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  1. #21
    Mechagnome Ineko's Avatar
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    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?

    Around 3000 hours. Probably 5k+ if you include all of my characters.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?

    Not really. I mean there's a little more there because of the amount of time I've dedicated to it.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?

    Doesn't really bother me to be honest.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?

    Yes.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?

    Not so much a part of me, but I'd feel as if a lot of time has been wasted.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)

    A product that I've worked on.
    Last edited by Ineko; 2014-04-21 at 02:30 PM.

  2. #22
    Memory, you can give a rough guestimate, that's perfectly acceptable.

    Gimlix, me too And thank you! (And everyone else - appreciate the effort you guys are showing!).

  3. #23
    Brewmaster Nivena's Avatar
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    Edit - As per Gimlix's suggestion, here are the questions (if you respond, please provide the name (no armory links needed) of your character of choice - otherwise I'll use the MMOChamp username by default):

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    Last time I checked I was at 56days on my shaman main & ~30days on my Paladin. That was around a year ago. I started playing in 2007 and gave the account to a friend of mine. Started from scratch in 2010.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    Definately, my main character is somehow a part of my 'identity'? This is wierd.... It's just something which went with me through puberty up to where I am now.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    Blizzard as stated in the AGB* (don't know what the abbrevation is in english...the stuff you always skip before accepting at the bottom).

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken? Yes, but if it does not get hacked and I know that my character will stay the same then it wouldn't be bothered too much. When (and if) I quit wow, I would like to leave my characters behind knowing they are frozen in time and will remain 'there' forever.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Yes, since my wow experience is something which accompanied me for so long now.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    I would say as a character with which I discovered a world and went through a lot.


    Thanks again to all who choose to assist!

    *AGB (allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen) = general terms and conditions in english
    Last edited by Nivena; 2014-04-21 at 04:21 PM.

  4. #24
    Deleted
    Could persons who've not played since around 2012 (but considering a return) also reply, or does it have to active players?

  5. #25
    Everyone's who's ever played for at least some time.

  6. #26
    Deleted
    Name of character: Aqiz

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    Hmm. I think I got around 1-2 years of play time on my whole account over 6-7 years, with a few breaks. So let’s say ca. 450 days, though I might remember wrong. That’s equal to 10800 hours…


    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    Yeah, I viewed it as a hobby (and still do when looking back), and therefore it’s not even comparable to the figure I control when playing Counter-Strike, LoL, RTS-games or anything else.


    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    Well, I think we, the players, should be the owners of our characters. Why? Well, we have bought the product that is their game, and when we buy a product, I think we should be allowed to use our product. It’s the only thing I can think of, that I’ve bought, where I can’t use my product without paying even more.


    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?

    Well, first of all I don’t know if I would use the word “work” per se (not native English-speaker). Though, that might be difference in language. I would rather say that I would feel my hobby was taken away, that the time and memories I’ve put into my account, was taken away.


    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Hard question. Might be because I think it a bit philosophical, though Law, at least what a friend told me who have studied it, is also quite philosophical (e.g. discussing if a cat can be viewed as a pet or not in relation to being able to determined who should pay in the event of a car accident caused by the cat). Because, how do I define “me”, if such an entity exist? Or where does one self, me, end? Am I only my body, or am I also my actions, perhaps the manifestation of my actions? If the last one is the case, then the answer is yes, though I think I’ve trailed off.
    So my initial though was: no. Since I don’t view my account as a part of me. Though again, hard question.


    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)

    Oh… I need to learn to read all questions first I see.
    Hard question again. I don’t think I view it as an extension of myself. Though, I think I can view it as something I have a relation with, as a kind of sum of some of my actions, in a manifestation, that have become more than just the sum of my actions.
    Though, I do not view as a product either. It’s not only something I have produced, in the sense that it is a product which I have created and now can either: use, leave, sell (not allowed with WoW characters I know), give away etc. The relation I feel I have with that entity is not one that allows me to do so (at least not yet, even after 2 years of no play time). There is something that makes me not delete my account, even though I never thought I would return to WoW, and actually would not have, was it not due to some social stuff.
    So perhaps my view can be summed up as: A non-living travel-partner on my journey in WoW (inspired from Nivenas answer).

