[MUD-Dev] BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash?

[Tess Lowe]

Yumiko wrote:

> Recently, we have noticed some players selling in-game items for
> real cash. Many times, they sell the same items available via
> donations but for a cheaper price. Speaking from a business
> standpoint of profit maximization, would it be a good idea to ban
> such practices?

The view I've always taken on this is that resales are fine because
*somebody* has to buy the item from you in the first place. What I
would do is look at why the vendor is selling their item. Is it not
useful to them any more? Are they quitting or do they simply want
(or already have) something better? Perhaps there is an untapped
market for selling higher quality items than is currently the case?
Why not keep adding new donation levels to your game until the
number of takers dries up? If you can service the player who will
'donate' $1000 for an uber sword, why does it matter if they sell a
$200 item to someone for $100? - especially if they did it in order
to finance their new purchase.

Similarly one could give some arbitrary currency to players in
return for donations, e.g. "credits", which can only be used to
purchase items that are unavailable in the game through any other
route. If the players then trade credits among each other for
in-game or ex-game currency, who cares? That just generates a
liquidity which encourages others to 'donate' and join the
bandwagon. And people are always more willing to buy if they think
they can sell again later.

~Tess
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