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Selling gold for real cash...with a twist.
Cooktastico
Member Posts: 599
There's a lot of buzz nowadays about these gold and leveling services advertised on this site. While I don't really agree with buying in-game stuff with real money, I realize that MMORPG.com gets money from these so they're indirectly responsible for our free accounts. I'm sure without advertisements on the site, all MMORPG.com members would have to pay some sort of fee.
The question is: What if the game company itself sold in-game items for real cash? I also think this would be sketchy as hell but I bet some game companies have probably considered it. You figure, if these third party companies can bank in on people's desire to get farther in the game without actually working for it, why can't the game company itself? I mean, nowadays some MMOs aren't really made for the game, they're made for a profit (that's not to say ALL of them are, just a few of them). What's your guys' take on this?
Comments
Wow, what little respect I had for them just flew out the window.
Dont go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. (Mark Twain)
Frostreaver Clan
Think the other game that does that is "Project Ethorpia" or something to that affect.
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It's being done in several ways. One is the Station Exchange with Everquest II. Another is called Entropia Universe where all money in the game comes from money you bought from the game maker or you received by selling something to another player which somewhere along the line bought that money. The money used in that game is real money.
And I hate to break it to you, but all games are made for the profit. It being fun is just a means to get more profit.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Eve supports selling gold for game time cards, which is pretty much the same thing as direct gold for cash sales.
Many games do this. Lots of those Korean games are based on this kind of model.
nothing new
playing eq2 and two worlds
Roma Victor does it. It works out fine, because the game was designed with it in mind. All you can buy is gold. Because there are no real "uber" items and everything is crafted, there's not really a problem. A handful of players buys a ton of cash, and others sell things to them or do jobs for them, and the money trickles down to the rest of the players. It's monitered to avoid inflation, and solves the problems with third party gold sellers. Roma Victor is still young though, so we'll see how it turns out in the end.
On the other hand, I don't think it would work for most games. The economies aren't designed for it, and I think gold selling generally hurts this type of game by flooding the markets.
If you're building an mmorpg, or if you'd like to share ideas or talk about this industry, visit Multiplayer Worlds.
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yup and get used to it because it is the revenue model of the future.
Do you think companies like SOE are going to see an idea like power levelling services, gold farming, virtual gear trading happening profitably and not want a taste ?
You guys need to watch more Sopranos and get some life knowledge.
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yup and get used to it because it is the revenue model of the future.
Do you think companies like SOE are going to see an idea like power levelling services, gold farming, virtual gear trading happening profitably and not want a taste ?
You guys need to watch more Sopranos and get some life knowledge.
Glad I perfer games that do not have linear advancement...
--When you resubscribe to SWG, an 18 yearold Stripper finds Jesus, gives up stripping, and moves with a rolex reverend to Hawaii.
--In MMORPG's l007 is the opiate of the masses.
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--CCP could cut off an Eve player's fun bits, and that player would say that it was good CCP did that.
Project Entropia and Roma-Victor anyone?
To be honest, with the size of the currency industry and the amount of players who buy to support them, I'm surprised it hasn't caught on in more games yet. I hate bots and farmers and if that is what would get rid of them, why not? I don't care if some knucklehead blows 20 bucks on a video game sword or suit of armor or an extra X amount of gold......its happening anyway and in huge numbers. As long as the normal means where not effected (drop rates reduced to encourage buying) whats the problem?
Or is the MMO industry that weak that they depend on the large numbers of farmer subs?
don't need linear progression. OSI was selling pre-advanced characters directly from their website for a nominal fee. You could have one added to your account with a credit card and 5 minutes and there was nothing linear about UO.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Just to clarify on this for the OP. SOE do not sell any items for cash, the players do, SOE just provide the servers and facilities for players to be able to buy and sell stuff with real money.
Was a great idea if you ask me.
Think the other game that does that is "Project Ethorpia" or something to that affect.
Project Entropia which is now called Entropia Universe is a Virtual Universe not a game. You use real money at a 10:1 ratio. 1 USD = 10 EUD(entropia universe dollars). Many consider it an investment as you can buy land, houses and take up professions and earn your money right back. It's not that easy though. Also you don't have to pay a dime. You can use mental powers to extract sweat from animals and sell the sweat to crafters. It's a hard and boring way to go though. EU is a unique experience and it's not for everyone but it retains about 500k players.
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That many? How is the game? I remember a review when it released and it was very lacking at the time but that was maybe 2 years ago?
Are there vehicles and star ships? Or is it ground wars on foot? You sound like you know what you are talking about....Spill the beans man
Are there vehicles and star ships? Or is it ground wars on foot? You sound like you know what you are talking about....Spill the beans man
It still has it's issues. The graphics are out dated. EQ1 makes EU look bad for graphics LOL. Their updates are full of bugs and their small staff means it takes awhile to get them ironed out. There are no planetary vehicles in the game yet but they say their will be soon. Their are ships that players own. They are seriously expensive like 1000's of dollars of real money. There is PVP in the game but most people stay away from it as it's just a waste of money. I enjoy playing it because it has a unique environment.
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