<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items --> <!--X-From-R13: [nggurj [vunyl <gur_ybtbfNnpunrn.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 00:42:46 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Pine.LNX.4.10.10004120715300.14886-100000@achaea.mudservices.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: F19669E47070D311A0880050049B066A066CDA@ORGANIC --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:the_logos@achaea.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00217.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00221.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00215.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00225.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00218">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00218">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00218">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: "'<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>'" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Matthew Mihaly <<A HREF="mailto:the_logos#achaea,com">the_logos#achaea,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 07:26:48 +0000 (GMT)</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Wed, 12 Apr 2000, Geoffrey A. MacDougall wrote: > > If Verant believes that it is impossible to > > stop, why > > not try to exploit it? We supplement our income quite nicely > > by selling > > items. We've not sold characters, but there's no reason we couldn't. > > Personally, if I were Verant, I'd mainly be pissed that I'm > > not getting a > > piece of the action. > > > > I would argue that the nature of goods in the virtual world is, as yet, too > transitory to render dealing in them for RL cash an entrenched part of any > game design. Goods can be and are lost to server crashes and other bugs. > And, as already demonstrated, GMs and other immortals with the power to > create goods and get rich quick can screw over the fragile balance of an > MMORPG economy. You are faced with competing interests - RL gain vs. the > sanctity of gameplay. If the sale of goods to other players for RL cash > becomes the driving force for the majority of the player base, you are faced > with a fundamental shift in the game design paradigm. The purpose of the > game becomes altered, and therefore, so too does the value (as a function of > utility) of the goods within that game. Characters can be lost to bugs and server crashes too, yet that's what is most important to players, and there doesn't seem to be any significant problem with it. Saying that because there is the possibility for an underling to illicitly profit is a reason not to do it is like saying no one at the bank but the President should be allowed near the money as someone might steal it. All businesses with a clue have security measures to protect against employee theft where theft is possible. None are perfect, but that's certainly no reason to just throw up your hands and say "Well, since it's not perfect, let's give up." > From what I know of you MUD, Matt, you are operating at a scale where it is > financially feasible for you to investigate and patch any errors that may > have resulted in players losing virtual goods for which they paid RL > currency. I would hesitate to assume that the same model would be > functionable at a larger scale. We've never had a player lose a virtual good. Clearly it would happen eventually, but prepare for that. It's not a major concern. If EQ has players frequently losing major pieces of equipment for no good reason, whether paid for in real money or gotten through in-game measures, EQ has a problem. I really think some of the objection to this sort of idea generally may derive from the fact that many of us are "hardcore gamers" and the idea of buying success is anathema to a hardcore gamer. But get over it. It's not nearly so morbid sounding to a lot of people. You just have to be careful not to stray into the "I can buy anything" territory. Have some things that can only be obtained by playing. Have others that you can only buy. have some you can get either way, *shrug*. Like I said, until it's tried, I doubt we'd know if it's viable in a big game, but I suspect that properly done, it is. --matt _______________________________________________ MUD-Dev mailing list MUD-Dev#kanga,nu <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00203" HREF="msg00203.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Geoffrey A. MacDougall" <geoffrey@poptronik.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00217.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gaming sites</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00221.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its populargaming sites</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00215.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00225.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00218"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00218"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00198" HREF="msg00198.html">[MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos@achaea.com">the_logos@achaea.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 04:04 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00213" HREF="msg00213.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Frank Crowell <a href="mailto:maddog@maddog.com">maddog@maddog.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT </LI> </UL> <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00203" HREF="msg00203.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Geoffrey A. MacDougall <a href="mailto:geoffrey@poptronik.com">geoffrey@poptronik.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 04:36 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00215" HREF="msg00215.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster@austin.rr.com">rkoster@austin.rr.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00218" HREF="msg00218.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos@achaea.com">the_logos@achaea.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 07:42 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00225" HREF="msg00225.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack@antisocial.com">skeptack@antisocial.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 14:45 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00224" HREF="msg00224.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></strong>, Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack@antisocial.com">skeptack@antisocial.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 14:23 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00187" HREF="msg00187.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gaming sites</A></strong>, Ryan Palacio <a href="mailto:rpalacio@verant.com">rpalacio@verant.com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 23:22 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00193" HREF="msg00193.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gaming sites</A></strong>, maddog <a href="mailto:maddog@best.com">maddog@best.com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 01:24 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>