[MUD-Dev] Are eBay sales more than just a fad?

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Mon, 11 Sep 2000, Dave Rickey wrote:

>     Some current games, notably some Simutronics titles and 10Six, support
> the purchase of in-game items with real-world cash, and I'm sure there are
> more examples (10Six was notable until the closure of HEAT because you could
> also convert game success, measured in HEAT Points, back into real-world
> goods).  2 recently announced MMOG projects, Warhammer Online
>  http://www.climax.co.uk/news/warhammer.htm ) and Project Entropia
>  http://www.mindark.com/inc/news_read_inc.asp?news_id=6&switch=press ), have
> made this part of their fundamental business model, they'll stop eBay sales
> only because they want to *be* eBay.

We sell in-game items ourselves, with some level of success.

 
>     I think it's safe to say that this is starting to look like a trend.
> Like being a little bit pregnant, once you start down this path, there's no
> stopping till you get to the end (IMHO).  Question is, where's the freaking
> end?  What's the legal consequences of selling, as the operator of a game,
> in game stuff for real money?  What if a bug eats that Sword of Buttkicking
> you just sold somebody?  What if you ban the account? How do we integrate
> what is, after all, a rather cold-blooded money-suctioning device into a
> game concept?  Do we even *want* to go this route, and if we don't can it
> possibly be prevented?  What do we do when the EverQuest Platinum Piece is
> traded in the world money markets?  We've been talking about how "Graphical
> MUD's" were going to redefine commerce and business.  Welcome to the future.
> Who do you want to kill today?

I don't understand why a bug eating the Sword of Buttkicking is any more
of a risk than a bug eating the character you've spent 20 months (at
$10/month) on in everquest. They are both just database entries surely.
And surely you have backups to look at to see if the person really did buy
such an item. And what if you do ban the account? How is that any
different from banning someone who has put $200 into his character via the
monthly pay method?

As for that method being rather cold-blooded, I fail to see how it's any
more cold blooded than forcing people to pay to play your game. Achaea,
for instance, is totally free to play. You never have to pay a dime if you
don't want. Surely that, for example, is much 'nicer' than telling people
"pay or get the hell out." Not that I have a problem with either method,
mind you.

In terms of E-bay, you can't stop it. Anyone trying to stop it in a game
of any scale is screwed. What you could do, of course, at least in terms
of 'special' items in your game, is just make them non-transferable
between players. For instance, we sell a variety of magical artifacts,
ranging in price from about $70 to about $700. You can not turn around and
sell them to someone else though, simply because they repop into your
inventory every hour or so.


I also have to say that I think people who think graphical muds are going
to redefine business and commerce generally needs to put down the crack
pipe and get his head out of the rather insignificant games business for
awhile, and maybe look at the big picture. Games are a very small
business...smaller even than Hollywood (despite the hype, games don't even
come close when you count merchandising and licensing). I don't see how
graphical muds are going to change big industries like automobiles, oil,
semiconductors, and so on. 
--matt




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