http://goggyfour.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/just-a-game/

I know this article is for a certain game; however, I believe it can be applied to any MMO.

Personally, I feel that comment is just an excuse to be rude and seek achievements perhaps through illegal methods(aka hacking). It also attempts to cancel out that there is indeed a human being on the other side of the avatar in any online game.

Point of the Article:

What the guy is trying to say is, people use the excuse "Just a game" to justify negative behavior such as improper game etiquette, rudeness, and hacking. However, the fact that a community is also in the game combats this, and an MMO is simultaneously a game and a community at once.

It sounds wrong to say, "It's just an old lady!" if mugging her. It's not acceptable in a community.

However, kill-stealing from someone, hacking, or otherwise ruining the playtime of another over an MMO seems acceptable because it is "Just a game". Though the game is the means through which people communicate in this instance, people exist past the polygons and pixels.

I'm not sure I understand what the article is saying, but the author seems to think that his interpretation that it is "not just a game" should be universal just like is implied by those who say "it is just a game". In actuallity, each individual perspective of what it is IS different so both sides need not maintain that everyone think of it in the same way they do. It becomes up to moderators to enforce rules and/or gamers to decide if they want to continue to play it.

I started reading not understanding what was the point, but I have to agree.
I could also see it this way: You may go the a forum (another type of online community) and some users start spamming the forum to death. They could say "Chill, it's just a board."
So, yeah, you can just stop going to that forum, and search for another, but you don't want to, because you feel already part of a community.
Things are different when there's a community involved. Online or offline.
At least that's what I think.

Perhaps we need a summary to understand what the topic should be discussing. Because personally, I don't understand the point the guy in the link is trying to say.

From what I understood, is that in response to all the Hacking and cheating in Maple Story, it's just wrong to say "Who cares? It's just a game" since it's also an online gaming community

I like this person.