Real Life money / MMO's

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Syxx

Diabloii.Net Member
Real Life money / MMO's

Hi all,

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/19/entropia_gets_banking_license/

Publishers of the online game Entropia Universe have been granted a real-life banking license by Swedish officials. They plan to open a government-insured virtual bank for the game within a year.

The sci-fi universe of Entropia already lets players exchange real money for virtual funds used to but items, business, and trade on the game's fictional world of Calypso. The game's currency, PED (Project Entropia Dollars), has a fixed rate with the US dollar, where 10 PED equals $1
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Interesting ... real life money used in MMO games.

The game has twice entered the Guinness World Records for the most expensive virtual world items ever sold. In 2004, a 22-year-old Australian payed the equivalent of $26,500 to own a mutant-infested Treasure Island in the game. Later, the player Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs bought a virtual night-club asteroid for the equivalent of $100,000. Despite mortgaging his house to make the purchase, Jacobs claims to have made a profit on the deal by selling licenses to hunt monsters and mine resources on the asteroid.
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I can understand people using real life money to pay for a MMO subscription, but to use even more real life money to purchase items within the games seems a little overboard to me.

I am curious, would any of the OTF posters consider using real money to purchase virtual items in a MMO ?

How far would go to purchase virtual items ... , empty out your bank account, sell a kidney, mortgage your house, rob a bank ?

Regards
Syxx
 
TheOgreMan

TheOgreMan

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

If playing the game isn't fun by itself why put more money into it with hopes that the items will make it fun?
 
Johnny

Johnny

Banned
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

I don't see the problem. What does a thousand gold in WoW cost? $15?

How much time does it take to make that in the game from level 1 when compared to how much time it takes to make that in real life? Time is the real currency.

It's not that unusual to pay money for entertainment. People can blow thousands of dollars in a bar and the morning after all they have to show for it is a hangover.
 
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Dirty_Zulu

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

I see no problem in this.

It's basically the same as modern casinos. You exchange your money for chips or a credit voucher to play with.
 
Ash Housewares

Ash Housewares

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

Johnny said:
Time is the real currency.
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in a nutshell, this article is just about the extreme version of it, its certainly strange to me, and of such a scope that I wouldn't be interested, but people spend money on weird stuff if you let them, so its not too surprising all in all

in wow the most common thing you see lately is people who are willing to set up a second account for the unique mount and speedy leveling you can get out of it, but that seems more like an extension of the regular cost as opposed to thousands of dollars additionally spent, so less spendshock there



 
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LostMagic

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

Well people still buy d2 items, why not that game? there are stores for mostly every mmo out there
 
KillerAim

KillerAim

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

Johnny
I don't see the problem. What does a thousand gold in WoW cost? $15?

How much time does it take to make that in the game from level 1 when compared to how much time it takes to make that in real life? Time is the real currency.
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I totally agree. I can invest 40 hours of doing runs hoping for the unique "godly sash of humiliation" to either drop or for me to find enough good stuff to trade for it; or, I can go on-line and buy it for $10. That choice is a no-brainer for a lot of people.
 
Dondrei

Dondrei

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

Who the hell plays "games" like this anyway?

I think it's actually a little different from WoW, because I assume the items in question can't be earned by simple time investment or other in-game resource exchange, so there isn't a real market (otherwise surely nothing could cost that much). The prices are set by developer mandate.
 
TheOgreMan

TheOgreMan

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

Not necessarily. In a lot of games the items are obtainable by people but the items are so rare or so hard to get that certain people specialize in getting them and sell them to everyone else. FFXI is a good example; bots and farmers are so good at getting the NMs that normal gamers seldom have the chance to obtain the better items. Now, I'm not saying no one can (a friend and I were good at getting them, too) but these people really work to get them.

I can see buying items to do the more fun parts of the game...but I still can't see why you would play a game if there was even one really big drawback, like buying items, that you didn't like. Hell, I raided in WoW for years, but the time investment is no longer something I can do so i quit. Wouldn't pay any amount above the subscription cost to play.
 
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stillman

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

I have never bought anything because I would then feel like I suck at the game. Isn't the whole point of the game about spending time working towards something? If you don't want to spend time at it, don't play the game.
 
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stillman

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

I don't have a life outside of games though. I'm a hermit. Where's the hermit thread?
 
KillerAim

KillerAim

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

stillman:
I have never bought anything because I would then feel like I suck at the game. Isn't the whole point of the game about spending time working towards something? If you don't want to spend time at it, don't play the game.
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No, the whole point of buying a game is that it gives you some enjoyment. I understand your point of view and I know that that works for you, but what if other people feel differently? If somebody spend 40 bucks or more on a game and then only plays it in the "god mode", what's it to you?

And where do you draw the line? Is buying a strategy book off-limits? How about reading game tips and secrets from places like this? Or what if the designers accidentally left a flaw in the game that gives you an unanticipated advantage? Is it OK for you to exploit it?
 
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Soulstones

Diabloii.Net Member
Re: Real Life money / MMO's

i quit guild wars about a year ago ... recently sold off most of the rare items I had acquired in the game. Made over $4,000.

=)
 
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