proves my point that the game itself does not recognize scamming as an offense and requires an external power to put a stop to it. I.e, imagine an unmoderated server, free from oversight. At that point, only the ones with the Sigma Grindset who are unbound by moral constraints and are solely grinding towards the accumulation of wealth and power regardless of “right or wrong” could “WIN” the game, so to speak.
That’s because whether or not something is a scam depends on things like context, intent and consent. Like, suppose I give another player a set of full rune for nothing in return. The game can’t tell if I’m helping a friend out, or if I’ve fallen for a “free armour trimming” scam. This is because there are components of the trade that exist outside of the game’s code.
In single player video Games, it never becomes excessive and that’s by design. However in a virtual world where you’re interacting with REAL PEOPLE in a competitive setting then someone’s gain will most likely be another’s loss. IF the idea of a video game is for as many people to have an enjoyable a time as possible, then the Min-Max, Meta Player who plays to win and ruins everyone’s fun then their continual success would seem “excessive” but AGAIN, the game itself wouldn’t recognize it.
It depends on how much of a zero-sum game it is. In a game like Monopoly and Risk, the majority of your gains will be someone else’s loss.
But then you have games like Settlers of Catan. Sure, there’s competition for access to resources. Sure, there’s The Robber, knight cards and the Monopoly card. But the vast majority of each player’s gains are on separate, independent tracks.
So the real question is: from a pragmatic standpoint, how much should you care about the success of others? Catan has ways of punishing whoever’s in the lead, but you’d only care because you want to prevent other players from achieving a win condition. But if I’m playing an MMO, why should I care how rich some players are when it has zero effect on my enjoyment?
So you have a dilemma:
Do you WIN, per the game’s design and therefore, you’re actually playing the game as designed OR, do you have fun, per the developer’s intention and therefore you’re playing the game as intended.
If the game is designed well, those things shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.