Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing: Analysis of Virtual Market Data

We analyze a unique data set from a massively-multiplayer online video game economy called The Kingdom of Loathing to assess the viability of these markets in conducting economic research. The data consist of every transaction in a market with over one million players over three years of real time. We find that 1) the game markets are efficient, 2) the complexity of the product determines information diffusion times, and 3) we can classify which and how players participate in trade.

A World of Peace Under the Rule of Law: The View from Europe

The topic which has been entrusted to me, A World of Peace Under the Rule of Law —The View from Europe, carries quite a heavy burden. Sixty years after the end of the Nürnberg Trials, this invitation to discuss a global rule of law demonstrates a substantial amount of trust in the German people, who come from a country where the Nazis had abolished every democratic principle and eliminated all individual liberties by dissolving the separation of power. Although sixty years is a long time in the case of our individual lives, the recent discussion about a German military contribution to the enforcement of Security Council Resolution 1701,2 and the deployment of German troops to the Middle East region as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) engagement, demonstrates that in the context of international relations, sixty years is but a short moment, like the blink of an eye. Taking all this into account, I will endeavour to reflect on the experiences and lessons learned, or not learned, from the past sixty years from a German’s viewpoint

The Nuremberg Trials: International Criminal Law Since 1945

60 years after the trials of the main German war criminals, the articles in this book attempt to assess the Nuremberg Trials from a historical and legal point of view, and to illustrate connections, contradictions and consequences. In view of constantly reoccurring reports of mass crimes from all over the world, we have only reached the halfway point in the quest for an effective system of international criminal justice. With the legacy of Nuremberg in mind, this volume is a contribution to the search for answers to questions of how the law can be applied effectively and those committing crimes against humanity be brought to justice for their actions

Social Capital and Online Games

We use data from an online game economy and econometric matching methods to test whether social capital of players has an impact on game success. Membership in a 'clan', a voluntary organization of players, positively impacts game success. Hence, social capital has a positive effect on outcomes. Yet, top performers do not gain from access to this social capital

Reward Prediction Error in Online Game Trades

We use trade data from an online game economy to test the 'dopaminergic reward prediction error' (DRPE) hypothesis: upon buying a game item at a price which is obviously too low, a player should become more active in the trading market. We find that players are more willing to buy goods in the in-game market after such an trade incident. Hence, the effect predicted by the DRPE model is visible. Yet, contrary to the prediction of DRPE, the magnitude of the prediction error does not have any effect on the post-error trading activity

Lernen von Nürnberg

The significance of the trial against the major Nazi war criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg can be shown in four different ways: (1) impunity for heads of state and other members of the military or political elite of a state does not apply to a set of core international crimes. (2) There exist a number of crimes which are universally accepted as international crimes, which are aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The crime of genocide was added to the list of these Nuremberg-crimes by the so-called genocide convention of 1948. (3) The attribution of guilt follows a set of general principles of criminal law as e. g. the mens rea-principle. In general »superior order« cannot operate as an excuse; similarly a military or political commander can be held responsible for the conduct of his subordinate. A rather difficult and contested issue is the attribution of guilt by means of »conspiracy« as was foreseen in the Charter of the IMT. Modern international criminal law follows a similar concept, which is called »joint criminal enterprise«, as is found in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The crucial issue in attributing guilt thereby lies in the »common plan«, whereas the actual conduct is of minor relevance. (4) Finally, the Nuremberg proceedings have shown that in principle a criminal trial must be fair and must adhere to the presumption of innocence. However, it is difficult to prove whether a criminal trial can add to reconciliation and to preventing future crimes. Although it is fair to say that Nuremberg was the beginning of a prosperous time for Europe, criminal prosecution is not always an adequate way to help societies in transition

Social Capital and Online Games

We use data from an online game economy and econometric matching methods to test whether social capital of players has an impact on game success. Membership in a 'clan', a voluntary organization of players, positively impacts game success. Hence, social capital has a positive effect on outcomes. Yet, top performers do not gain from access to this social capital.

Reward Prediction Error in Online Game Trades

We use trade data from an online game economy to test the 'dopaminergic reward prediction error' (DRPE) hypothesis: upon buying a game item at a price which is obviously too low, a player should become more active in the trading market. We find that players are more willing to buy goods in the in-game market after such an trade incident. Hence, the effect predicted by the DRPE model is visible. Yet, contrary to the prediction of DRPE, the magnitude of the prediction error does not have any effect on the post-error trading activity.

Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing : Analysis of Virtual Market Data

We analyze a unique data set from a massively-multiplayer online video game economy called The Kingdom of Loathing to assess the viability of these markets in conducting economic research. The data consist of every transaction in a market with over one million players over three years of real time. We find that 1) the game markets are efficient, 2) the complexity of the product determines information diffusion times, and 3) we can classify which and how players participate in trade