Tragic end to gamers' dispute

A gamer in China killed a fellow player for selling something that never really existed for real money. "Qui Chengwei stabbed Zhu Caoyuan in the chest when he found out Zhu had sold his virtual sword for 7,200 Yuan [about $870]," the BBC reports. Qui had loaned Zhu the sword. It was a "gaming artifact," a weapon that Qui's character had won in the process of playing the popular multiplayer online fantasy game "Legend of Mir 3." "Attempts to take the dispute to the police failed because there is currently no law in China to protect virtual property," according to the BBC. South Korea, on the other hand, does have a law enforcement unit that investigates "in-game crime." Qui has been given a suspended death sentence for killing Zhu, who was 26. Here's MMORPG.com's description of the game. This is probably indication enough of how much gamers value gaming artifacts, but the BBC reports that they are "a booming business on the Web," eBay's Internet games section having seen revenues of $9 million even as far back as 2003.