General Discussion

Originally posted by Corpoces

I give kudos for trying to do something about the farmers, even though it’s purely for reasons of profit. But what this is going to do is turn everyone into farmers. People that never farmed before will start to farm cause they can do it legally now without worry. It will be like those social games where point of the game is to earn property in the game so you can sell it for real money.

Making burglary legal and taxing it because other burglars are making money from it and it is oh SOOOO hard to police dosen't make burglary a good thing.

Does this make sense?

RMT is the death of these games in the long term, but the stupid arsed companies out there now are willing the slaughter the goose to get that golden egg so they just don't give a damn.

I have played SOE games since EQ1 since beta, and been a vocal supporter of their work since.

But no more.

I am finally done with them as a company, as I will be with any other dev that condones and/ or participates in RMT.

Originally posted by uncus

 

Please elaborate - what is this "You buy, you keep policy"?

 

Do you mean a "Bind on acquire"-type thing?

Personally, I prefer a "Bind on Equip" system, but I can see where that is abusible...

Do you mean "Bind on Acquire" for items from RMT shop only?  That would be an interesting idea.

Bind on acquire would reflect my idea here.  Since RMT are going to be hidden as well in game in every market, I would expand it to the whole market, but without expanded or not, anything is better than nothing.  Speculation hurt the RMT themselves, althought on a superficial level, they are the one doing it the most and the best, and should be the one benefacting from them.  But if you take a deeper layer of understanding, speculation on a first layer hurt the casuals, but in the long run, anything which hurt the casuals hurt everyone else in the game.

You buy, you keep.  Simple, efficient, and fullfilling the goal of the market, which is the trade of goods for peoples who need them.  The more this system work without interferance, the better everyone, including the RMT, would be.  Happier and healthy casuals reflect in many ways.  (of course, if 1 RMT does speculate and other doesn't...those who don't are shafted badly).

See, unlike some who are officially hunting goldsellers, I see them as my friends.  And if a friend is doing something which hurt himself and other, I have to try to put some sense into their head so they stop hurting other first, and second, themselves.  A bind on equip would not remove RMT, it would complicated their existance granted.  But it would in fact remove most speculation and artificial inflation from the game.  A serious RMT organisation would want to see such a feature, as it may outright kill some competition in the same time...and me; I care mostly for the casuals and the game overall health.

I am not the best at explanations however...so I will try the simple equation...

Bind on equip = 99% speculation decrease = less inflation = casuals purchasing more items they want = more real trades = more troubles and complexity for speculators and RMT = less speculators = more careful planning = better game = more casuals = more business for RMT (and less competition)  (The more REAL trades happen, the more they want, the more they want, the more business as well for RMT)

Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this like it's something new?  Sony has been running the Station Exchange servers for over 2 years now.  This is just switching the process to a new company.

I play on one of the servers, and I love the exchange.  I make well over 300 bucks a week selling plat on the game.

Heh... As though we needed another example of how low SOE will go for the almighty $$$.

It's a wonderful spin they put on it. "We're doing it to help the players from getting scammed".  They're  just doing what's best for their subscribers. Aww how thoughtful. They said the same thing of the NGE and we all know how that was received. But, surely SOE *must* be totally honest and looking out for their loyal customers, right?

No they're not.

They're embracing the idea so they get both ends of the deal - the sub fee *and* the RMT money. Come on people. It's clear as crystal. The only thing SOE is dedicated to is their bottom line. If they *really* cared, they would be putting more effort into improving some of the games under their umbrella for the players who still loyally play them in hopes that they will. But they don't. They just soak up whatever revenue they can while doing the absolute minimum with them. Meanwhile, they're negotiating deals with some RMT company to expand their "sanctioned RMT" business. Yeah, their hearts are really with the players.

As for those saying that it's "urban legends" or "myths" that RMT can have an adverse effect on the game... you're full of it. I've seen it happen, before and after, in FFXI, as one example. RMT was running rampant in that game for a while, inflation was out of control, and it was driving people away - especially new players. The lowest level, newbie gear was out of reach for many new players as they simply couldn't make enough to afford it. So they gave up.

And don't even get me started on the higher level rare stuff. RMT groups would actively and openly monopolize certain named mobs who dropped these items, 24/7, so they controlled the market on them, driving the prices up and up and up to the point that people would feel they had no choice *but* to buy the money if they were ever to get one. They would routinely mob-train competing groups of legit players also trying to get claim of the mob. It was to the point that SE altered the mob aggro code so that could no longer happen. But the RMT is harmless right? Has no effect on the game or on legit players, right? It's all just a myth. Yeah.. just keep those blinders on.

See, it's not only the economy that's screwed with. The tactics RMT groups use to get their gil are often intrusive to other players as well - monopolizing mobs, overrunning areas, flooding market with certain items that they can fish/craft/farm 24/7... and on and on. Some have gone as far as trying to hack accounts. So when you're supporting RMT in a game not designed with it in mind (ie. Second Life, etc), you're also condoning those kinds of actions. Good job.

