The Dilemma of buying for cash

[IorakeWarhammer]

hoping to open a discussion here and not just a bunch of posts with pics saying "u r a retard" and "derr" etc..

We know items are incredibly hard to come by and often require endless hours of cash hunting to stock up on silvers. Many of us are professionals working 1 or 2 jobs.. so why not enhance the enjoyment of the game by purchasing an item or two with cash? Like if I make 25$ an hour, and buy 3.5m silvers with that.. it is basically an hour of work versus possibly a week or two of work straight cash hunting. (This is my logic behind it)

Or with buying characters. It's like: I enjoy being level 60+, why spend 10,000 hours playing when I can just buy something for the cost of one day of work at my job?

Then there are those who say: The game shouldn't be rigged in this way, how dare you idiots scar the beauty of roleplaying by skipping the challenge of bringing a character from newbdom to uberness? Why not buck up and at least script the levels and do it honestly?

What do you guys think? Looking to provoke some thoughtful discussion here.

[Anebriated]

What do you guys think?


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/Kyrthos/stupidchart.jpg

[Miscast]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/Kyrthos/stupidchart.jpg

I laughed.

[Fallen]

hoping to open a discussion here and not just a bunch of posts with pics saying "u r a retard" and "derr" etc..

We know items are incredibly hard to come by and often require endless hours of cash hunting to stock up on silvers. Many of us are professionals working 1 or 2 jobs.. so why not enhance the enjoyment of the game by purchasing an item or two with cash? Like if I make 25$ an hour, and buy 3.5m silvers with that.. it is basically an hour of work versus possibly a week or two of work straight cash hunting. (This is my logic behind it)

Or with buying characters. It's like: I enjoy being level 60+, why spend 10,000 hours playing when I can just buy something for the cost of one day of work at my job?

Then there are those who say: The game shouldn't be rigged in this way, how dare you idiots scar the beauty of roleplaying by skipping the challenge of bringing a character from newbdom to uberness? Why not buck up and at least script the levels and do it honestly?

What do you guys think? Looking to provoke some thoughtful discussion here.

There were recently several long discussions on the boards concerning micro-transactions, which would basically be as you described. It looks like the staff is for it, but cannot impliment the change due to billing complications. Many players voiced their opinions against such an option, though.

Edited to add: Buying characters will never be officially sanctioned. The fact that they don't give a shit about this site and GS auctions selling characters shows they simply turn a blind eye towards the practice so that they can continue to collect the associated fees.

[SpiffyJr]

I've always used this logic for games such as WoW. My argument is I play the game to have fun and not having to farm is fun. They always refute with buying gold isn't playing the game.

1,000 gold in WoW used to be a big deal in order to get your epic mount. It would have taken me weeks to farm it but instead I used a few hours worth of work to achieve the same thing.

/shrug

[Buckwheet]

Not only do they turn a blind eye or not care, they actually have processes in place to help protect accounts that go through transfers.

I think micro transactions are great, but I also don't mind a secondary economy where people are free to exchange their skills/time for out of game money.

If you want to cash hunt at the rate of 3m per day and sell it to me for half what I make in an hour working, that just makes it all easier for me.

[audioserf]

I used to be against it but now I don't care. I've bought several weapons for $USD so far and when the time comes to upgrade or get some armor I will have no compunctions about doing it again.

When you have armor, weapons etc running in the multiple tens of millions, it's literally not possible for a casual player to get that kind of silver without $USD.

Buying for cash removes tedium and adds fun.

[Asha]

Compunctions

[AnticorRifling]

Great word.

[Sam]

I can see the problem some people have with it from a roleplaying standpoint. There's really no way to explain multimillion silver items in a realistic context, other than saying your character comes from a rich family.

For me, buying items/silvers has increased the fun I have in game, not just because I have cool shit. (honestly, I don't think I would have died much more using 4x plate and a 0x claid.) I just find it very useful to not have to worry about treasure hunting... My character can only hunt effectively with 3 boxes (2 in a disk) and can't skin to save his life. If I kept track of my income, I could probably make 1m every couple of weeks if I'm playing a lot, and selling everything and taking the time to auction shit... Or I can just drop a negligible amount of money and have one less thing to worry about.

edit: I've always justified it to myself by equating it to old arcade games like gauntlet or super off road, where more quarters = more power... I blame my parents for not giving me enough quarters as a kid.

[caelric]

I don't see it as a problem; if I played in Prime, I would buy about 50 million in silvers and never worry about it again. In Plat, there is no market for silvers, so it is a moot point for me.

I'm sure that in Shattered, the market will be pretty big.

[mgoddess]

I really don't give a shit one way or another if people want to cut right to the chase by buying stuff with cash. Doesn't hurt me normally.

It is sad sometimes to see characters I know acting differently because they have new owners... but, if the old owners needed to sell out, *shrug*, nothing I can do about it.

I doubt I'll ever join the club of buying in-game stuff for cash, but that's just me.

[Rallorick]

I left the game back in 99, and I guess I dumped all my stuff off on friends... don't recall, but at the time I remember everyone thought characters would be purged after a certain amount of inactive time.

Came back abou 3 or 4 months ago, and reactivated found out I could still reactivate my old account - except I had no gear.

it would have sucked getting used to the changes with cheap stuff, so ended up spending less than $100 to get my characters outfitted with par equipment.

I think some people go a little overboard with it, but it doesn't affect my game time either way.

[Latrinsorm]

I came across another dilemma - look at Brute's avatar or read his post?

[nichelas]

I came across another dilemma - look at Brute's avatar or read his post?

Agreed.

[Anebriated]

I left the game back in 99, and I guess I dumped all my stuff off on friends... don't recall, but at the time I remember everyone thought characters would be purged after a certain amount of inactive time.

Came back abou 3 or 4 months ago, and reactivated found out I could still reactivate my old account - except I had no gear.

it would have sucked getting used to the changes with cheap stuff, so ended up spending less than $100 to get my characters outfitted with par equipment.

I think some people go a little overboard with it, but it doesn't affect my game time either way.

not quite as extreme but i was gone for a few years and came back recently myself. Did something similar and my characters were stripped of gear. Used RL cash to buy a new set of armor for my warrior to get back into the swing of things. I like the fact that they let the players decide the market as opposed to the company. If it was Simu itd probably take a year+ before whatever you bought was ready to go, of course theyd say it was RSN.

[Sam]

I came across another dilemma - look at Brute's avatar or read his post?

I'd relay this comment to her, but then she'd probably be very pissed off that I posted it.

[Queleri]

I came across another dilemma - look at Brute's avatar or read his post?

I fail to see the dilemma; look at the avatar is the obvious answer.

[Reltov420]

Avatar. Easy choice. Buy for cash, skip most of the boring stuff. Also an easy choice.

[Wrathbringer]

hoping to open a discussion here and not just a bunch of posts with pics saying "u r a retard" and "derr" etc...

lol