[MUD-Dev] SOC: Will company sanctioned cheating hurt the MMOcommunity?

[Chris Richards]

On 5/7/05, Jaycen Rigger <jaycen.rigger at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> When I pay my monthly fee to play a game, I am on an equal footing
> with every other player who enters the game world.  My own
> character's success depends on my own ambitions and time
> management.  Regardless of what choices I make, I acquire
> power/wealth/stuff through the in-game systems that exist.  I
> don't step outside the game and profit by the labors of others.
> If I did that in-game, then good for me for being inventive and
> using the in-game systems in an inventive way.  If I do it outside
> the game, I'm cheating.

Does this extend to strategy guides?  Fan sites?  Have you used a
fan site to lookup how to solve a quest, find an NPC, or see the
drop rate for a specific item?  In the most rigid of definitions,
these actions would be considered cheating, yet people do not seem
to have a problem with getting out-of-game information (in general).
Instead of purchasing items, the player is purchasing
information--hard currency for strategy guides and advertisements,
site fees, or "research time" for online information.  Whatever the
case, you are most definitely "profiting by the labors of others".

As for a "level playing field", it changes immediately after a
character is created.  Some players are more knowledgeable about the
game or the genre, have more time to spend leveling or getting
uber-loot, etc.  If one player is more "time rich, money poor" than
other players, why shouldn't the person who is "time poor, money
rich" be able to make up for it by purchasing items for real
currency?  Feel free to substitute "time" with "information", too.

FWIW, I have not and in the foreseeable future will not be
purchasing items, but I do use fansites on occasion.

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