Khatred
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Posted - 2005.08.06 04:29:00 -
[1]
Now, let's use logic and see why isk selling is or is not wrong since macro mining is most of the time associated with this.
If you relax for a while, get the facts and analyze, you will realise that at a first look isk selling isn't actualy wrong.
If a player sells to another player 50 mil isk for 50$, this harmed the game as most as if a old member of a corporation gave a fitted cruiser to a new member, if a friend gave 200 mil to another friend so that he can buy that pirate battleship or if the BIG lottery has a winner. Isk or items exchanged hands in only one direction. And you can't claim that each must succeed only on his own because we play a MMORPG. That requires player interaction. So we have Player A giving Player B something. Why? That's not Player C bussiness.
Also you should know by now that nothing leaves or enters the system. It's just changing hands.
The next powerful argument is why a player that is rich in real life has the means to also succeed in a game where real life shoulnd't matter. Reality check! Real Life actualy affects mmorpg's. If you play upset or distract cause of real life you might loose items/isk or make mistakes. The real life internet connection might drop in the middle of a pvp fight and so on and so forth. Real life actualy affects a mmorpg more than you are willing to admit.
As for the rich people. I highly doubt really rich people play games, or mmorpgs. And if they do, they are probably below 100. As for who are the other buyers? Oveur pretty much summed it up in his interview for mmorpg.com. People with wife and or childrens or jobs or all together. But why should they get an edge over me? you will ask. Why should you get an edge over them by having more time to play? I ask you.
IN MY OPINION, casual selling of isk/in game items it's not really a problem. There's really no harm done to the game or to other players because usualy things have a way to even out.
BUT, and here is the big BUT
People will look for exploits (well some do anyway) in order to make more isk for selling.
Some will play Eve for the only purpouse of making ISK, refusing interaction with other players , without adding anything to the community (game wise, not economical wise) and sometimes even interfering in a bad way with other players in order to fulfil their only goal, making isk for selling.
And last, but not least, what a big mistake would be for a mmorpg developer to not forbid in-game items selling. It can't be called illegal because nothing leaves the game or gets modified but it can open a big can of worms. They basicaly became the holders of some virtual items that hold real life value, and they can't allow that.
You think CCP will like to solve every petition that starts with "I give 50 mil isk to this player and now he cancelled his payment"? Or "My raven for wich I payd 100$ got lost due to a bug, I DEMAND the ship or 100$"?
It might have not been a problem several years ago when only several people were selling now and then in UO and EQ because those were players making an extra buck, not an industry. It is a problem now because things went rampant and that extra buck was transformed into a multi-million $ industry wich has a major flaw: it doesn't add anything to the game. We no longer have 100 average Johns buying now and then from 10 average Joes, we have 10,000 average Johns buying from 2000 grinders/farmers.
Anyway, since nothing can stand against the mighty $, my guess is that in the next 10 years this problem will get solve in 2 ways : a) mmorpg developers find the ultimate way to really prevent selling (less probable) b) everybody follows SOE example (more probable). I would go with c) somehow magical developers manage to police all the grinding, bringing us back to 100 Johns and 10 Joes. But sometimes I live in my own fairy tale world 
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