[MUD-Dev] Re: Black Snow Revisited

[Jeremy Noetzelman]

On Mon, 8 Apr 2002 amanda at alfar.com wrote:

> I mean, in gamer terms I'm rich.  Any game asset people want to
> sell on eBay, I can buy if I want it.  One of the things I like
> about MMO games is that, at least in theory, this doesn't
> matter--enjoyment of the ganme is a result of the time and energy
> put into playing it, not into how much money a player spends.
> When the game ceases to be entertainment and becomes merely a
> venue for the buying and selling of collectibles with no inherent
> value, I lose the value I'm paying for as a customer.

(Note: When I say items below, I mean anything ingame that can be
ebay'd, whether gold, items, characters, etc)

You chose to spend time ingame to obtain these items.  You derive
'fun' and pleasure from doing so.  Someone else, who presumably
would not derive fun or pleasure from farming an item, or simply
wants to catch up quickly with his friends, or whatever his
motivation may be, buys the same item off ebay with his money.

I don't see why someone else spending money they earned (by spending
time at a job, presumably) to buy ingame items in any way shape or
form causes your identical ingame items to lose value.  Unless, of
course, you view the value of said item to be dependant upon the
method it was acquired.  And if that is the case, if I earn that
item ingame, and give it to my wife's character, does that cause
your instance of said item to lose value?

> Now, this is not to say that this is unique to gaming.  People buy
> all sorts of stuff on eBay that they haven't earned, and try to
> impress others by trading on the work of the people who have.  The
> popularity of a practice doesn't make it right, though.

Perhaps you could explain why you feel this is wrong?  Seems to me
that this is just a very basic marketplace at work.  You have
something I want, I have money to compensate you for it, and we
trade.  How do you define 'earned'?


Jeremy

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