A compleat online/MMO gamer is uber-competitive. If you miss a day in leveling up, your competitors (the other players, factions or guilds) have an advantage over you. They level up faster and thus have more chance to get good drops and more upgrades to either stats and skills.

Here in the Philippines, it is common for several players to share an account so that it IS online most of the time. If you can break down the online time to 24/7 then the “advantage” that you build against others increases tenfold. Some people resort to third party programs such as bots – now that’s ILLEGAL and for me, it’s cheating.

For some of the games, the common practice is “piloting”. It’s become popular these days that some groups and even Internet cafes have sprung up and offer it as a side business. The rules covering it are vague and, in my humble opinion, in the gray area.

I’d like to share with you some facts and my personal opinions on the matter.

More after one more click.

WHAT IS PILOTING?

Piloting can be defined as hiring someone to play your character when you are away. There are different rates. Some have offer a “per level” rate while others offer a “package” consisting of either specific level and build requirements. Still, others will offer you a farming rate.

How much do they cost? It depends. I haven’t exactly spoken to actual pilot or someone who hires them but some of my friends have said that it costs several thousand pesos a month depending on the package or requirement(s). The cost of renting out the cafe and sometimes the top-up card is included in this. The pilot will then effectively compute how much his net earnings will be. It’s basically gross less his expenses such as food, cafe rental and sometimes load.

THE RISKS OF PILOTING 

Now, let’s try to enumerate some of the facts, risks, and problems of piloting

• You risk your character (and his stuff) – greed is the root of all evil, my friends. Your pilot is a stranger. There’s a possibility of theft. It’s your risk, your loss. Not mine.
• Chat – when you chat, you have your own personality and you know who your online friends are. If your pilot screws up what will happen to you and your reputation? In the first place, is he allowed to chat in your behalf?
• Ban – if your pilot exploits a bug or does something that breaks one of the game rules, it is YOUR character that gets banned. And besides, you can’t appeal for something that you did not do.
• Account Compromise – most MMO games (ours included) will automatically invalidate your claim for account data compromise (change email, password or secret answer/question) when it finds out that you have a pilot. Companies cannot leave out the possibility of collusion or compromise between your pilot and another. Sorry. That’s simply that.

There could be others. Perhaps, you guys can share.

The bottom line then, is, is it all worth it? Is having an advantage worth all the risks above?

Sound off below. I’d love to hear your comments, especially if you (or you know someone) practice this local MMO “backyard industry” called piloting.

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