I can't comment on how good or evil it is to buy your way into a MMORPG, since I don't play those, but I can say that Gaming Open Market has provided an excellent serviced to Second Life, which isn't a MMORPG at all. There's no treadmill, there's no game objectives, and buying and selling goods is part of the purpose of the SL metaverse. The developers of SL encourage people to trade cash on GOM, because it served the valuable purpose of keeping the cash moving in the virtual economy. If it weren't for GOM, then most of the cash would be tied up in the accounts of a handful of wealthy players.
I've played SL for months now. I run a business in-world where I build and script vehicles and sell them. GOM helps me in two ways. First, new players who want to go shopping can pick up a few extra "Linden Dollars" at GOM. Second, I can sell my in-world profits on GOM for US dollars.
Now, when you say, "People who are spending real money for in-game advantage through third parties should be shot in the street for being so stupid," I think it's obvious that you don't understand what people are paying for. Buying Linden dollars is like buying software, or buying that expansion pack for your favourite game. By spending US dollars to buy a Second Life game currency, you're buying an enhancement to your entertainment software. Are you saying that it's stupid to pay for software? That's an entirely different argument.
I don't see how buying and selling Linden dollars for US$ could be wrong or stupid when it helps the game economy and makes the game more enjoyable. Sounds like a good way to spend your entertainment dollar to me.
I'm really sorry that this happpened to GOM and I hope they get back on their feet soon.
I've had a Second Life account for several months now, and had people call me nuts for paying for virtual land. Oddly enough, I got the same type of comments back in 1995, when I told people that I paid for space on a web server.
The analogy is a good one. Second Life is very much oriented towards scripters and modellers -- you can build anything you like and then write a script in C-like language that describes its behaviour. When you buy land, you're really paying for space on their servers where you can show off your latest creations.
Unlike Everquest, it's absolutely not a roleplaying game. It's a showcase, a meeting place, and a game-within-a-game. It's an online environment that comes remarkably close to Neal Stephenson's "Snowcrash".
And if you're good at building or scripting, you can sell your stuff to other players for play money -- Linden dollars. You don't need to pay real money for anything except land -- space on their server. If you don't want space, don't buy it. Ten bucks will let you play and build whatever you like forever.
For those players who are too impatient to earn money in-world, like every other MMOG the Linden dollar can be bought and sold online at sites like www.gamingopenmarket.com. I personally have never needed to buy Linden dollars, and in fact, I've earned enough money from selling scripted objects in the game to cover the cost of land.
So... why pay money for something that isn't even real? Ask yourself why you have a website. The answer is probably the same.
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I can't comment on how good or evil it is to buy your way into a MMORPG, since I don't play those, but I can say that Gaming Open Market has provided an excellent serviced to Second Life, which isn't a MMORPG at all. There's no treadmill, there's no game objectives, and buying and selling goods is part of the purpose of the SL metaverse. The developers of SL encourage people to trade cash on GOM, because it served the valuable purpose of keeping the cash moving in the virtual economy. If it weren't for GOM, then most of the cash would be tied up in the accounts of a handful of wealthy players. I've played SL for months now. I run a business in-world where I build and script vehicles and sell them. GOM helps me in two ways. First, new players who want to go shopping can pick up a few extra "Linden Dollars" at GOM. Second, I can sell my in-world profits on GOM for US dollars. Now, when you say, "People who are spending real money for in-game advantage through third parties should be shot in the street for being so stupid," I think it's obvious that you don't understand what people are paying for. Buying Linden dollars is like buying software, or buying that expansion pack for your favourite game. By spending US dollars to buy a Second Life game currency, you're buying an enhancement to your entertainment software. Are you saying that it's stupid to pay for software? That's an entirely different argument. I don't see how buying and selling Linden dollars for US$ could be wrong or stupid when it helps the game economy and makes the game more enjoyable. Sounds like a good way to spend your entertainment dollar to me. I'm really sorry that this happpened to GOM and I hope they get back on their feet soon.
I've had a Second Life account for several months now, and had people call me nuts for paying for virtual land. Oddly enough, I got the same type of comments back in 1995, when I told people that I paid for space on a web server.
The analogy is a good one. Second Life is very much oriented towards scripters and modellers -- you can build anything you like and then write a script in C-like language that describes its behaviour. When you buy land, you're really paying for space on their servers where you can show off your latest creations.
Unlike Everquest, it's absolutely not a roleplaying game. It's a showcase, a meeting place, and a game-within-a-game. It's an online environment that comes remarkably close to Neal Stephenson's "Snowcrash".
And if you're good at building or scripting, you can sell your stuff to other players for play money -- Linden dollars. You don't need to pay real money for anything except land -- space on their server. If you don't want space, don't buy it. Ten bucks will let you play and build whatever you like forever.
For those players who are too impatient to earn money in-world, like every other MMOG the Linden dollar can be bought and sold online at sites like www.gamingopenmarket.com. I personally have never needed to buy Linden dollars, and in fact, I've earned enough money from selling scripted objects in the game to cover the cost of land.
So... why pay money for something that isn't even real? Ask yourself why you have a website. The answer is probably the same.