[MUD-Dev] Are eBay sales more than just a fad?

[Corey Crawford]

Alright, I know I wasn't very clear with my first post, but Adam pretty much
sums it up:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Madman Across the Water" <burra at alum.rpi.edu>

> I realize that I am strongly in the minority when it comes to this
> concern, but the reason I find it more "fair", or at least acceptable,
> to give the advantage to time over out of game money is that it isn't
> fiction breaking. If I am playing Goldenflame the Paladin, as I so often
> do (he's had  his share of deaths in both text MUDs and UO :), and I
> devote hours of time and Goldenflame acquires the longsword "Ezwilden",
> then _he_ earned it. He spent the time and overcame the obstacles and
> earned it.
> I'm sure someday someone will come up with (or has already come up
> with?) a way to make spending real world dollars on an item work out
> within the game. But I am a stickler for fiction breaking. (That's
> another discussion entirely, really.)
> Now in some games the feeling of being "in game" is so weak that this
> might not be such a big deal. But even the ammount of immersion I get in
> UO would be broken if someone could acquire something through a RL
> transaction (in the same way it is broken when someone gains an item by
> duping, for instance).

I understand what everyone is saying, and yes, if the players will pay then
someone will do it. People will pay for crack too, but that doesn't mean it's
good nor should be bought. (Yes, bad analogy, don't flame me for it :P)

Anyways, like Adam says, it isn't YOUR character who earns whatever he buys with
your IRL money.. it's a total break in the game. That's what I mean by keeping
them separate. Mixing RL with IG totally breaks the fiction the game is
creating, the atmosphere, just the whole damn story. Sure, everyone talks about
RL in a game (cept those damn snobby hardcore rp'ers) but RL should not be an
influencing factor on basic fundamentals of the game!

When you buy a game like Everquest, you are paying for the development time.
When you pay monthly for your playing experience, you are paying for their
wages, server costs, support, bandwidth and any other overhead they have. When
you pay for an item with RL money, you are buying an outside boost.. a boost I
would banish any of my immortals for bestowing on a mortal character. Same thing
for skills.. I don't artificially enhance my mortals because they are suck ups,
they have to earn their skills by playing the game. (Note that I said PLAYING,
not "by earning money in real life"). It's like sleeping your way to the top..
it's the fast easy way if you have the goods.. but is it really an
accomplishment? Did your character actually EARN what they got? I don't think
so.

If all you want to do is earn money, then go for it. People have done worse to
get a few bucks. But if you are making a game for the love of the game itself, I
don't think you'd follow this route.. And trust me, players can tell which
motivation a game was under..

Again, I don't agree with it, but if the players will pay for it then someone's
going to do it.

---
Corey Crawford | myrddin at seventh.net | www.seventh.net






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