[MUD-Dev] Buying benefits

[Matt Mihaly]

On Thu, 7 Jun 2001, Neil Brown wrote:
> --- Matt Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 6 Jun 2001, Neil Brown wrote:
 
>> even continues to make, a ton of money. Magic is a good example
>> of why to sell things, not a good example of why not to.nod
 
> So are you saying that any MUD developed using the same sort of
> buy-to-play method that MTG uses is guaranteed to be successful?
> I'm imagining a mud where you are able to purchase any number of
> "grab bags" of random equipment, stats, whatever, and throw out
> the junk until you have an uber-character.  Ehh, perhaps you're
> right, but I wouldn't play it.  I'm just not interested in being
> forced to compete financially with my fellow players in order to
> be a successful player.

Of course not. I never even implied that any product developed using
any system or method of any kind is guaranteed to be
successful. Only a fool would suggest such a thing.

Fair enough. Many people aren't interested in having to compete with
slacking students who have 16 hours a day to play MUDs. I personally
don't have a problem with either vector being important. Both time
AND money are important in Achaea (we cater to addicts), although
you can actually get away without the money if you work hard. You
can't really get away without the time.

>> stat-oriented game like Everquest it would work, given the number
>> of listings for Everquest items on Ebay.
 
> Ebay, while providing a mechanism for purchasing items, does not
> offer items that cannot be obtained within the game through other
> means.  Instead of buying that Executioner's Axe for $50 on Ebay,
> I can figure out how to go about getting one in-game, do the work,
> wind up with my prize, and probably feel pretty good about getting
> it to boot.  In the MTG world, there's no possible way I can get a
> Jester's Cap ( or some more highly desired card - I'm a bit out of
> touch ;) without buying it or gambling on the extremely unlikely
> chance that it'll come up in a tourney ante ( which I'd probably
> lose anyways since the whole reason I want a Jester's cap is
> because my deck is too underpowered :P ).

Ahh right. In Achaea, for instance, there is a thriving market of
people selling credits (the currency tied to real money...it is
obtainable by doing things like helping newbies and mentoring people
who buy credits as well as by buying them from us for US dollars)
for gold, and people selling gold for credits.

There are people who profit on credits by buying in bulk and marking
up for retail, and then use some of the gold profit to purchase some
credits for themselves. There are people who skip the buying credits
part and make money by speculating on the gold/credit exchange
rate. As long as you have gold, you can buy credits. It's just a
matter of how much gold it takes. Supply/demand and all that.

--matt

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev