Comment A new twist on casual vs. hardcore... (Score 0) 239
First off, let me say that I'm *not* against the buying and selling of in-game currency with real world funds. I think that Sony really hit a home run with the Station Exchange (their service where they actually serve as the same middle man that these guys are trying to become - except for the whole legality thing).
Since the early days of UO, people have complained that the kiddies that don't have to work get to play all day and all night, and those with jobs, families, etc, couldn't keep up. Now, the other side of the coin shows up, and those with jobs are able to afford to spend a little money to "keep up". If I can spend $25 bucks to buy a few gold or platinum, and negate the need to farm for money in game for several weeks, sign me up.
I do understand that some people are strongly against this, and in response I'd suggest that more game companies just build servers where this wasn't allowed. If they'd do like Sony did in Everquest 2, and set aside exchange servers and non-exchange servers, I feel like they'd not only resolve a long standing battle with those who are going to do this anyway, they'd also have a nice tidy new revenue stream. As I said, when EQ2 introduced the exchange service, I jumped at the chance to move to the "legalized" server. When iTunes released, I bought alot of MP3s; it only makes sense to legalize (and I realize that talking about the TOS/EULA of a game in legal terms is shaky ground, but I don't know how better to state it) something that a large contingent of your user base wants.
I don't have a specific question for the guys looking for free publicity, really. I'd personally much rather pay a premium for it directly from Blizzard, Turbine, etc.
Since the early days of UO, people have complained that the kiddies that don't have to work get to play all day and all night, and those with jobs, families, etc, couldn't keep up. Now, the other side of the coin shows up, and those with jobs are able to afford to spend a little money to "keep up". If I can spend $25 bucks to buy a few gold or platinum, and negate the need to farm for money in game for several weeks, sign me up.
I do understand that some people are strongly against this, and in response I'd suggest that more game companies just build servers where this wasn't allowed. If they'd do like Sony did in Everquest 2, and set aside exchange servers and non-exchange servers, I feel like they'd not only resolve a long standing battle with those who are going to do this anyway, they'd also have a nice tidy new revenue stream. As I said, when EQ2 introduced the exchange service, I jumped at the chance to move to the "legalized" server. When iTunes released, I bought alot of MP3s; it only makes sense to legalize (and I realize that talking about the TOS/EULA of a game in legal terms is shaky ground, but I don't know how better to state it) something that a large contingent of your user base wants.
I don't have a specific question for the guys looking for free publicity, really. I'd personally much rather pay a premium for it directly from Blizzard, Turbine, etc.
