I agree that there has to be some moderation system. But its interesting that we've never seen it come to fruition on MMORPGs. We've seen it work with community based sites (like Neopets) which actually balance their entire world on user-generated content and feedback, but nothing as dynamic as WoW.

I agree that user generated content is the future, but think that it needs some serious controls put in place to avoid scenarios such as the ones plover points out.

On a more fiscally related note though, if MMORPGs did start to allow user submitted content, then would it be right to continue their pricing structure? Therein lies another discussion!

Thanks for that volsung, a really detailed post. I've been thinking about picking up a DX for a while now, so this article really got my attention. I really WANT one of these things, and am just trying to justify NEEDING one. It's a slow process, especially with a $500 price tag and no immediate availability, but I'll get there :).

I've just sent a note to Be referencing this story. There is just so much to be concerned about here, the sheer fact that this article has been arbitrarily censored is bad enough, but the crude blocking method and lack of any communications with members just adds insult to injury.

Apparently, you can Be anywhere, just don't BeThere.

Makes for interesting reading... even if it is Verisign's! I would have thought China would take a more proactive role in monitoring its domain names, especially being such a closed and censored country.

I've had to register some pretty interesting domains in the past; some country level registrars will make you jump through exorbitant amount of hoops before processing your application while others will simply refuse unless you can prove physical residency.

It does make you wonder whether China has fallen into this trap accidentally, or if they have been enjoying the revenue a little too much?