently considers an exclusively Chinese practice.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
portorikan @ Feb 21st 2006 3:13PM
Wow, that's like, video game racism or something.
Video game genocide is right. IT's kinda funny though. I wish I could see a video of it in action.
Morder @ Feb 21st 2006 3:15PM
The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia...
DG @ Feb 21st 2006 3:15PM
At that point, might it be a good time to read a book or take a walk?
Sure, I understand the frustration involved. And there is probably nationalism at play too. But videogame turf wars? Gang fights? Genocide? Sounds like a break might be needed.
vazel @ Feb 21st 2006 3:20PM
"which NCsoft apparently considers an exclusively Chinese practice."
that's because the vast majority of those farmers are chinese.
Scott @ Feb 21st 2006 3:21PM
Wow...video game ethnic cleansing. Who'd have ever thought it.
32_Footsteps @ Feb 21st 2006 3:24PM
I guess the Princess Bride quote should be updated to be "Never get involved in a virtual land war in Asia".
Still, the nationalism is ugly (I'd shrink from calling it racism, as most ethnographers would say they're racially very close). But the thing is, maybe they should look in the mirror a bit. There wouldn't be gold or item farmers if there wasn't a market for them. And given the amount of cash farmers rake in and the income of most Chinese citizens, I don't think the Chinese are the only ones facilitating the practice.
MyNameIsGame @ Feb 21st 2006 3:33PM
There must be easy way to alter your path so you'r not coming from a chinese IP. Although China does have is restrictions and tend to control EVERYTHING coming out of their country, so I am not sure about it.
But these "in-game" revolutions make me wonder. As games tend to go global you will see much much more of these "raids" online. What's next. Gang wars?
MyNameIsGame @ Feb 21st 2006 3:37PM
@ 6
Maybe they want to do SOMETHING to not look completely hopeless. But like you said it's not a "chinese" thing. It's a global thing. When there is a game, some people want to get ahead, without doing the work.
How real life can you get?
Leyviur @ Feb 21st 2006 3:53PM
32_Footsteps, your post stinks of ignorance. You must be one of those damn whiteys who think Asians are all the same race.
32_Footsteps @ Feb 21st 2006 4:13PM
Well, MyNameIsGame, what are battles against guilds, particularly the unscheduled ones, if not virtual gang wars? It's just socially acceptable because you don't damage any property or lives in the real world.
As for your follow-up about wanting to do something, NCSoft is perfectly capable of doing something. They should be able to tag items with the IP addresses of whomever acquired the item in question. From there, they should be able to trace who has purchased items from farmers (as their items will be tagged with the IP of a farmer). With that, they can then make an example of people who support the farmers.
Now, exactly how they would do that could be open to interpretation. Maybe they could make the character continually glow purple or something similarly striking. Maybe they'd just make items disappear at inopportune moments. There's multiple ways they could embarrass people once they know who buys from the farmers. And it shouldn't be hard for them to find out who these people are.
calthaer @ Feb 21st 2006 4:13PM
I support and condone NCSoft's right to make whatever rules they want, and for players to band together and do this, if they see fit. If the Chinese really don't like it, they can band together and fight back. If they can't log in, then they can launch pingbombs and whatnot, which I'm sure the Chinese government would support and probably fund, all the while pretending that they aren't doing it.
nojok3 @ Feb 21st 2006 5:43PM
This is hilarious lol. The identity theft which is involved with Chinese players playing videogames in sweatshops endlessly. Some people like others said need to go take a walk
portorikan @ Feb 21st 2006 5:49PM
OH man, I just got a great idea for an MMO game for RockStar.
The Warriors Online. Actually join gangs and have gang/turf wars but WORLDWIDE. US vs Russia, China vs Japan, Israel vs the Middle East, and even factions within a country vs other factions in that country.
Holy cow, you heard it here first... someone needs to run with this one.
Which country can get the most players online and kick some butt?
