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How could a game company kill the gold farmer?
Saryk
Member UncommonPosts: 476
Since we have been discussing the legal gold farming on several post. I thought I would ask the question: How could a game company kill the gold farmer?
This is my idea and not saying that this the perfect idea, but it is at least an idea.
Every time you do quest, kill a monster, or sell an item on the vendor you are given status points, money, whatever. Those points can be either used via broker or NPC vendor only. Items on the broker are sanctioned by in game mechanics that value the item you placed on the broker. Value would be materials used for item, ability, special features and rarity.
There would be two things that would be a downside. Could not send your points to an alternate character (But you could buy what ever item you wanted and give to your alt).
Or when the broker got large amounts of the same item. How would the pricing structure be implemented by rarity?
Comments
Only way to do it is to prevent the trading or posting of money between characheters. This would stop cash movement but not purchase / trade of equipment, only way to do this is to make all loot "soulbound" on pick up rather than on equip. Player made stuff then needs a different mechanic.
This is not something I would like to see in a game as I do not really care too much about ppl who buy cash or items but I understand why others do.
You could have some background code that looks a cash movements above a certain amount ( either in one go or over a space of time) coupled wit the movement of "epic / rare" items and try to find buyers this way.
personally i think SOE has the right idea. In RL it is equally true that if the market wants it, they will find a way to buy it. Therefore, dont try to stop the farners, make the purchase an in game opportunity and therefore make the farmers redundant as an option.
To err is human....to play is divine
The easiest way is to simply make ALL gold transactions ANONYMOUS. You can buy and sell all you want via the auction house or shops, but you never know WHO you're buying from or selling to. You cannot GIVE money to someone. Sellers would have no way to reliably deliver gold to customers. End of problem, economy intact.
Well, here's my solution:
If you mean how to stop gold farmers:
No ingame-trade, only auction system with items, certain item costs a minimum price, so people can't sell items for 3 mil while they are only 10 gold... example:
You put a sword up, it shows that its 1 mil ( for now, prices should be able to drop or raise depending on the amount of items boughd ). You sell the sword, then the minimum price goes to 990k.
Gold sellers cant make profit, because if they want to sell gold they need to take an item which is worth the same!
If you want to allow people to farm gold and sell it legaly:
Also you can make the same trading system as above. But then make it able to put real money in your pocket/bag so you can buy gold whenever you want. Again a minimum price to prevent the economic from dropping ( 1 mil for 5$, 2 mil for 10$ ect ect ), no ingame-trading only auction system, so people can't sell money for to cheap because that will make the economics drop.
Add these 2 togather and you have the perfect system ( atleast I hope, I'm feeling wrong about it, there's a missing link lol ).
I still think this is the best way, but it will be hard to sell/buy stuff from friends for a discount ect.
1 problem, the goldmaker can say a price like: 1421 then he looks what costs 1421 and then he pays the amount of money the costumer wants, lets say 2mil, nothing can stop that.....
Farmers will always sell for cheaper, lets say you can buy 1mil ingame for 5$.
A gold farmer will sell the same amount for 3$, so people will buy from him.
I'm not really sure how it would work - this is an idea I haven't played with too much as of yet but if you completely remove 'currency' from a game and instead evoke some sort of barter system or perhaps based on 'reputation credit' where players earn credit with merchants through their deeds.
We as human beings are used to the idea of 'money' but reall, money is worthless and just about useless paper and coin with value set upon it only because our society declares it so.
So imagine a world without such currency where you are as 'wealthy' as your reputation allows you to be through your conquests and deeds. Just a thought.
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
Currency = Reputation Credit
If people get credits, they will sell and buy it. If you don't allow that, people won't be able to sell there stuff to other players....
I hope that you know what I mean
Thats the point I was trying to get across. Food for thought though.
I still think this is the best way, but it will be hard to sell/buy stuff from friends for a discount ect.
You're right: a farmer could say "Here, take this rock and put it on the Auction house. There's none listed right now, so I'll know it's yours. I'll pay 2 mill for it."1 problem, the goldmaker can say a price like: 1421 then he looks what costs 1421 and then he pays the amount of money the costumer wants, lets say 2mil, nothing can stop that.....
