the impact of gillsellers

[Silux]

Interesting article about gilseller farms.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off ... Id=3141815

[Bigity]

EAT PIE?

Besides, very soon all the MMORPG companies will be selling it themselves, and making twice the money they were before....then they increase in-game prices or slow down spawns, bumping the thing up to the next rung...then they increase in-game...etc etc.

This whole ideal of MMORPGs has really put me off of them altogether.

[Koreth]

I want to comment on that, but am not sure what to say, having not played any MMOs.

I do think it's wrong how they make use of exploits to duplicate gold and such, and then resell this ill-gotten gold to players. That gives those players an unfair advantage in whatever MMO there may be. And the fact that the laborers on these farms get paid dirt, angers me.

But part of me wants to applaud the ingenuity of the guys who think this stuff up and make it work for them financially. Though the legitimacy of the operation is dubious at best, it is still rather entrepreneurial of them to make a business out of it. Part of me wonders if I'm in the wrong trade as a NOC monkey.

[Deacon]

[quote="Koreth";p="517878"]That gives those players an unfair advantage in whatever MMO there may be.[/quote]
Unfair advantage over whom?

[Koreth]

Those who don't have the money to drop on in game gold. Perhaps I'm old fashioned in my views, but I'm of the mind that sort of stuff should be earned in-game through in-game effort.

[DarkWolfe]

Here's my thing, it's not a big deal if you don't have a player driven economy. If you DO have a played driven economy, it drives things to hades in a handbasket. It causes inflation like you can't believe. The inflation is going to occur regardless of gilselling because of an infinite currency source, but gillselling makes it worse faster. A LOT faster.

[Deacon]

[quote="Koreth";p="517885"]Those who don't have the money to drop on in game gold.[/quote]
So they're going to beat you? You lose a competition of some sort? What?

[Silux]

Technically yes. A person who is willing to drop a hundred bucks everytime they run out of in game money will be much better equipped and probably more likely to get a spot in a party than someone who isn't. Not to say that you can't still get in a party, but they will be a second choice pick at best. Just takes the point out of the game if you can just buy everything you need. IMO. Granted MMOs are crazy grind machines anyways, but if that's your thing, I'd be pissed about it too.

[Bigity]

Agreed. I don't care how much money Bob spends on getting virtual gear for a game. I don't play MMORPGs to be competitive, I play Halo or Tribes for that. Or something else.

I play MMORPGs for being social (in a gamer kind of way), to group up with RL buddies to play some team or group kind of games. Well, I used to.

[edge]

[quote="Bigity";p="517872"]EAT PIE?

Besides, very soon all the MMORPG companies will be selling it themselves, and making twice the money they were before....then they increase in-game prices or slow down spawns, bumping the thing up to the next rung...then they increase in-game...etc etc.

This whole ideal of MMORPGs has really put me off of them altogether.[/quote]

Agreed. Not only are MMORPGs tedious and boring, but you have to dump a fortun on them to get anywhere. Why should I pay for a game every month in the first place, when I can go pay for a game like HL2 or Q4 one time, and enjoy it for the same ammount of time or more? If I want to play an RPG, I'll throw in something in the FF series. If I want to be social, I'll go down the street to the bar with my computer geek friends, and we'll be social for far less money. I just fail to see the point in these games at all. (Short of making money for the companies that produce them).

[Bigity]

Don't get me wrong, I like MMORPGs, or some of them. I would still be playing AO if I had the time. That's the only one I really liked long-term though.

I don't have a problem with montly fees, if I am getting something for it, content, updates, fixes, etc. I just don't have the time anymore to make it worth paying a fee to spends hours camping a spawn or leveling up.

[Deacon]

Edge, MMOs are an investment of your time and energy. The only reason you don't pay monthly for HL or whatever is because the software company isn't footing the bill to run the servers and such.

[DarkWolfe]

And people DO pay for stuff like that. I've seen some flight sim games that charge by the month. For that matter what do you call XBOX Live?

[Seir]

[quote="edge";p="517926"] I just fail to see the point in these games at all. (Short of making money for the companies that produce them).[/quote]

They appeal those who replayed Final Fantasy 6 over and over again in their younger days and still play it on an emulator over and over again until they reach Lvl. 99? Personally, I do prefer a well-run tabletop (because of the flexibility and dynamic nature) RPG or something along the lines of KOTOR of Neverwinter Nights for the plot.

[Deacon]

It's a continuing service that cannot always be profitable (and therefore sustainable) by a single entry purchase price alone. Think about the people that have played an MMO for several years and how much work they've gotten back for it. 10 or 15 bucks a month for something you're playing the hell out of using their bandwidth and their hardware and demanding updates and all that...it's not bad.