Rare Hare @ Feb 21st 2006 6:06PM
i love it. i really enjoy watching the way the communities in online games develop.
games are generally meant to let us do things that we couldn't or wouldn't do in real life. that's one reason online communities fascinate me. these people can run their characters, thus affecting the worlds they live in, in ways that they wouldn't in their own outside lives (for fear of law, etc.).
racism is a real thing, and it's interesting the way it translates to a game like Lineage. more interesting is being able to trace the roots of said in-game racism.
a stereotype of Chinese players on South Korean servers is that they steal other players' drops, so it becomes a common practice to slaughter them on sight. that's how racial rivalries happen.
wouldn't it be interesting if, given a few years, the rivalry between the Chinese and South Koreans wore on, but no one remembered why?
Clay @ Feb 21st 2006 6:40PM
Haha! That's hilarious. As 5 said, it's ethnic cleansing at its best.
Luke @ Feb 21st 2006 7:06PM
In runescape the items are invisible to the other players untill they have been left there for awhile, they should do something like that.
http://miniclip.com
baR_n1 @ Feb 21st 2006 9:28PM
This is quite funny, yet disturbing at the same time because it is by definition blatant racism. The fact that ncsoft is supporting this "ethnic cleansing" by blocking chinese IPs is the worst offense of all. If this was in the states (or most any other western country really), there would be political outrage and lawsuits left and right... just ask blizzard.
"you can tell they are Chinese because they can't speak Korean." Dumbest... fuk... ever...
Questworld @ Feb 21st 2006 10:48PM
I agree baR_n1, the quote really is dumb. Also, what happens to those Chinese players who play by the rules and don't do these things? They should get a refund if they are intentionally targeted and unfairly treated simply because they're coming from a Chinese IP. Don't get me wrong, I understand NCsoft's position, and its probably the best way to deal with it (unless they just reprogrammed the loopholes in the program), it's just that... it's just unfair for those who get damned within the crossfire. If this is anything deeper or political, then I'd say the whole thing's screwed up.
Onlinegangwarsrool @ Feb 22nd 2006 12:17AM
@#12
That idea is frickin brilliant!
Sure it might spill out into the streets with serious blood shed and death after some Isrealis hacks cheat and own some Palestinians...then the infuriated Palestinians retaliate with car bombs...
Or when the west side crypts hacks cheat and own some south side bloods...and the bloods get even by shooting 12 innocent people and wounding a crypt in a drive by...
Other than that....I'll hop on board, that idea would rock!
jadenguy @ Feb 22nd 2006 1:01AM
this whole thing is so much bigger and policital than you guys could really deal with. i mean, it's a product that ncsoft has to make the most money on. they aren't banning chinese from playing, they are only banning chinese players on the korean servers. is that unfairly nationalist? maybe. but who's to say what's fair? i mean, if a chinese player is on a korean server, they /might/ be up to no good. and the chances were good enough for ncsoft to act.
Arcadias @ Feb 22nd 2006 3:06AM
Re: jadenguy
I agree. If anything NCSoft are acting to end the problem. If Chinese players can't get on to Korean servers then they cant be killed by Korean players who are only really trying to protect their virtual economy. Now the next question is once the Chinese players are blocked, will the Koreans start attacking the Chinese servers rather than defending their own?
Andy @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:48AM
These Kids would freaking HATE Mechassault! HEHE
Mack Swift @ Feb 22nd 2006 11:35AM
Let’s sum it up. The Chinese are stealing from Koreans, and the real money the Chinese make from the theft, in turn, is used to buy real world goods, and thus is helping the Chinese economy grow even larger. However, given the recent Chinese crackdown on online gaming, you’d think officials would put a stop to this. But then again, this is more money for the Chinese economy and thus more money in the commie’s pockets. The Chinese officials probably shrug it off as a victimless crime.
What am I getting to? Well, there’s an old saying, “It’s the little things that count.”
