QOTD: Do You Buy Online Gold for MMOs?

[Raidur]

Never bought gold. Had a friend who bought 100K plat in EQ back in the day for $100. I do everything myself. (currently playing Warhammer, and I like it)

 

[ecook]

I have thought about buying gold but never have. I wanted to get everything myself. It's like life you have to save up money for the things you want. I work a lot and don't have much time to game. I went, for what seemed like forever, without my epic flying mount but once I got it I feel like I earned it and didn't use the fast track to get it. My guildies wanted to loan me a couple hundred here and there to get it but I told them no thanks. I get it when I get it.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]ecook[/nom]I have thought about buying gold but never have. I wanted to get everything myself. It's like life you have to save up money for the things you want. I work a lot and don't have much time to game. I went, for what seemed like forever, without my epic flying mount but once I got it I feel like I earned it and didn't use the fast track to get it. My guildies wanted to loan me a couple hundred here and there to get it but I told them no thanks. I get it when I get it.[/citation]

imo the epic flying is irrelevant unless you're grinding. I had 3 level 70s before I stopped playing, and only one of them had an epic flying - not because I couldn't afford more, but because I didn't consider them important enough to pay for. And in fact epic flying isn't even worth it for the farmer either, cause the update frequency of the realm is too low, so you'll fly past gas or mines etc before they show up on your minimap.

That said though - buying gold in wow makes sense as it doesn't ruin the gameplay if you don't like farming in the first place, and in wow the item system's built so you have to make an effort to get most of the good items - you can't just buy them. That's why even with a ton of gold, wow's still a challenge, well sortof - it's too easy in general.

 

[quietstorm]

Never did it, never will. Buying gold ruins a game on several different levels. The gold buyer is spoiled by not having to grind for it. They miss out on grinding, and are less appreciative of the work it takes to get the money. I have no problems with those that wish to sell gold that was gained legitimately, but face it - the majority of it is gathered through bots, hacked accounts and other illegal programs, hence the gold seller (most of the time) is rewarded for something they didn't really earn. More gold means higher inflation on in game items, which may lead other players that were not going to buy gold into doing so, since they can't keep up with the economy! It's a slippery slope, against the TOS in many different MMOs and should be frowned upon by all.

Perfect example of a game completely ruined by Goldbuying - Silkroad Online (iSRO). Goldbots flood every single server to the point that real players can't log in anymore. Items that were pretty cheap are 10x more, and top tier weapons/gear are priced in the BILLIONS. The game only lets you move 999m at a time, so it's not designed to handle such an expensive transaction, yet that's where things are at the moment, all due to goldbuying.

Sure, everyone wants to be special, but if you don't have time to grind and get gold yourself, don't use an excuse to justify why you have to buy gold. You are still part of the problem, no matter how little or large amount of gold you purchase. Apologies for the hard line approach, but it's Tragedy of the Commons at work here - what's not to stop everyone else from doing the same thing and have it completely ruin your game too?

 

[neiroatopelcc]

Dude the thread's a year old!
Anyhow, from diablo I can see that bots are as busy as always. There'll always be someone willing to buy. I wouldn't hesitate to use money on it if it makes sense to do so. I did in gunbound, but then again, softnyx (the developer) earns its money that way, and the game's free to play.