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

[Jon Lambert]

Matthew Mihaly wrote:
>
<snipped agreement>

> In the end, we live in a delightfully capitalist world, where anything of
> value can be bought, sold, and traded. To expect games to be any different
> is silly. Contrary to what some people might like to claim, there's no
> such thing as truly being "in-role" in a way that is seperate from the
> person playing that character. Your character is just part of the real
> you, and things in the game are part of the real world. 
> 

One minor nit (or is that gnit).

Now there do exist games where characters are completely "in-role" and 
are entirely separable from the person running them.  Their reactions, 
their goals, their expressions, their conversation, their habits, their 
ethos, etc. can be and often is utterly alien to who and what they are in 
real life.  What they draw on to produce these performances may indeed be 
parts of themselves or often as not interpretations of those roles they 
have observed directly in others, or in other media.  

Props, equipment, rank, skills and property are all fluid in these
games and are of very little importance to the players.  If I desire 
to own a castle and 300 acres of prime farmland, then I own a castle
and 300 acres of prime farmland.  If I wish to be a swordsman of 
superior skills, then I am indeed a swordsman of superior skills.
If I wish to be poor and crippled, I am poor and crippled.
 
While it is certainly possible that roles could be traded, exchanged, 
bartered or gifted, I've never actually seen any change of role in
done without some game master approval.  So it couldn't be a transaction
solely between players.  It's certainly feasible that game masters could 
actually sell major roles or auction them to interested players.  But 
I would think it highly unlikely that a monetary exchange alone would be 
the determining factor in assigning major roles simply because there 
are other factors that are considered far more important to storytellers.  

--
--* Jon A. Lambert - TychoMUD        Email:jlsysinc at ix.netcom.com *--
--* Mud Server Developer's Page <http://tychomud.home.netcom.com> *--
--* If I had known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself.*--




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