How prevalent do you think this type of small time behavior among Chinese citizens and the blas?ttitude officials have towards this behavior really is? And how does it translate into the greater scheme of things? If Chinese gamers steals a virtual item and sells it for cash; he now has extra money in his pocket to buy a Starbucks coffee and a new cell phone. More coffee is sold, more phones are sold, and then more companies build more manufacturing plants or bring another Starbucks over; more Chinese people have jobs and more money and the economy keeps humming along.
We know the Chinese are manipulating the Yuan by hoarding billions of U.S dollars and Euros in their banks (and who knows where else?). They keep their products and services artificially cheap and U.S. products and services artificially high; in effect they are nickel and dime-ing the U.S. economy into a ditch a bottle rocket at a time. The Chinese know what they are doing is wrong and illegal, yet they don’t care, just as long as their economy keeps growing and they keep getting richer.
But as they also say, karma can bite you in the ass big time.
The WTO is reluctant to force China to stop manipulating the Yuan. If the Chinese are forced to let the Yuan rise and fall due to market conditions as opposed to them propping it up with foreign or U.S. dollars; how hard with the Chinese economy fall and how badly will the aftershocks be felt globally?
It might get pretty bad. The majority of U.S. and Asian retail firms base their supply and manufacturing in China because of the cheap labor that can be had there. And, no, it’s not because of Chinese people will work for anything; it’s because the Yuan is so damn cheap compared to the dollar, these firms are hoarding all sorts of profits just from savings alone. What would happen if the Yuan became more expensive? Who would lose; who would benefit?
Amazing how such a seemingly little thing such as stealing online game items could conceivably snowball into economic chaos
Dave @ Feb 22nd 2006 11:58AM
Reminds of of Goober. Goober was a kid in Latvia who played EQ as his JOB. 18, lived at home, and played, no...not played...WORKED EQ from 8am til midnight everyday. He was a level 65 druid with crappy equipment and all he did, was sit in one zone and wait for one mob and try to get it. Sometimes's he'd have good days and get some stuff and make $10 USD. Some days there would be a group there and he'd get nothing. On the good days he made more than his father working.
His goal in life was to stop working for his boss from the U.S. and make his own company selling stuff online.
Sad really.
Oznog @ Feb 22nd 2006 2:42PM
Now if only we could get NCSoft to crackdown on the Korean scammers in the American districts in Guild Wars...
Maximoisgood @ Feb 22nd 2006 3:12PM
In the words of a Famous American.
"Can't we all Just Get-a-long".
Wade @ Feb 24th 2006 10:49AM
Does the U.S have to step in and police the vitrual world now? Can't we all just get along, no, not even in a virtual world?
andrew smith @ Feb 24th 2006 11:14AM
they just posted on collegehumor so its gonna get flooded
Mister Bonner @ Feb 24th 2006 1:08PM
Whatever I'm just glad that Black people are not the targets for once!
Giant Panda @ Feb 25th 2006 12:32AM
For those complaining about the chinese earning token amount of money from playing video games on Korean servers, keep in mind the amount of money the Koreans are getting through trade with China. From electronics to entertainment goods, Korea earns a lot of money from the Chinese market. Not only is Korea flooding the Chinese market with goods, but also exposing most Chinese to the Korean culture. Unlike the Chinese, the Koreans do not accept other cultures in return and choose, online and in real life, to build walls around themselves instead. I suspect that the virtual slaughter of Chinese gamers is ethnically-motivated, with instances of bad-behaving gamers proving the spark.
There are also some idiotic comments about the negative impacts of the Chinese economy on the world. Do you have any freaking clue as to why the US can sustain its national deficit? The US national deficit has been financed by the Chinese central bank, leading to the US economy being relatively stable and sustaining low interest rates. Before talking badly about the Chinese, first think of how many American can take out low interest loans to finance their cars, houses, and all the goodies they enjoy on the daily basis.
Regarding accusations of the Chinese government acting in a evil manner to promote the country - which government on this planet does not promote its own interest?
