Chinese student arrested after making 150 million yen selling items for online RPG

[johnny]

But it would be paying for cheating. Cheating in itself is bad enough, but paying for it is the pinnacle of lameness. What's the fun in games if you are pretty much invincible before the game even starts ?

[Sever]

Some games are very time consuming, and some people also have jobs that are the same. I can see the merit in buying virtual stuff for games, but i can't see myself doing it. The journey and the destination and that.

[Yorick]

Timber is spot on. Time vs money. You guys stop needing to see it all as "virtual", as it's a real world product - ENTERTAINMENT.

Buying the items increase a persons entertainment experience by compressing the amount of time needed to feel entertained and fulfilled.

Similarly, if you have the time, but not the money you could wait in line for days for great tickets to Paul McCartney. Or you could pay someone else to do it if you have money but not the time.

[robertthebard]

Maybe Metallica...but not McCartney...
However, I can see where the time constraints come in. I read an article somewhere about WoW giving the wrong message, or maybe I saw it on G4...Anyway, the guy's position was that WoW taught gamers that time was more important than skill. I have never played WoW, but from what I do know, it takes a long time to get all the cool gear you might want to have. I'm not talking a couple of extra hours either, I'm talking days.
I have to agree with Johnny too though about cheating. Not that I wouldn't cheat a game, I had Shadowkeeper, and Gatekeeper, and Dalekeeper, and I know how to make my own gear in the NWN's toolset too. But I don't think I could, even were I in a position to, pay to cheat.

Edit: Oh yeah, and thumbs up dude, that's a lot of loot.

[ 11-30-2006, 12:56 AM: Message edited by: robertthebard ]

[Yorick]

I mentioned McCartney, because I was walking down a Manhattan avenue the other day, and there was a line of people camping. Sleeping bags, seats etc. In for the long haul. I asked who they were waiting to buy tickets for.

"Paul McCartney"

[johnny]

That reminds me...is Paul still using Afro Sheen like they all did back in the days when they were still known as The Clarences ?

[Iron Greasel]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: You guys don't understand. With MMO's you have to invest lots of TIME to get cool items and gear. Some people have lots more money than time, so time becomes very valuable, money less so. If I ever took a notion, I would have no compunction against trading my cash for my time in an online game. It becomes a very simple analysis -- why spend 10 in-game hours working for an item that I can spend 1 hours worth of my salary to obtain? Pretty simple if you ask me.

Waitwaitwait. Isn't the whole point of things like experience points and changeable equipment that you get more powerful as time passes? And isn't getting more powerful, indeed, the whole point of the game? So what do people do after they have bought themselves omnipotence and cannot get any more powerful? Kill the same monster over and over again until the seas boil and The Kraken riseth?

If you have to spend 10 in-game hours to get to the pont where you can enjoy the game, it can't be a very good game.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by johnny: That reminds me...is Paul still using Afro Sheen like they all did back in the days when they were still known as The Clarences ?

What the heck is Afro-sheen?

[robertthebard]

It makes your hair all shiny...

[Yorick]

Why would I want shiny hair?