But, that would be a lot easier to catch than p2p trades. You could flag or dis-allow any sales that occur outside of 3 stadard deviations of the average price of that item, and ban both parties.
Plus, I would spend all my time looking at the AH and listing items like that to try to get a dumb gold-seller to buy MY rock for 2mil by accident.... ftw.
I still think this is the best way, but it will be hard to sell/buy stuff from friends for a discount ect.
You're right: a farmer could say "Here, take this rock and put it on the Auction house. There's none listed right now, so I'll know it's yours. I'll pay 2 mill for it."1 problem, the goldmaker can say a price like: 1421 then he looks what costs 1421 and then he pays the amount of money the costumer wants, lets say 2mil, nothing can stop that.....
But, that would be a lot easier to catch than p2p trades. You could flag or dis-allow any sales that occur outside of 3 stadard deviations of the average price of that item, and ban both parties.
Thats what'I'm trying to say
You can also hire spies who search the internet for gold sellers, ask them to tell there ingame name and ban them, but goldsellers want the money first, so it's impossible to catch them.
I still think my idea is the best
Any suggestions how to improve it?
I read that Runescape implemented what I believe is the best solution.
First, no gifting of items or coin above a certain value. This would also prevent twinking which is a good thing since everyone should earn their way. Limit gifting to once every fifteen minutes per player.
Second, all trades and auction house sales must involve items/coin of similar value within x amount of value range. This would require that the developer devote staff to maintaining and updating a current item value database for each server. Not that hard to do with most items but some rare and high demand items can fluctuate in price and you don't want to stifle a player economy by limiting what a player can get for rare or high demand items.
Currency = Reputation Credit
If people get credits, they will sell and buy it. If you don't allow that, people won't be able to sell there stuff to other players....
I hope that you know what I mean
Hmm I don't think you understood what I was trying to say. You can't sell someone's reputation, it was earned through deeds... it can only be redeemed for items or what not... it is NOT currency, like gold coins/credit coins. You can't shift your reputation around. You just gain, and redeem. It's like trying to use respect as currency instead. You just CAN'T trade 'respect' with someone. You've either earned it, or you havent. You can't 'trade' your earned reputation credits. They're what YOU did which has earned you credit with npc's.
So really, the only thing someone could do, is have someone else 'powerlevel' their character and play the game for them which I've always found ridiculous but even then whoever is powerleveling would have to spend the earned reputation on bettering the character so they can advance through tougher stages of the game.
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
I've found the best solution:
Example:
A gold seller sells 2 mil for 5$. You give him the 5$ then you take the 2mil ingame, and he recalls the trade, you lost the 5$ and he got his 2mil back. This will prevent people from buying gold.
If you want to buy an item, you can recall the trade if you think your scammed or you payed to much, same story with the seller. Both players get their item and money back.
You should be able to recall within 24 hours! If you don't make the limit, you can better buy an item and give it back after a week to get your money back if the prices dropped....
Example:
You borrow a piece of armor from a friend, untill you logout or when you are online more then 24 hours. After that time, return it to the owner. ( Your friend needs to be able to recall the item at any time, so when he needs it, he can get it back )
This way you can make money on borrowing items to a friend, lets say you give your friend an item for 5% of the normal cost, you get it back when he logs of or after 24 hours. This way you made 5% of the item cost + you made your friend happy.
I can't find any wrong things in this system, tell me if you see one, and we'll see if your right!
Currency = Reputation Credit
If people get credits, they will sell and buy it. If you don't allow that, people won't be able to sell there stuff to other players....
I hope that you know what I mean
Hmm I don't think you understood what I was trying to say. You can't sell someone's reputation, it was earned through deeds... it can only be redeemed for items or what not... it is NOT currency, like gold coins/credit coins. You can't shift your reputation around. You just gain, and redeem. It's like trying to use respect as currency instead. You just CAN'T trade 'respect' with someone. You've either earned it, or you havent. You can't 'trade' your earned reputation credits. They're what YOU did which has earned you credit with npc's.
