[Venjenz]

I haven't bought any yet, but I am considering it for EQ2. The mechanics of the game, how you play, and your money:free time ratio all play a huge part in things.

For stuff like spell upgrades, containers, horses/flying carpets, and better food/drink, I can see spending the $$ for stuff that is nothing more than convenience. It really isn't game breaking, and the time I save is far better served actually grouping and raiding than it would be harvesting rocks for the 50,000th time trying to get a rare metal for a spell upgrade.

For example:

right now I need palladium to make tier 3 Adept III spells. My alchemist can make the inks, I just need the metal. So far, I have harvested 279 rocks in Nektulos Forest and have yet to see a palladium drop. Each harvest is 3 drops of some material on that object's loot table, so I am rolling up on 1,000 drops without a single rare drop. My necromancer has 87g earned straight up, and each palladium costs about 40g. I have 12 spells to upgrade, and at 40g per, I can farm my arse off for the next month, or I can go buy 20plat and be done with it. The result is the same. In this case, I have done nothing extraordinary, as I could continue solo farming rocks in Nektulos with no problems forever.

Where I think buying goes afoul is when you can purchase raid items. This means you circumvent not only a time requirement, but a manpower requirement as well. Getting soloable gear and items faster doesn't seem game breaking to me.

With a full time job, a fiancee and all the wedding prep, a tutoring gig at the local community college, and various household duties, I get maybe two or three nights a week to even log in. I hate to say it, but paying Xiangxzu $$ for them to save me hours upon hours of plat farming seems like a worthwhile investment.