Have you ever bought in-game currency from the MMO secondary market?

[Zorlac]

Originally Posted by Weritech

Are you even trying to make sense?

Stop asking that everyone's life be as empty and time as worthless as your own.

QFT.

[teneran]

Originally Posted by Deathwing

The link between college finals and farming is a bit weak, primarily because people go to college knowing there will be bullshit courses. Did anyone predict you would be bitching about repair costs when you started playing WoW?.

Actually, people in beta did indeed predict that repair costs were going to be a big problem down the line. As with most warnings from the beta testers, Blizzard chose to either ignore them or didn't see it the same way. And as usual, Blizzard was wrong.

I do agree with you that the link between college finals and farming in WoW is asinine though.

The fact that so many people have chosen to buy gold on the secondart market just to be able to keep playing the game should be a HUGE wake up call to Blizzard.

I laugh though when i think back to all the WoW fanbois, and how they insisted that unlike EQ1, WoW would not have timesinks and boring mindless farming ..... yea right! At least in EQ1 you farmed to improve your character ... in WoW, its just to keep playing. great idea!

[Szlia]

The most laughable thing is that if one wanted to implement a game mechanism to maximize the business of the gold sellers without making it too obvious, repair costs would be a perfect solution.

If it feels like I am repeating myself, it may be because I am.

[Leonardoh_7th]

Originally Posted by Cad

He's an OLD GOD! He should have quite a stash from investment interest alone..

Yes, but since he was locked away for so long he was effectively on a fixed income, and inflation has been really hard on seniors this millenia...

[Jimb0v]

Originally Posted by teneran

Actually, people in beta did indeed predict that repair costs were going to be a big problem down the line. As with most warnings from the beta testers, Blizzard chose to either ignore them or didn't see it the same way. And as usual, Blizzard was wrong.

The fact that so many people have chosen to buy gold on the secondart market just to be able to keep playing the game should be a HUGE wake up call to Blizzard.

I disagree, the fact gold is worth something in this game is a sign the economy is healthy. In many games the value of currency plummets over time, thats not the case in WoW gold has held its value relatively well. I paid about 80 bucks for 1000 gold a few months after release and thats about the same it costs today on my server. From my perspective the repair system is doing exactly what it should do, draining gold out of the economy so inflation doesn't kill it.

[Leviathan]

Since 1998 I never sold or purchased in-game currency. But there is a fat chance that I will give my new WoW character a big bank account when I re-roll once the Burning Crusade expansions comes out. So I voted "no" but in the future that will probably change.

[Jimb0v]

Originally Posted by Szlia

Integrity of the game is an important part of the entertainement we get from a MMORPG. But the burden of this integrity is not solely on the players' shoulders, it is also on the developpers'.

Why isn't it entirely on the shoulders of the developers? If video games have taught me nothing else its that some people will cheat no matter what. Along the same lines, some people will always min/max. So, it seems ridiculous to put any of the burden on the players' shoulders because they are innately handicapped.

[Dis]

Originally Posted by Jimb0v

I disagree, the fact gold is worth something in this game is a sign the economy is healthy. In many games the value of currency plummets over time, thats not the case in WoW gold has held its value relatively well. I paid about 80 bucks for 1000 gold a few months after release and thats about the same it costs today on my server. From my perspective the repair system is doing exactly what it should do, draining gold out of the economy so inflation doesn't kill it.

Thats not the arguement, it amazes me that people have yet to grasp this when the point has been made post after post. The arguement is the RAIDERS share an undue burden of that inflation control.

[...]

If the raid zones went down for a week, just Imagine the excess of gold that would exist in the game.

[Dantre]

On the "my hour is worth more in real life than grinding gold" argument

Obviously most people aren't going to be playing WoW during their working hours, however, even post-work involves focus on career related materials (I come home and spend several hours reading, talking with partners/contacts) It all builds up to continued success in the real world.

Anyway, a point that was brought up on this thread really struck home. I believe a lot of this change is due to the nature of the games. In EQ, I was already starting my life by 2001, but I still cared about plat buying ruining the integrity of the game. WoW is such a monster of a game that I simply don't care about its integrity, it has none in my view. WoW is little more than an arcade I played for 5+ hours on Saturday mornings as a kid, I don't view it as a virtual world in need of defense.

I won't be playing WoW in a few years, looking back I'm not going to care either way that I upheld the integrity of the game. I'm going to care that I'm making more, have a better quality of life, and am in a better situation to enjoy the next generation of games.

[Froofy-D]

Never bought in-game currency here. I sold my EQ account though. I also sold my WoW 60 Priest account for in-game gold.

In most MMOGs currency doesnt get you much. In EQ, WoW, DAOC, etc... all the good loot is no-drop. You can only buy convenience items like mounts or AH twink gear. So in that case I dont think out-of-game sales hurt game integrity.

However, in games where nothing is no-drop you really could "pay someone to pass your final exam" since conceivably you could buy the best stuff in the game off EBAY. This is one reason I have serious reservations about Vanguard's supposed "nothing no-drop" policy. Asian farmers are very prevalent in WoW now but imagine if everything was droppable and could buy MC/BWL/AQ40 loot. That is one case where I think game integrity would suffer.

[Jimb0v]

Originally Posted by Dis

Thats not the arguement, it amazes me that people have yet to grasp this when the point has been made post after post. The arguement is the RAIDERS share an undue burden of that inflation control.

You can do something in WoW endgame besides raid?

[Szlia]

Originally Posted by Jimb0v

Why isn't it entirely on the shoulders of the developers? If video games have taught me nothing else its that some people will cheat no matter what. Along the same lines, some people will always min/max. So, it seems ridiculous to put any of the burden on the players' shoulders because they are innately handicapped.

It feels to me that it's harder to make the integrity of the game impervious to damage than to give the players a favorable setting in which it is reasonable to expect a modicum of fair-play from them and police the people that do not want to make that little effort. This second solution also probably gives more freedom for the design of the game.

I understand that "favorable setting", "modicum of fair-play" and "little effort" are pretty subjective notions and that some feel WoW meets these criteria. I don't.

[Venjenz]

Originally Posted by Jimb0v

You can do something in WoW endgame besides raid?

Exactly. And it only takes about a month of casual play to hit 60, then maybe a month of PUGs to get a decent blue gear setup. After that, success means ending the day with more gold than you started with.

[masteen]

$80 for 1000g? I got 3k g for just a bit more. 2 epics + cash to rape the alliance AH for under $100 is not a bad deal. I did buy during the high point of the DM sproitz tho. My business degree finally paid off!

I would still rather not have to pay China, but I'll be goddamned if I was gonna farm that shit.