[AznJamesstars123]

---Chinese MMORPG laws---

Though still unclear about the 403 error, the writer is still trying to gather information for all those suffering from the same error that the writer is having. It maybe completely possible that Fiesta is banning all Chinese IP Addresses and this brings forth a question as to why? Obviously as Fiesta addicts we would question why our beloved game is now banning us. The writer is completely and absolutely certain that the players that are faced with the 403 error abided by the "terms of condition" that the game states and followed the Rules and Regulations that Fiesta uses to keep the game at a peaceful atmosphere. Henceforth the writer will display some findings and articles that were found and hopefully these will give insight to those fellow players that are no longer able to play this game. China being in it's current capitalist communism state has declared several laws or advises for the gaming world.

-~ The Three Hour Law ~-

The news that China's government is planning to limit online game players' virtual sessions to three-hours per day has ricocheted around the web-waves, resulting in commentary and occasional outrage by Western bloggers horrified at the nanny-state tactics of the Chinese, ahem, Reds. True, this kind of thing wouldn't go down well in the UK, the US, Oz and other areas of capitalist, individualist ideology, but the situation is rather different on the (relative) other side of the world, as news stories and first-hand accounts demonstrate on a regular basis.

Firstly, it's difficult to comprehend the role that online games play in the everyday lives of Chinese people, but it's pretty evident that their MMOG market is pretty hefty, with hundreds of viable products raking in subscriptions (and hundreds more to come). Secondly, the only place that has witnessed dramatic, legal real-life consequences from online game play has been in China. Let's not forget the headlines made last week about the arrest of an online mugger, or the suspended life sentence of a man who murdered another player for a stolen virtual sword, or the $1,200 recompense that Li Hongchen won from Chinese game publishers because someone had hacked into his online game account.

Sure, the Chinese government's response appears to be dramatic, but this is the same government which controls which games get made (and made), which games get banned, and has already set up clinics for "addicted" online game players.

But for those of us with Western proclivities, there is already Chinese gamer consternation in the ranks.

-~ Male Playing Female Characters Law ~-

Obviously not as sensitive to the needs of transgendered gamers as we in the west, it would seem that Chinese game companies take a dim view of males who want to be females -- in computer games, at least. Such as Chinese MMORPG King of the World won't accept male players masquerading as female characters and is putting a stop to such shenanigans.

Aurora Technology, a subsidiary of Shanda and developer of the game, is freezing the accounts of male gamers with female avatars, and anybody who chooses to play as a female in the game will have to prove they are of permitted gender via webcam. While nonsensical to us, you have to remember that China does love its reckless regulations, so this could almost seem normal coming from the land where skeletons are outlawed in World of Warcraft. Of course, the rules could just be a scam to get webcam shots of gamer girls for the developers.

-~China’s New imposed Law~-

China planned to impose a new law which would require that online computer games generate half-points after three hours of play, and zero points after five hours. Games that did not comply would be shut down.
According to China Daily, the law went into effect on July 17. A few Interesting outtakes from the article.
“The government guidelines don’t flat-out denounce Internet gaming, which has become a popular pastime, stating, “measured gaming is good for the brain, but gaming addiction hurts the body.”
The explanation says the three-hour cutoff is based on the time it takes to play a game of the strategy chess game Go.
Shanghai-based gaming company The9, which runs the popular “World of Warcraft” game in China, said on its Web site it was scheduled to launch the screening software this past Saturday at midnight. The world’s most popular online game has more than 3.5 million players in China.”
“President Hu Jintao ordered regulators in January to promote a "healthy online culture" to protect the government's stability, according to state media. And he was quoted in state media in April as urging Communist Party leaders to "curb the spread of decadent and backward ideological and cultural material online."
Though China's communist government promotes Internet use, it has also set up an extensive surveillance and filtering system to prevent Chinese from accessing material considered obscene or politically subversive.
The government has also banned local authorities from approving new Internet cafes this year.

-~China says “No” to PKing (PvP) Minors in MMORPGs~-

China has launched a crackdown on massively multiplayer online games which have become extremely popular over there. According to Chinese publication Interfax, authorities unveiled new regulations that will prohibit minors under the age of 18 [as opposed to minors over the age of 18 -Ed] from playing violent online games that allow them to kill other players in what is known commonly as Player vs. Player (PvP) in the west, though Chinese authorities have termed it "Player Kills" (PK).
They plan to enforce this by having all MMORPG users authenticate their age by entering their personal identity number on their national ID card.
"Minors should not be allowed to play online games that have PK content, that allow players to increase the power of their own online game characters by killing other players," Liu Shifa, head of the MOC's Internet Culture Division, which drafts policies governing the online gaming market, told Interfax. "Online games that have PK content usually also contain acts of violence and leads to players spending too much time trying to increase the power of their characters. They are harmful to young people."
15.8% of the 103 million Chinese internet users are aged under 18, and nearly half of all China’s 20 million online videogamers prefer MMO games to any other type of online game. The Chinese online gaming market generated RMB 2.47bn ($304m) in sales revenue last year and is expected to see RMB 10.9bn ($1.34m) in sales revenue for 2005, according to China's General Administration of Press and Publication.
In addition, Chinese authorities have also ordered online game operators to install timing mechanisms that will automatically log players off of online games once they have exceeded a set number of hours of continuous play, with Chinese gamers on average spending 10.9 hours a week playing online games.
This is all part of a major crackdown in China to control the exploding online videogame market in the same way that the Chinese government has strict controls on the internet itself, though videogame operators are reluctant to implement the laws knowing what it will do to their business.
One of the more amusing things we find in this story is that whilst many will bemoan that this is undemocratic government censorship, many of the steps taken by the Chinese government this week are steps that anti-videogame campaigners, among them red-blooded American capitalists, have been pressing for extremely hard since the Hot Coffeegate scandal, to say nothing of the use the Chinese have found for their national ID cards...

Notes from the Writer~

It is completely understandable why people from the "west" would ban Chinese IP Addresses due to these articles seen above. The writer guesses that they just do not want to deal with all these foolishness that the Chinese Government provides. Games such as World of Warcraft having to change its characters, outlook, or its designs to fit the Chinese standards is ridiculous and an alienation of the reader’s basic human rights. We as people should strive to be free, not free from the fundamental laws of humanity, but free to express ourselves. The audience should not be oppressed by the government.
It is as hard for the writer to grapple with these ideas as it is for the reader reading. It is true however that Many games such as Fiesta itself spawned from the East. Many MMORPGs come from Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea.
It was hard for the writer to compile these information because many of the websites concerning these issues were censored.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Chengdu China

Bibliography:

Note~ Due to Censorship from the Chinese Government MANY useful resources are Censored and their websites CANNOT be displayed.

Source: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/ar...urprising.html
Source: CNN.com
Source: BBC.com
Source: http://www.destructoid.com/chinese-m...es-46273.phtml
Source: http://www.chinadaily.net/china/2007...nt_5438062.htm
Source: http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/24...se-gaming-law/
Source: www.msnbc.com
Source: chinadialy.com

An interesting Read for those needing more detail (Not Censored)

Website: http://www.gamecensorship.com/mmorpglaw.html

Censorship of Games

Website: http://kotaku.com/gaming/only-in-chi...hip-305004.php