SE finally got serious and started aggressively combatting it in FFXI, removing billions upon billions of ill-intended gil from the economy and making a few in-game changes to certain high-demand items... The result? The economy has come back down to earth;  it's now lower in many cases than it was even when I first started 4+ years ago at the NA PC launch. Items that were in the millions are now under 1 mil in price. People just starting out can actually realistically afford gear now that was once out of their reach.

See, that's the difference.

SE, Blizzard, and other companies see RMT for the problem it is, from all angles, and the effect it has on their players long term and aggressively combat it.

SOE sees RMT only as untapped $$$ in their pockets and embrace it wholeheartedly - while still having the gall to try coming out smelling like a rose by saying they're "doing it to protect the players". They're not protecting anyone.. last I checked "non-sanctioned" RMT was alive and well in EQ2. SOE's merely getting their cut of the pie.

So believe whatever you want. Tell  yourself whatever you will about how "harmless RMT is on a game". I've seen empirical evidence of it with my own two eyes that it absolutely does have an effect. Of course, I speak only for those of us who believe in playing the game and not buying our way through.

It does sorta amuse me when the people whose progress in a game can be tracked back to charges on their credit card or bank statement, beyond the sub fee, insist RMT has no affect on the game. Well of course not.. Not for you. Not when you see everything you want in the game as "just a transaction away" and buy your achievements instead of actually playing the game as designed. For those who actually still believe in *playing* the game and don't feel entitled to "keep up because they have a job and can't play as much" it has a very real effect. I've seen both extremes of it. So, no, it's not "urban legend" or myth. It's quite real. Though, I realize it's hard to see that when you won't look past your own nose.

I've read all the reasons and rationales and excuses. It all comes back to "I don't want to have to put in the same effort others do to get what I want, so I shouldn't have to. ANd as long as I get what I want out of it, who cares how anyone else is affected by it". The classic "me me me" attitude.

Strange how Smedley says this new service will be better because it can deal with fraud more effectively since most fraud occurs overseas and acknowledges that Blizzard did the right thing by suing Peons4hire, an American company, yet he can't explain why SOE has never sued Playerauctions, also an American company, which made millions off of sponsoring classic EQ gold sales when Ebay removed them.

It's just more bullshit.

Originally posted by Hexxeity

And they don't have to worry about balancing the amount of currency coming into the game, as it is all earned legitimately, as opposed to being "created from nothing" when someone buys gold from them directly.

Originally posted by Samuraisword

Strange how Smedley says this new service will be better because it can deal with fraud more effectively since most fraud occurs overseas and acknowledges that Blizzard did the right thing by suing Peons4hire, an American company, yet he can't explain why SOE has never sued Playerauctions, also an American company, which made millions off of sponsoring classic EQ gold sales when Ebay removed them.

It's just more bullshit.

Because Smedley and co don't count on people, like yourself, to look at the situation that closely or critically. They rely on the people who will buy into everything they're told and not question it. And, besides, if it means more $$$ in the end for them, what does a little hypocrisy matter?

Originally posted by zaxxon23

 

Originally posted by Lyolas

These suits must think that most of us were born yesterday. This is clearly about extracting maximum revenue from customers and nothing more. Period.

In a perfect world a smart business would actually think about its customers first and as a result see the profits roll in.

 

 

It is obvious you don't understand the market.  Despite the fact that you may dislike RMT, the simple fact of the matter is that you are in the minority.  This is a thriving online business, and SOE recognizes that many of their customers desire the ability to participate in RMT transactions.  In reality, SOE is most definately thinking about its customers first.  You're just mad because they aren't thinking about YOU first.

I think I understand the market reasonably well and so does SOE. This is why there are only two RMT servers in EQ2 following the poll they did. This is why they did not at that time make them all RMT. I'd say that is better evidence than your presumtions about me being unhappy, etc.

Originally posted by WSIMike

Heh... As though we needed another example of how low SOE will go for the almighty $$$.

It's a wonderful spin they put on it. "We're doing it to help the players from getting scammed".  They're  just doing what's best for their subscribers. Aww how thoughtful. They said the same thing of the NGU and we all know how that was received. But, surely SOE *must* be totally honest and looking out for their loyal customers, right?

No they're not.

They're embracing the idea so they get both ends of the deal - the sub fee *and* the RMT money. Come on people. It's clear as crystal. The only thing SOE is dedicated to is their bottom line. If they *really* cared, they would be putting more effort into improving some of the games under their umbrella for the players who still loyally play them in hopes that they will. But they don't. They just soak up whatever revenue they can while doing the absolute minimum with them.

As for those saying that it's "urban legends" or "myths" that RMT can have an adverse effect on the game... you're full of it. I've seen it happen, before and after, in FFXI, as one example. RMT was running rampant in that game for a while, inflation was out of control, and it was driving people away - especially new players. The lowest level, newbie gear was out of reach for many new players as they simply couldn't make enough to afford it. So they gave up.

And don't eve