[MUD-Dev] [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy!

[Paolo Piselli]

--- Paul Schwanz <pschwanz at comcast.net> wrote:

> In the end, even what you imply is nothing more interesting than
> the notion that the character purchased with money is a newbie.

That wasn't really my point.  I was hypothesizing about how likely
it would be for a player to be embedded in the social network of the
game in either case.  Amanda actually made a good rebuttal in that a
purchased character could be an entryway for a player in an external
network of friends.  How common is that the case amongst purchased
characters?  I do not have access to data or market research that
would answer my initial question.  But I thought it would be a
contribution to raise the point.

As to data about grief play, Matt and Otis both mentioned a
correlation between griefing and time played - perhaps all most
griefers are longtime players, but what percentage of longtime
players are griefers?  Would a person who fits the griefer profile
become a griefer faster if able to buy power?  Again, I do not have
access to the appropriate data to answer this.

I think its still an open question that is pertinent to the
argument, although it does not even touch on the topic of virtual
goods.  Ultimately I'm trying to say that in order to quantify the
value of a purchased character, more must be considered than its
singular contribution to monthly revenue.

- Paolo
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