  7. #27
    Bloodsail Admiral Saeran's Avatar
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    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?

    I have around 500 or so days played across all my characters

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?

    Yes, even though non-gamers will probably think it sad, I feel that the characters and the time invested is an expansion of myself :P When I was very seriously ill, and thought for a time I might not recover, I parked all my characters in Nagrand on a floating island so that they would have a glorious view for eternity. Glad to say that they aren't there any more

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?

    Even though 'legally' Blizzard own the account, the achievement is owned by me

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?

    Yes, very much so if it was a totally invalid reason

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?

    Yes, I would feel part of my life that I have so many enjoyable memories from would be missing.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)

    Definitely an extension of me. Even my character names have a real-life reasoning behind them.
    Last edited by Saeran; 2014-04-21 at 05:21 PM.

  8. #28
    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?

    800+ days /played, not sure the specific amount anymore. Playing since vanilla.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?

    I don't feel like the characters themselves are anything more than tools I use. What is done by the character is obviously an extension of myself with how play and what I do.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    I wouldn't mind it being "mine", but Blizzard would run in to legal issues with banning and such if players "owned" their accounts. I personally don't care who owns it as long as Blizzard doesn't randomly ban for no reason and such.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?

    Of course, I put tons of time in to this game. I would be royally pissed if they just took it away for nothing because I actively make sure not to do anything ban worthy on my WoW account.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Not overly. I'd be pissed because I know the value of my account should I sell it. Not that I'm ever going to do it, I've just looked up how much it would be for reference sake and I'd be rather mad should it happen for no reason, but not feel like I'm missing something other than the dollar amount I know its worth.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)

    Depends what I'm doing. In my general interaction with other players/guild, it's an extension of me. If its just my character existing, its a product of my work.

  9. #29
    Name: Alocin,

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    Hours, well that's too many to say but I know I have about 150 days played across all my toons. So what about 3,600 hours.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    Absolutely, if you ask anyone who has been hacked they describe it as being violated. I know that feeling personally from when I was hacked. My toon was stripped naked in the middle of a capital city. I couldn't help but even feel bad for my toon itself (as weird as it sounds). A person takes good care of their toon they create, you build that toon from level 1-90 and gear that toon up. You go through the good the bad and the ugly with that toon. That toon is your representation of your presence within the game. When I see a guild mate or friend log in I recall them as what their main toon is, it's like I no longer see them as John my next door neighbor, instead John is Falcore the night elf guardian druid. So yes yes and yes there is a connection between the player and his/her character.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    I feel that players should own their characters but sadly it's not the case. You don't pay for your toons to own in WoW you pay a fee to have the privilege of playing your toons. Such is the case for any subscription based content be it virtual or physical. If you pay a rent you don't own it, you may be using it, but it's not your property.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?
    Absolutely.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Yes, it's years worth of playing the game that now you no longer have access to. Its not as simple as buying a new account, you've lost the characters, achievements on that character/account.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    Characters are a virtual extension of the physical person. WoW toons are avatars, they are what people can use as a physical representation of who/what you are. The characters achievements, mounts, pets, gear, etc are all things you've worked hard to get.

  10. #30
    Name: Memory.

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    Circa 500 days all over my toons.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    Yes. I would say that the difference between a puppet and my characters is that my characters were significantly 'customized' over a long timespan. They're more like a glove that I made with someone's else wool with their agreement, while the wool is still attached to their sheep.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    I don't think that I should be the legal owner of the plain characters, but I believe that I should be granted specific rights over the elements of my customization.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?
    Yes. Blizzard's reasons for taking action are often something that I would consider unreasonable or however not the best course of action. I guess I would feel like my work was taken.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    I don't play actively anymore. Also back then when I played actively, I doubt I would think that a part of me went missing. I would probably feel as I received an unjust damage, though.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    I see them as a tool, as a pass, but a unique one, something that I have customized.