The bad behavior of Chinese gamers goes to show that every nation has its bad seeds. And this fact goes for Korea, US, and any other country on this planet. At the end of the day, we must all depend on each other, even people across the world, to continue enjoying what we have. If you let news concerning the actions of a few Chinese gamers influence your thoughts on an entire culture, it is simply not wise.
CW @ Feb 25th 2006 8:41AM
This isn't nationalism. It's capitalism. The Chinese farmers steal (ninja) gold and items from the Korean farmers. The Korean farmers lose money and business. So the Koreans band together to punish the thieves. Unfortunately, it escalates from there into "mass genocide", since it's hard to pick out individual offenders in a nearly anonymous medium.
I say gg Koreans - ninja looters deserve nothing but pain and suffering.
Similar to what 32Footsteps said, I think the solution is to prevent ninjaing. Marking items with a flag to ID where it come from and who earned it is a clever idea. Or they could simply tighten their loot rules.
Rollin.Chen @ Feb 27th 2006 8:28AM
I agree with Giant Panda, I'm just one of a sufferers. I know the detail of it.
Krozar @ Mar 9th 2006 11:34PM
I can understand how the Korean gamers feel. I used to be an Everquest nut, played 30 hours per sitting, sometimes more after a patch (everything respawns).
Ninja looting is BAD BAD BAD BAD! NLs will be hunted down and laughtered and will be known all over the e-world.
I know all about how much money one can make, I used to sell farmed items on Ebay from EverQuest. I made $2000 per week just from one new item drop that I monopolized (Necklace of Superiority), Sony took it out eventually, but I was making $350 PER item; sometimes it dropped in 2 hours of play.
Companies like IGE (google it) have made millions and million mass selling in-game items and gold. One gentlemen sold his EQ item enterprise (mysupersales) for several million and a seat on IGE's board.
It's not small potatoes, it's real value, people LVIE in these games, peope lost their families and spouses to these games (knew these people all too well and I lovedplaying with them so much I would support them to keep playing not caring about their real life).
Jo Jun Kwon @ Mar 13th 2006 10:57AM
So..... I'm Korean (age 16 [in US]-high school student), and I've very interested by these american's comments. I'm not good at English, anyway I'm write.
Actually, I've stolen my identities by chinese, and I was surprised(So do all Koreans). Because, In Korea, All of using internet is related to private identities.(Actually, It can be registered most sites by SSN only. Now, By this event, Many major sites established 'cell phone attestation')
Chinese hackers, They put 'malignant codes' in the Korean's sites and steal the identities(especially SSN codes). And they register the Korean game sites and utilize the ID that Koreans never made. And then, A Chinese make 'workshop' only for money(They can earn money on Lineage more than 5 times on their normal company). The Chinese Workers, who play over 16 hours, only concentrate on earning money and stealing monsters. I know this weird happenings are occuring in WOW, too.
My friends who had been played Lineage were annoyed by Chinese, Because, you know, they were stolen their items, money, and monsters by Stupid 'workshop'!
But, Korean teenagers, we have been indifferenced to lineage for many years.
Because, We are now playing other games.
[For instance, Kart-Rider(online racing game), Special Force or Sudden Attack (FPS), Reign of Chaos(Warcraft 3 ex.;usually playing with friends in Internet Cafe) or StarCraft(because of progamers in tournaments which cable game ch. holds), Granadoespada or Zera(new MMORPG)]
So, We are shocked.
Anyway, in conclusion, It is NOT 'a few' chinese workers. And I'm very annoyed to these chinese workers.
You must understand this conditions, and please punish them!
I'm so tired, writing this comment...;
cyrollin @ Mar 21st 2006 10:23AM
say fucking stealing your monsters and money. For you, korean, you know all? fucking, and fucking....
Gauge @ Apr 4th 2006 2:07PM
This is actually a larger problem then people think. If you played mmorpg's you would understand. I know its racist, but it is an almost exclusively chinese practice. There is the same problem in the american lineage 2, however NCsoft does not really care about americans so we get the short end of the stick.
