Outlawing Charcter/Equipment purchase - A perspective

LordDemonNod

First let me start by saying im 34 years old and have played computer games for literally decades. The MMORPG has been my staple diet for the last 2 1/2 years and prior to that i ran my on CS Clan for 4 1/2 - Whilst this gives me no more say than any others it may at least qualify my opinions as more than just whimsical or the ramblings of an idiot...we shall see.

Having played MMORPG's for a while now my most consistent frustration is that they require huge inputs of time to achieve measurable success. As a husband and father this is something that i struggle with, although my time playing averages about 20 hours a week. There seems to be a natural bias in these games towards those players who have the most free time to play and quite naturally these seem to be those who are young and have little other commitments in their lives or those that are older but are not working or only work part-time(students). In both cases they can play till ungodly hours in the morning and run stints of over 24 hours without a need to take part in 'real' world activities. I have no issue or gripe with these people as if i had the time id probably be doing the same...but what about us gamers who cannot commit this time?

The first players to cap out in games/ reap the epic items available/ be running the high end instances always seem to come from this pool of gamers whilst players like myself are still running around trying to level and catch up. Naturally these players see a gap opening whereby they can make money in the 'real' world as a direct result of the time they are able to commit to the game, they begin to grind gold/credits/ items and even characters - and many of the 1st generation of games had hundreds of accounts/ cash and items for sale on ebay.

Now whilst i dont have the time to play that much what i really want to do is be able to experience all the game has to offer ie. to become a jedi/ have a level 60 character/ go raiding in great gear etc. The rest of the game however well designed is drving you to reach this point. And whilst some people manage it in 3-4 weeks, ill be lucky if i make it in a year. What i do have is money - working full time ,which limits my playing time, does give me disposable income which i can spend how i wish.

So the balance is struck, i cant play enough to get the character i want but i can pay for it. Others who can invest this time can do so and be financially rewarded for allowing me to experience the game that i want. Seems fair enough to me - everyones a winner.

So why has this been made illegal in all of the second generation MMORPG's? It made so much sense - ofc i want to be a jedi, but under my own steam it will take me the best part of 3 years by which time the game has been overtaken by 100's of others. So i buy a jedi character - shortcut the 2 years of playing to get one and start having fun being the character i always wanted to be. It costs money but i work so no big deal tbh.

NB the only thing i actually ever bought in an MMORPG was 2mil credits for SWG - i have 3 level 60 charcters in WOW, all of which i made and levelled myself, but im really interested in what people have to say about this perspective on the balance of time vs money in MMORPG's and the logic or lack thereof of making online purchases for in game items/ money/ charcaters.

Xenduli

*sigh* it seems to be "acceptable" now to trade in virtual currency. Does anyone have any integrity left? You do realise that you can start SWG as a Jedi now? So that 2 years you "gained" is pretty moot all you've done is made someone richer. Instead of turning mmorpgs into games of skill or chance they are being turned into who has the fattest pay check at the end of the month. Morally unacceptable imho.

Razorback

Wow

Nice can of worms to open with your first post man. Id say you can look forward to needing a new asbestos suit once the "anti virtual trading" crew are done flaming you into a piles of smouldering ashes.

So before that happens let me take this final opportunity to welcome you to the site and say that I for one largely agree with your sentiments.

I have a long history of arguing several points on this site with regard to virtual trading that anyone who has read any topic on this has heard me say time and time again. But for you Ill give you my take.

