Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2011 A study on trading scams in massively multiplayer online role-playing games and risk mitigation techniques Timothy Lee Meyer Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Meyer, Timothy Lee, "A study on trading scams in massively multiplayer online role-playing games and risk mitigation techniques" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10051. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10051 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A study on trading scams in massively multiplayer online role-playing games and risk mitigation techniques by Timothy Lee Meyer A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Co-majors: Information Assurance Computer Engineering Program of Study Committee: Yong Guan, Major Professor Joseph Zambreno Phillip Jones Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2011 Copyright c Timothy Lee Meyer, 2011. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES . vi LIST OF FIGURES . vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . viii ABSTRACT . ix CHAPTER 1. OVERVIEW . 1 1.1 Introduction . .1 CHAPTER 2. MMORPG BACKGROUND . 3 2.1 Gameplay . .3 2.2 MMORPG Business Models . .3 2.3 Motivation to Acquire Virtual Goods . .4 2.4 Economic Problems . .4 2.4.1 Definitions . .4 2.4.2 Problems . .4 CHAPTER 3. MMORPG SCAMS . 6 3.1 Importance . .6 3.2 Motivation . .6 3.2.1 Virtual Wealth . .6 3.2.2 User Accounts / Characters . .7 3.2.3 Competitive Advantage . .8 3.3 Cheating in Online Games . .8 3.3.1 Cheating Related to Virtual Assets . .9 iii 3.4 Taxonomy Categories . 10 3.5 Classification by Target . 10 3.6 Classification by Objective . 12 3.7 Classification by Strategy . 14 CHAPTER 4. CURRENT DEFENSE MECHANISMS . 18 4.1 Research . 18 4.2 Defense Categories . 18 4.2.1 Defense by Prevention . 18 4.2.2 Defense by Mitigating Risk . 20 4.2.3 Defense by Remedy . 21 CHAPTER 5. SCAM MITIGATION METHOD . 22 5.1 Trade Protocol Advancement . 22 5.2 Benefits . 22 5.3 Infrastructure . 23 5.4 Client Interaction . 25 5.5 Barter Service . 25 5.6 Market Service . 27 5.7 Contract Service . 30 5.8 Market and Contract Service Operations . 34 5.9 Advantages . 34 5.9.1 Independent . 34 5.9.2 Logging Abilities . 34 CHAPTER 6. TEXT-BASED MITIGATION IMPLEMENTATION . 35 6.1 Setup / Infrastructure . 35 6.2 Client-Server Communication . 35 6.3 Trade Services . 35 6.3.1 Initialization . 35 6.3.2 Service Initialization . 36 iv 6.3.3 Barter Service . 37 6.3.4 Market Service . 38 6.3.5 Contract Service . 40 6.4 Testing . 44 6.4.1 Authentication and Service Selection . 44 6.4.2 Barter Testing . 45 6.4.3 Market Testing . 45 6.4.4 Contract Testing . 47 6.5 Results . 48 6.5.1 Overall System Results . 48 6.5.2 Barter Service Results . 48 6.5.3 Market Service Results . 48 6.5.4 Contract Service Results . 49 CHAPTER 7. MMORPG MITIGATION IMPLEMENTATION . 50 7.1 Background . 50 7.2 Implementation Reviews . 50 7.2.1 Alien Arena . 50 7.2.2 0 A.D . 50 7.2.3 WorldsForge . 51 7.2.4 Planeshift . 51 7.3 Eclipse Origins . 52 7.3.1 Results . 54 CHAPTER 8. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS . 55 8.1 MMO's Embracing Scamming . 55 CHAPTER 9. SUMMARY AND FUTURE WORK . 56 9.1 Summary . 56 9.2 Future Work . 56 9.2.1 Efficiency . 56 v 9.2.2 Multi-Server Implementation . 56 9.2.3 Contract Requirements Checklist . 57 9.2.4 Prestige . 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 58 vi LIST OF TABLES 6.1 Testing of Authentication and Setup . 45 6.2 Barter Service Testing . 45 6.3 Market Service Testing . 46 6.4 Contract Service Testing . 47 vii LIST OF FIGURES 3.1 Bots promoting a blackmarket web site. .7 3.2 Graphical view of the Target Classification. 12 3.3 Graphical view of the Objective Classification. 14 3.4 Graphical view of the Strategy Classification. 17 4.1 Security Guide in Runescape . 19 5.1 System Architecture Overview . 24 6.1 Barter Flow Chart . 37 6.2 Market Flow Chart . 39 6.3 Contract Flow Chart . 40 6.4 Creation of an Acquire Contract. 41 6.5 Bidding on an Acquire Contract. 42 6.6 Completion of an Acquire Contract. 43 7.1 Eclipse Origins 2-player trade . 53 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who helped me with my work throughout my research. First, I would like to thank my major professor Dr. Yong Guan for all of his work and advise over the last semester in progressing towards the completion of my thesis. His knowledge and time spent working with me over the last semester has been greatly appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Joseph Zambreno and Dr. Phillip Jones for being committee members on my thesis work..