This is exactly the kind of attitude that ensures the continued existence of the problem. It is true that if there is demand then somebody will supply it but will you contribute to the problem just because the problem is inevitable. Ahh those moral dilemas.
You could duplicate items in this game really easily because your item vault was stored locally on your machine as a hidden file. You just had to save it to disk and overwrite the file when you ran low and all of your items would be back. Unlimited items. I got the inside track on this one from one of the admins in a chat room. It eventaully got out but it was fun while it lasted. Seriously though this ruined the game for a couple of months and I have since changed my mind about game cheats. In the words of punkbuster
"If you cheat...then your a punk."
They are harming other people. Think about it. I buy an MMORPG expecting certain gameplay as advertised on the box. When I get to a quest area and find people constantly camped out there who kill me for trying to *gasp* actually get an item in the way that the game designers intended then I feel cheated and rightly so. I experience a negative side effect, I cannot get an item any other way except by paying some jerk for it with cash (which I by the way refuse to do), and my gameplay experience is ruined. If enough players get snubed in the same way that I did and stop playing the game company also losses money. The only people that win are the parasite item farmers who turn what should be a game into a business. The user license, your contract agreement, grants you no right to run this type of business. In fact most licenses explicitly forbid it. Real people lose real money becuase of these people. So yes to answer your question real people are financially hurt by this practice. In the real world it is known as FRAUD and guess what...it is illegal
Many MMORP companies now include a clause in the user license agreement that says something to the effect of:
"we reserver the right to ban your account(s) or revoke item(s) without prior notice if you are caught selling items outside of the game."
This phenomenon has given rise to new terms such as "item farmers" and "rare-drop campers". These groups of unprincipled players make it nearly impossible for a small party or individual to "win" the item(s) through proper gameplay and skill. This has a deleterious effect on the gameplay and reduces the overal value of the game experience for all the other players. What economists call a negative externality, that is to say a negative result for a third party to the original transaction. In this case other players being unable to acquire rare items in the ways that the game designers originally intended because people are greedy and take them to sell offline. If you play these games (Ultima, Everquest, et al) and you participate in the selling of game items outside of the game then I respectfully ask you to consider the harm that you are doing to the game. In the same way that parasistes are not beneficial to the host so you too are not beneficial to the growth and continued enjoyment of the industry or the game. If you get your account baned for selling items outside of the game believe me when I say that nobody will sympathise with your plight in the least. In conclusion, Please do not sell game items outside of the game (eBay, BidBay, whatever). If you are a player who buys from these people then you are just as much a part of the problem. Remember that as long as people demand these kinds of transactions somebody will supply them. If you care about the game and its continued growth then you will not engage in these kinds of purchases. Thank you for reading.
Slashdot Mirror
This is exactly the kind of attitude that ensures the continued existence of the problem. It is true that if there is demand then somebody will supply it but will you contribute to the problem just because the problem is inevitable. Ahh those moral dilemas.
You could duplicate items in this game really easily because your item vault was stored locally on your machine as a hidden file. You just had to save it to disk and overwrite the file when you ran low and all of your items would be back. Unlimited items. I got the inside track on this one from one of the admins in a chat room. It eventaully got out but it was fun while it lasted. Seriously though this ruined the game for a couple of months and I have since changed my mind about game cheats. In the words of punkbuster "If you cheat...then your a punk."
They are harming other people. Think about it. I buy an MMORPG expecting certain gameplay as advertised on the box. When I get to a quest area and find people constantly camped out there who kill me for trying to *gasp* actually get an item in the way that the game designers intended then I feel cheated and rightly so. I experience a negative side effect, I cannot get an item any other way except by paying some jerk for it with cash (which I by the way refuse to do), and my gameplay experience is ruined. If enough players get snubed in the same way that I did and stop playing the game company also losses money. The only people that win are the parasite item farmers who turn what should be a game into a business. The user license, your contract agreement, grants you no right to run this type of business. In fact most licenses explicitly forbid it. Real people lose real money becuase of these people. So yes to answer your question real people are financially hurt by this practice. In the real world it is known as FRAUD and guess what...it is illegal
Many MMORP companies now include a clause in the user license agreement that says something to the effect of:
"we reserver the right to ban your account(s) or revoke item(s) without prior notice if you are caught selling items outside of the game."
This phenomenon has given rise to new terms such as "item farmers" and "rare-drop campers". These groups of unprincipled players make it nearly impossible for a small party or individual to "win" the item(s) through proper gameplay and skill. This has a deleterious effect on the gameplay and reduces the overal value of the game experience for all the other players. What economists call a negative externality, that is to say a negative result for a third party to the original transaction. In this case other players being unable to acquire rare items in the ways that the game designers originally intended because people are greedy and take them to sell offline. If you play these games (Ultima, Everquest, et al) and you participate in the selling of game items outside of the game then I respectfully ask you to consider the harm that you are doing to the game. In the same way that parasistes are not beneficial to the host so you too are not beneficial to the growth and continued enjoyment of the industry or the game. If you get your account baned for selling items outside of the game believe me when I say that nobody will sympathise with your plight in the least. In conclusion, Please do not sell game items outside of the game (eBay, BidBay, whatever). If you are a player who buys from these people then you are just as much a part of the problem. Remember that as long as people demand these kinds of transactions somebody will supply them. If you care about the game and its continued growth then you will not engage in these kinds of purchases. Thank you for reading.