[MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items

[Par Winzell]

Tess Lowe writes:
 > If this were true, then I would agree with your entire point of view on this
 > thread, but surely you must accept that people do *not* have the same amount
 > of time to spend on a game any more than they have the same amount of money
 > to spend on a game.

I'll never understand this argument. The difference is enormous. Time is
the ultimate resource, the great equalizer, the one that humans have in
common. When you spend an evening in a group to clean out the orc caves,
the simple fact of the shared time is what bonds you to these people.

This is how friendship works. Writing somebody a cheque does _not_ have
the same effect.

 > Why then is it in any way (ethically or otherwise) superior for Time rather
 > than Money to be the deciding factor in how powerful a particular player is?
 > The use of Money to purchase special items may well devalue your experience
 > as an explorer-type who uses Time resource to 'get ahead', but I could
 > equally well say that your use of Time devalues my gaming experience as a
 > socialiser/achiever, since I cannot possibly compete with those who play
 > 24/7 and thus attempting to do so is pointless.

It's superior because it creates a better game. It's that simple. Forget
all the "ethical" crap; that's too easy to argue against. Investing time
in a game cannot be compared to investing money.

I have nothing against an -expensive- game -- if I spend $200 to play a
two-week scenario that I've looked forward to all year, that's fine. I've
got nothing against exclusitivity. I don't care about fairness. I dislike
using real-life wealth as an indicator as -anything- other than possibly
civic responsibility. :-)

Par



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