Jagex Says Content Could Stop Gold Traders
I'm not 100% sure how I feel about gold traders. I've tried to get into MMOs a few times and ultimately I find that I rarely have enough time to invest in those games that I feel like I'm making any real progress. When titles like World of Warcraft offer things like epic mounts at a premium for high level players, those of us more casual online players are left in the dust as gold-farming power levelers grind away. I can see how buying gold would be tempting.
This is a wide spread problem, however. Most every online multi-player game has some external economy built around trading equipment and accounts over services like eBay and third party "gold banks". Imre Jele at Jagex, creator of Runescape recently talked on his position on this.
The biggest concern about illegal real-world trading is - sorry for this example as I know it's not politically correct - it's a bit like prostitution.It's not necessarily the prostitution which is a problem, although you might have moral problems with it. The real problem is the organised crime that's built around prostitution; the human trafficking, the drugs, etc.
And that's the same with illegal real-world trading. The problem comes in when they start doing other illegal activities. One of the biggest is the use of stolen credit cards
The prostitution allegory seems a little extreme, but it's not entirely off. Games like Maple Story have had the unfortunately association of children stealing credit cards from their parents, or even killing strangers.
To be honest, I think instead of real-world trading, games have to be designed in a way that they provide enough fun while you are getting somewhere; if I am incapable of providing you with enough fun while you collect that 1000 gold for a steed, then the game is not good enough
Amen to that, brother! The tedium required to gather obscene amounts of online cash should be supplemented by content, not by forcing players to repeat the same task over and over. While this sort of thing keeps the hardcore users, it is more of a turn off for the rest of us.
Buying MMO gold is like funding prostitution [Eurogamer]
[via Kotaku]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 4 February 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: gold famers, Imre Jele, jagex, prostitution, runescape
gold farmers are SCUM, plain and simple.
i understand the point of the article, and i agree to a point, but really, it's an impossible thing to make something fun for every player. what i may find fun may not be the same as what YOU find fun (ahem, in-game). in warcraft, for instance, i find quests pretty enjoyable. some people totally hate them.
but as for the "organized crime" that evolves around gold farming, this is definitely true, and that's why i ultimately avoided the siren song of gold farmers. in the case of warcraft, i don't want to support people who work for a company that supports some sick people who are into child pornography (seriously), so i level up legitimately. also, i choose not to frequent the three most popular websites for info about quests or other in-game stuff, because they are owned by the same kid-porn freaks.
i think it's something that needs to be addressed by players, though. you can't play anymore without acknowledging the real-world consequences of what happens in-game any more, and that's kind of a sad thing.
Interesting article, I never realised the 'behind the scenes' stuff it talks about, just gives me one more reason to dislike gold farming/selling/buying.
For me, it ruins games. Gold farming and selling seems to lead to price inflation, and the higher prices go the more effort someone who isn't willing to purchase gold has to go to to be able to afford anything. The other pressures that contribute to this inflation just drive more people to buy gold and make the problem worse. MMOGs tend to require way too much time investment already, adding on to that hardly seems like a good thing for the game.
The other problem I've definitely experienced with gold sellers, is that their farm players / bots monopolise content, which can make quest completion / gaining money even worse for players in general, especially those on a limited time budget.
Very much agree with the idea of content > repetition and grind.