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

[John Buehler]

> Matthew Mihaly
> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2000 5:20 PM

> So, my answer is, a community which is, in my opinion and the opinion of
> everyone else at A2k, extremely potent and extremely cool. Listen John, I
> understand your objections, but they are misplaced. You're attacking
> something which I've made work without any understanding of how and why it
> works, or even any first-hand experience of it.

How large is the Achaea player base?  Do you think that the approach will
scale up significantly?  I realize that may be a question that cannot be
answered because you're not sure what really makes it work, but I'm open to
any comments you have.

> > Imagine visiting Disneyworld and finding that a significant number of park
> > visitors are actually businessmen who get paid to ride the rides
> as many times
> > as they can. [...]
>
> Yes, that'd suck alright. I don't see that the analogy is a good one
> though.

I was constructing it based on my experiences with EverQuest.  The problem of
camping was exacerbated by the opportunity to farm items for profit, and was
already an unfortunate phenomenon in EverQuest prior to eBay sales appearing.

> I don't have any problems with selling drugs, sex, or perjury either. I'm
> quite supportive of open drug and sex sales in fact, and merely neutralish
> about selling perjury.

I'm very sorry to hear that.  No wonder that we are so frequently in opposite
camps.

> Also keep in mind that muds are, by and large at this point in time,
> commercial enterprises (I'm speaking in terms of what number of players,
> and commercial muds attract way more than free muds do), and that the goal
> of a commercial enterprise is to make money. It does that by keeping the
> community healthy, and I have to say that given my experience, the two are
> most certainly not antagonistic goals. I know I make more money because my
> players feel so strongly bonded to Achaea and to each other. I also know
> that this situation is hardly unique to Achaea.

I'm not averse to game publishers making money.  Yet it has been established
time and time again that there are ways of making money that are not 'fair' or
are illegal.  This is the case because ethics and morals eventually come to
the fore as significant issues.  Microsoft can compete vigorously, but not to
the point of doing things that are inherently unhealthy for the overall
well-being of its industry.  Firestone can create products and sell them in
this country, but they will be taken out of the economy if they are found to
be unsafe.

At a more subtle level, I'm concerned that selling game items is conducive to
the 'wrong kind of community' forming.  So far in Achaea you have been
successful in cultivating a solid community.  I wonder about the demographics
of those in your community.  Is the Achaea experience significantly different
from those of similarly-structured games?  Are there any
significantly-structured games out there?

> I hate to sound like such a dick, but you're just wrong. I don't really
> think you have any idea what you're talking about. You're just making up
> fictional scenarios in your head. We have _lots_ of people who play Achaea
> without ever spending a cent, or with spending very very little.

I'm not trying to suggest that players without available cash will be unable
to play such a game.  I'm suggesting that, given a large enough player base
(e.g. 100,000), enough players will be disgruntled over their inability to
keep up with the rich folks that there will be significant bad press and ill
will developing.  This is why I'm interested in the demographics and size of
your player base.

As an analogy, the beta test communities for the graphical games (EverQuest
and Asheron's Call anyway) were apparently quite good on community.  They
consisted of the enthusiasts for the game, and the community held together
well.  Those involved with the beta tests mourned what became of the games
after they were opened to the general public.  I'm interested in knowing why
the beta communities were 'better' than the release communities.  Is it simply
a matter of numbers?  A matter of time spent in the game environment?

JB





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