Re:Cheating (Score 1)

What happens with on-line games? Somebody with more money than brains goes to ebay and buys a FireSword +25 fire damage, and DiamondHelm -15AC, he also buys 5 bottles of healing potions. He then sets out, and defeats monsters that should be a challange, he does quickly. He advances a few levels. Then he meets some other character owned by a real person. They are the same level, so it should be an even fight, the one who plans better should win. But it is not a fair fight when the ebay buying guy whips out his Scrolls of Instant Death, and kills your character that you spent a month developing. Gee, I did not see a level 3 character unleashing a scroll that does 150 points of damage.

Except that's not how it works. There are generally two types of people that buy game items on ebay. 1) those who buy very little, perhaps some gold to buy a mount and 2) those who buy a whole character, already decked out with the awesome gear.

Let me tell you, people doing #1 aren't getting an overwhelming advantage over those who don't. They just save a bit of time. You can't even buy the very best equipment in the game, because it is Bind on Pickup, so can't be bought/sold.

And if you think people doing #2 are anywhere close to the skill level as someone who leveled the hard way, you have another thing coming. There is really no comparison between someone who knows all the ins and outs of a character, their strengths and weaknesses, how to change up strategies based on situation, and someone who says "oh boy, I've got a 1337 sword! I rock!"