1. The trade in virtual goods is wholey and soley the responsibility of the games developers and managers to stop, control or allow.
2. Right now 99% of MMOs choose to turn a blind eye to it and collect the subscriptions of farmers and sellers when they could easily stop it anytime they wanted.
3. Those that make token shows of banning a few people do so only to look like they give a crap about virtual trading when actually they dont.
4. It makes far more commercial sense for MMO companies to allow the trade as the amount of people vehemnetly against it is miniscule in comparison to those that are involved in or support it or are lke me... completely apathetic to its existence.
5. Therefore given that games are a business, its not worth doing anything about and its more profitable to do nothing.
6. There is not one scrap of impirical evidence that anyone can point to that proves virtual selling has a negative effect on game economies, just lots of fanciful claims made by people who never provide anything except their own personal stories to back them up.
7. Characters power gaming to cap and then starting new characters and using their resources to twink their noobs has as much effect on the games economy as virtual selling and the effects are imposible to separate when observing the economy and the prices of basic items.
8. The practice is (at this time) perfectly legal and most people who have a problem with it would gladly accept the revenue made if thay had been smart enough or motivated enough to think about and do it for themselves in the first place.
9. Until the developers of the games themselves implement systems to stop farming and at the very least police their own EULAs no one else should give a flying %$#@ what you do with your money.
10. This undustry will not only continue to grow and develop, selling virtual content as opposed to monthly subscriptions will become the dominant revenue model in the next generation of MMO's or I will eat my spiny hat!!

Now excuse me while I get my fire proof suit out, because that generally brings the flamethrower weilding Emos out of the woodwork

noname12345

I've sold a few a characters for profit before. I then bought a better graphics card to enjoy the game more. Then the buyer starting paying the company a fee to play on his new account and he sure ain't gonna stop anytime soon with the amount of money he paid or else it would be wasted. Everyone wins and because of my time spent now the company is getting paid more, if you include the new account I made and the newcomer. I have since quit the game (WoW), but they did make more money because of me, even if it was a little.

Laserwolf

People that complain that MMORPGs are geared more toward players who have hours and hours to kill every day kind of piss me off. The content does not start at level 60. The game is supposed to last a long time. I played WoW for 2 years and never got past level 42. I played UO for 5-7 years and never made GM  Mage on the same character throughout that time period. The whole point was that I had an enjoyable gaming experience when I did play. Everyone moves at their own pace. I personally feel sorry for those who speed through MMORPGs.

As for purchasing game money online? I've done it. I bought gold in UO and WoW. I would never ever buy an account for the characters though. To me that seems like something that would just ruin the game. If they found a way to absolutely ban the sale of game gold I would support it however. Stopping gold farming is more important by far than being able to buy things in-game I would not be able to usually purchase.

As for the reason I get pissed off at people who complain MMORPGs are geared more toward "hardcore" players? You are the same people making it this way! Most of you want leveled games based on Everquest. In leveled games you WILL get left behind or shoot ahead of friends. Only in skill-based games can players mix without having played roughly the same amount of hours.

LordDemonNod

interesting response, thanx for your replies.

as far as having fun at low level, i can assure you that it really is....for a while.....till you suddenly realise that your never gonna get yourself into half the game content during your own lifetime. These games are designed to absorb your life...and tbh going raiding when your levl 30 in WOW just aint that much fun when your a one hit kill. Dont tell me you are not driven by the desire to level up your caharcter...thats just bull...we dont play to watch the sunset and the grass grow...we play to become all we can. Levelling equals skills/talents/access to better equipment/ suddenly whooping that mob that previously was kicking your butt.

The non-levelling MMORPG would be a clear answer but then how would the game retain your interest. Lets face it all these games put you on a treadmill, some of which are more fun than others, but all geared towards you reaching the cap so you can engage in the end-game content. If you are not at the level cap then the game content is unavailable and so you are paying to play a game which you will never fully explore.

Personal skill sounds interesting and im looking forward to Huxley as an fps fan.

Still think that the Time vs Money equation is a tough one to crack - i just dont have the time but want to experience everything the game has to offer.

Razorback

If you havnt played BF2 yet Nod, give it a go. Its fun right from day one and even though there is a progression, its never a grind. Its not an MMO as such, but you do develop your Soldier over time. Its just a perfect game for someone like you (and me) who work full time and just want to put in a few hours in a game and get some fun from it.

http://www.ea.com/official/battlefield/battlefield2/us/home.jsp