So really, the only thing someone could do, is have someone else 'powerlevel' their character and play the game for them which I've always found ridiculous but even then whoever is powerleveling would have to spend the earned reputation on bettering the character so they can advance through tougher stages of the game.
Then how do you sell/buy items from other players? It's the main aspect of a mmorpg, trading with other people.... If people won't be able to sell there stuff from monsters and bosses ect, the game will get boring FAST. And if you can only buy items from a merchant then there will be no economic at all.. which is boring too
.
Problem is, you're effectively removing the entire player economy. Lets say I farm copper (to make a simple example). Now, I create bars, which are worth say 20 status points. Now, I can only sell those for 20 status points, and thats it. My copper is exactly the same as everyone else's, at the same price, so I just wait and I'll get my points/cash.The same with the 'sword of uber-powerfulness
No bargins, no bulk discounts, no suprises.
It also ruins community, as you couldn't give items to your guildmates.
Most ways of getting rid of goldfarmers using ingame mechanics also ruin the game. The only way is via detection, and banning and things like controlling/limiting trial accounts. But the farmers will always find a way around it.
THe best way to do it is to create a MMO where you dont have to level or grind and everything is free.
That way there is no point in buying gold or items.
"Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god."
-- Jean Rostand
That will be VERY VERY boring tbh... + it wont be an RPG, I think you mean an MMORTS or something like command and conquer which makes you start with nothing.
If you want the perfect example of your idea, try the game Dreamlords. Its anti-goldseller because you need to build your own city
These are the only effective solutions I can come up with.
1. Post a GM in the largest city and provide him/her with access to all regional game chat. Upon the moment someone begins advertising gold, throw a permaban on the account.
Sure, they will just go sign up for another trail account. But it will slow them down.
2. Have a GM pose as someone interested in buying gold. Go through the process and find a flaw within the way they are selling it. In other words, find a way to bring down the entire group of sellers.
This can also be used in reverse. Have the GM's pose as gold farmers and ban any players interested in buying. Only thing required is you give them a good gold farmer name.
3. Reduce the effect gear has on player effectiveness. Most players get gold to buy "uber" gear so they can "pwn" everyone else in their magic armor with matching god-sword ( that only they have ). If you find an alternative to gear dependancy it may work. Just look at City of Heros/Villains.
Oh well, I suppose /ignore will be the only cure for the moment.
Its the MMO makers fualt that there are gold farming rings that infest MMO's. They make MMO's these days so item based, gear based with harsh grinds from a to z. The gold farming rings also sell items, gear and power leveling in todays MMO's. Alot of people dont have 30, 40 and 50 hours a week to play so they buy from these theft rings. I for one hope that they infest many MMO's, it might teach some of these game makers a lesson.
Here's two solutions to the faucet/drain model of currencies for MMOs as to prevent gold-farmers.
1) Stop making character progression and ability improvement based on items (no more magical weapons and armor sets).
2) Make everything open to player crafting.
-- Brede
drops are customized for the player, not the MOb.
A snake doesn't just drop snake scales all day long whenever it's killed, or 2 pieces of silver, so you can kill it over and over and always get 2 pieces of silver.
Instead the game calculates what your character needs, according to how much you've made already, what's in your account, etc., and only drops what you need to advance.
Wait, I have a better idea.
The game runs a calculation on the money and gear your character gives away, and receives. If you fall within certain levels, it looks like you are a gold sell or gold buy, then the game flags you as can be attacked by all players in the game, everywhere.
For example, the average level 2 player will never need to go through more than 3 gold pieces. If a level two has 5 gold pieces, or equivalent amount of gear, they are flagged and can be attacked by anyone in the game.
To remove the flag you could pay a fine, in this case 3 gold pieces.
In other words, let the farmers farm, let the buyers buy, but they become flagged so that anyone in the game can attack them, providing entertainment. Gold farmers would hate being killed all the time.
Lol, the first part is alright, but the second part is just plain stupid.... just read my solution :P