  11. #31
    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    Roughly 450 days played, or 10800 hours. 168 days played on my original character, or 4032 hours.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    To the physical character itself not really, to the persona of my character there is some attachment since it is a product of my creation.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why? Blizzard should be the legal owner of the characters. The way I view the situation is that we are paying Blizzard to use the tools to create a character. Almost everything you "gain" or "accomplish" is created by blizzard. Every piece of gear, every achievement, every monster you kill. Blizzard made the tool for you do that. With that said, I think there are two sides to the argument, the social and the physical. Players should own the rights to market their characters persona (not the physical character itself.) We already have some of that going on now with popular streamers using Blizzard games as a platform to create a persona for their characters that they can market.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?
    No, nothing on their servers belongs to me, if I bought a new account my persona could still be intact.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing? No.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    The only attachment I have would be to my original character, and only because that character had a very fleshed out persona in game and in the community.

  12. #32
    I am Murloc! Terahertz's Avatar
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    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    I'd say about 3500~ across all of my characters.
    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    No.
    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    I feel like I'm the owner of the account as well as the characters on it. Blizzard may have created the code, but I created my characters as well as developed them.
    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?
    Yes.
    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Yes.
    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    A product I have worked on more or less. It's something I've put my time into leveling up, gearing up and learning in order to be as strong and as efficient as possible.

  13. #33
    Name: Elamarya

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?
    I'd estimate around 500 days played.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?
    As a roleplayer, yes. I've developed personalities and backstories and motivations and goals for most of my characters, and they feel like more than just puppets.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?
    I feel Blizzard should remain the legal owner of the characters. If the players owned the characters, making changes to characters where needed or denying access to the game through bans could be more difficult.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?
    Not quite taken, but I'd definitely feel a lot of my time and effort had been wasted.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?
    Yes, in the form of the emotional investment I've put into my characters and their stories.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)
    I view my characters as both tools through which to experience the game and its world, and as an interweaving of personalities, motivations, and backgrounds creating an actual character living in Azeroth.

  14. #34
    Name: Moobid (active main, almost had a different main every expansion though, so hours played are across all characters)

    1. How many hours have you put into your characters (overall and roughly)?

    4500 overall, probably closer to 4000 considering AFK time.

    2. Do you feel there's more to the connection between you and your characters than just "puppeteer" and "puppet"?

    No, I do not. In fact, I feel like I'm just controlling something that is producing numbers against something else based on my input. That is, all MMO's behave in the same manner more or less with different painting or UX design on top. However, I suppose I connect with the role that my character is in and the class over others. However, that is based on the play style that I wish to play.

    3. Who do you think should be the legal owner of the characters (i.e. the current situation where Blizzard owns all accounts, should the player be the owner, etc.)? Why?

    According to the ToS, Blizzard owns the accounts. However, I think that due to the time and energy put into the "characters" that at least partial ownership should fall back to the player and that some restrictions on who plays your account should be lifted. I do not share my account with others, however, if I were to quit, I don't think I would put it past anyone to give my account to a friend/sibling, etc. I've invested the money into that account, not Blizzard. It was created by me, not them, thus I should be able to transfer that ownership to someone else. Yes, they own the copyright and IP behind everything, but the virtual "items/products" should belong to the person that created them in the first place.

    4. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though your work was taken?

    That would depend on what the reason was. If I was doing something truly unethical, I would expect that my account should be deactivated. Read: Making real life money off of in-game items, whether that be selling runs through a raid or selling gold. However, if my account was deactivated for part of what I said in question 3, I would feel that yes, part of my work was taken. As this is for a law project, I would expect that there would be a different legal outcome dependent on what the *random reason* is. Thus, if my account was deactivated due to what a reasonable person would expect their account to be deactivated over, then no, I would not feel as my work was taken.

    5. If you were to receive a message that your account has been deactivated due to *random reason*, would you feel as though a small part of you has gone missing?

    No. I might miss playing my characters due to the time I invested and having to do it all over again, but that is me missing my time invested, not really missing the character. I guess a better comparison might be that crashing my car isn't the same as losing someone close to me, such as a close friend or relative. WoW characters are just another product that I've invested time in. I may be bummed for a couple days, but no long length of time.

    6. How do you view your characters? (e.g. an extension of yourself / a product you have worked on / etc.)

    Just a product that I've worked on and that I should own to some extent, which can be seen in the answer given in question #3.
    Last edited by Moobid; 2014-04-24 at 12:27 AM.

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