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

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

*sigh*  Time to defend Matt again.  I should get kickbacks. ;)

Nathan Clemons wrote:
 
> On Wed, 13 Sep 2000, Matthew Mihaly wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 12 Sep 2000, Taylor wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Games are a form of escapism. Why would players embrace a system where the
> > > people who were rich in the game were the same people who were rich in
> > > real life? I want worlds where the 45 year old executive is on the same
> > > economic footing as the 14 year old student. That's what makes it
> > > interesting.
> >
> > *Shrug* Players do. That's all that matters.
> > --matt
> 
> *Some* players do. Most admins don't. A lot of players don't. 

Given the success that Matt has enjoyed, I'd argue that quite a few ("a
lot", if you will) of people are willing to play in a system where
offline resources can help in the game.  Given the number of people that
don't play our games because "it takes too much time", we might be able
to attract more people to our games if they have the option of paying
money in order to keep up with others that are able to play "all the
time".

Anyway, why do so few people consider time an offline resource?  As a
professional (and a programmer to boot), I have to spend a lot of time
working.  My time is limited and personally very valuable.  If I could
throw down a bit of money to keep up with the crowd, then I wouldn't
mind doing so.  (I still wouldn't spend hundreds or thousands like
people do on Matt's MUD, though.  But, as Matt said, enough do.)

> A lot of
> players do NOT want to have to compete against people who have advanced by
> thier IRL merits as opposed to their IC/IG merits.

Using the 45-year-old exec and the 14-year-old student example above,
why would the exec want to play in a game where time spent in the game
is rewarded, as it is in most commercial MUDs?  The student will almost
always have more time to dedicate to the game, and will therefore always
be more powerful than the exec.  Why is this "fair"?

> As a player of EverQuest,
> the concept of what eBay has made possible for the idiots who say "sow
> plz, d00d" makes me shudder inside and instinctively want to recoil.

Actally, it's probably these people that are on the selling end of eBay
instead of the buying end.  The lack of social skills means they
probably want to keep all the "ph4t l3wt" for themselves.  The "d00dz"
tend to be younger without much offline resources.  Except free time, of
course, which is highly valuable in EQ; free time allows you a greater
chance to harvest an item to sell on eBay.  This is what happens from my
experience, at least.

*tries to imagine our stereotypical 45-year-old exec typing "d00d"*
*gets a headache and gives up*

--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
     Brian Green, brian at psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
       |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   "They're not bugs, they're 'place-
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'    holders for code that works.'"
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)         - Andrew Kirmse, Meridian 59 creator



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