Whatever @ Apr 5th 2006 3:48PM
First of all, the truth is almost all MMORPG(Massive Multiplay Online Role Play Game) games with item/money depended while it's not so easy to earn expensive gears are infested with gold farmers who have 1 goal only - farm ingame gold and items and sell for real money. I had been playing lineage2 for 2 years, it is filled with bots controlled by farmers. I know the negative effect these farmers brought in, they take over the best spots, not allow real players to be there, and steal drops, sometimes even scam in game, or even steal accounts. They are not only screw up ingame economies, but also interfering with normal players' game play in case of taking over farming spots and steal drops. Sadly the truth is, most of these farmers are from China.
But keep in mind, while they are Chinese farmers, they are only a very very small percentage of the entire China's population. How many Chinese video game gold farmers do you think there are? I would say it is impossible to have mroe than 100,000 in total in ALL games combine. And how many % of these 100k farmers are within 1.3 billion Chinese population? Isn't it somewhere around 0.007%?
How could some people judge the entire population based on 0.007% of them??
I too suffered and hated when playing Lineage2, the screwed up economy(lazy players don't earn their stuff, they buy from farmers with real money, it cause HUGE ingame inflation, price of important ingame items go up...way up. it made things harder for honest players.) And I too was mad when a farmer tried to kick me out of a leveling spot. Me too was angry when a farmer scammed some items of a friend of mine.
Guess what??? I am a Chinese!
I am a totally honest player. Against all bad behavors. I was suprised when people on the server started to talking lots of crap about Chinese farmers, because I have never heard about such thing(farm gold in game and sell for real money) before. I wouldn't believe it until I went through lower level areas and saw it for myself.
Yes I know there seems to be more than just a few Chinese farmers, I know there are A LOT! But like I said, do one educated guess there won't be more than 100k of them in total from ALL games.
My point is, stop judging the entire population on a few trash who are too low educated and can't find a real job! Rest of us(Chinese) which are the majority do not want to be blamed for a few trash that have no relationship with us at all. Not to mention the fact most Chinese don't even play video games or even interested in them. Like in every other country, majority people have all kinds of normal jobs, and there are a few trash who can't do anything but earn money the dirty way.
The one of the person above who were talking trash about the entire population and and even related the Chinese economy andthe Chinese govement is really "smart".
On the other hand, don't blame everything on the farmers though they are annoying and most of them are so rude because of what they are (poorly educated, probably dropped out of middleschool, can't find a real job), anyway what I try to say is the source for having this farmer problem is really
1. The game design.
Why some games have SO many farmers? while some other games have none? Because of the game design! Game like Lineage2 is quite stupid on economy part, nobody can get everything on their own, they have to relay on months and months farming to just to get a chance to craft something they want. It's not even funny.
2. The cheating players.
No buyer, no market, = no seller. Since there are more than a few players willing to play real money for some video game gold and items, there will always be farmers as long as there is the demand for it.
Can't you see it now? The game design and the cheaters are made farming possible.
Blame the game design, blame the cheaters, blame the Chinese FARMERS, not the entire innocent chinese population. And don't even think about these 100k trash have any impact on the Chinese economy or would have the support of Chinese goverment...(cough at Mack Swift) My dog was hit by a car, it must be the evil commie Chinese goverment behind it!!!
That was all I want to say.
Whatever @ Apr 5th 2006 4:16PM
There is a difference in the defination between "Chinese players" and "Chinese farmers". Farmers are not there to "PLAY" the game, they are only there to make money. They are not nor were going to have fun with the games. Since they are not "playing", they are NOT players. While the Chinese "players" are normal players, who are playing the game for fun.
Don't mix these 2 total different things.
As the matter of fact, stealing loot, ingame scam, account theft, totally exist among western players as well, though most of them don't do it for real world money but simply being lazy on earning their ingame items the honorable way. I know it as a fact because we have encountered it many times. The % Chinese players who are doing the same thing won't be more than western players. Keep in mind, Chinese FARMERs don't count here, as they are not "players".