Money in Games...

Demiurge · December 2005

So, I had been playing WoW (World of Warcraft) since February of this year up until about last weekend. In my stay I had 2 level 60 characters (max level) as well as numerous others in their 30s. I also equired almost all of the top gear I could on and became one of the best geared players on my server for my class.

Since I stopped playing the game, just because it's clearly like a good crack addiciton, I decided to turn to EBay to sell my account.

What am I getting for it? Right now the current bid is at $850 and I plan to be at or just over 1 Grand before the auction is done. It amazes me that I can be paid after I'm through with my entertainment for a game over 4 times what I actually put into it.

With that said....there are companies out there that actually sell in-game currency for games like WoW, EQ, and the like and make real life cash by listing this gold on EBay and transfering it through the in-game mail system. I'm going to assume that for some of you that's going to seem like a huge mind effer right there. It's crazy that people are paying money for pixels on a screen far and beyond the norm. It's 1 thing to pay $15.00 a month on a game, and quite another to sink hundreds of dollars into the game just to be the 'best'.

Personally, I don't get it, but it didn't stop me from listing my account and cashing in on it. Half the fun in the game was leveling my character, playing with all my friends, and aquring the items I aquired. I know there is an expansion in the future that will push the level cap from 60-70, but still....ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS?

Don't know if anyone else finds this interesting.

Anyhow...just re-installed Half-Life 2 on my machine and I'm about to tear it up in Counter Strike: Source. Let me know if any of you guys play that.

- D

audiobliss · December 2005

Wow, that is interesting....and amazing...

Half Life 2. Hmm. I think I'd like that.

lanion · December 2005

Careful posting stuff like that, Demiurge. Some people will think you are the bane of mortal existance.

Virtual property is a *very* new concept and I'm sure we will see lots of legislation regarding it in the next decade or so...
If making 100gold takes an hour and you sell it, its a service just like anything else. Time @ work = money. Making 100gold often is nothing but work, it isn't fun at all. I played LIneage 2 for a while and that is the most brutal MMORPG ever. I had to kill boring monster after boring monster for 24 hours straight to make enough money to buy a sword that was only 20% better than my current one.
So you can work 1 hour at minimum wage and spend your $6 on 100,000adena, or you can spend an hour in game making 1,000 adena - 200,000 adena depending on your level.

On the other hand, fantasy game worlds should be an escape from reality. People with more money should not have an advantage like they do in real life.

Most people don't want any exchange between real and virtual marketplaces, but virtual items have real value to people who play games and they will pay for them. You may laugh, but some people spend more time with their mind in virtual worlds than in the real world.

lanion · December 2005

Also, bear in mind that if you spend most of your waking hours in world of warcraft, your characters level and stats are what define you and how much respect you recieve. $1000 can buy the maximum level of respect attainable pretty much. How much would that cost in the real world? There is no upper limit. For some, that might be a bargain.
I'd probobly get into that more but I can't be addicted to games like that for very long. A few online games I have played to death for about a month, but never more than a month. All the little imperfections start to get to me and eventually it looses credability as a real world and the routine of leveling becomes a chore rather than a goal. Still, I remember that month rather fondly as I might remember a summer vacation. Interseting psychology there, I'm sure.

Demiurge · December 2005

You won't find me laughing. What you're saying is very true. The other day I tried explaining the game to someone who had never even heard much about gaming on-line, let alone an entire world, with an economy, and hell, even politics between guilds and factions. It was quite interesting to him and I think he finally got it when it was all said and done.

I know what it's like grinding for in-game currency, and WoW is nothing compared to the game you mentioned as well as others. It's much easier, but still, extremely boring. They actually pay people crap money to play games all day and make in-game money to sell for real life money on ebay and other places. This is something very crazy.

I had to state in my auction that I was not selling anything in the game to the person buying, merely that I was selling the time it took me to aquire the gear, money, keys, reputation, etc. in-game. Clearly stating that what the tangible part of what they were buying from me is the property of Blizzard Entertainment, and NOT me.

This industry for selling in-game currency is a multi-million dollar a year business.

Personally...I was always able to stay away from the game when ever I needed to do something. I can't say the same thing for a lot of my guild mates. In fact, my guild leader was retired at the age of 30 and his 'job' is to play that game and lead the guild. He's dead serious about raiding and beating content. If you know people who played EQ, you know the type. They seriously value the game more than a lot of things outside of it. That is sad, in my opinion. The escape from reality isn't what a lot of these folks need. I looked at how much time I've spent in this game....a lot of my guild mates have spent damn near 6 months or more of their life in a game like WoW or EQ. That's just mind boggling.

I am curious to see what comes of all of this, because it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. WoW appealed to a VERY wide audience, not just your hardcore RPG gamers. Hell we had guild-mates whos wives & girlfriends would play right along with them. Plus you're all connected via Ventrilo or TeamSpeak, so they almost become good friends after a while.

I'm glad I'm done with it, though. I won't be playing anymore MMORPGs ever again. I still love games, but I want something I can put down in an hour and not feel like I'm getting behind.

Demiurge · December 2005

lanion wrote:

Also, bear in mind that if you spend most of your waking hours in world of warcraft, your characters level and stats are what define you and how much respect you recieve. $1000 can buy the maximum level of respect attainable pretty much. How much would that cost in the real world? There is no upper limit. For some, that might be a bargain.
I'd probobly get into that more but I can't be addicted to games like that for very long. A few online games I have played to death for about a month, but never more than a month. All the little imperfections start to get to me and eventually it looses credability as a real world and the routine of leveling becomes a chore rather than a goal. Still, I remember that month rather fondly as I might remember a summer vacation. Interseting psychology there, I'm sure.

Well, for me it was nearly 10 months of really going at it. I would say that I'd play 5 out of 7 nights of the week at least an hour or so, sometimes much more. I'd go to work everyday, eat dinner, workout, etc, and then play the game. Weekends I'd hang out with friends and go to concerts, etc, but when there was nothing going on? WoW.

My character is one of the most respected on a very high population server. I was in the #1 guild on the server, and was on the A-Team of that guild, whom is the only guild to have killed the biggest foe currently in the game, Nefarious, and have done so over 15 times. That does count for a lot and make the account more appealing. Being completely decked out in all the best gear with a slew of weapons to choose from doesn't hurt either. Neither does nearly 2000G of in-game currency, probably 20x more than your average character.

Like I said, I am very interested to see where it's going. At least I can say I experienced it. I needed this kind of time to myself, but I'm done with it now. Time to move on ,but at least I can watch all of this unfold and be able to relate to it.

lanion · December 2005

Well, for me it was nearly 10 months of really going at it. I would say that I'd play 5 out of 7 nights of the week at least an hour or so, sometimes much more. I'd go to work everyday, eat dinner, workout, etc, and then play the game.

Yeah, I played 16 hours a day or so for a month so it was quick burnout.

Gaara · December 2005

I got the same way playing Diablo II, very addictive. A friend of mine actually quit his part time job just to play this game, he made more finding items and selling them on ebay then he made at the actual job. Pretty crazy stuff.

PolkThug · December 2005

I play Counterstrike every day. I like to kill.

michael_w · December 2005

That's pretty cool... the people bidding on your account are probably those who are looking to farm and make money off the account.

I stopped playing the game at level 55 with my priest back in the beginning of October. Right now my brother is still playing and paying for the account but I'm just way to damn busy to spend hours a day on a game. It's addictive and it will lure you in. If you plan on getting any decent items you need to do high level instances which can take full days to complete... something I'm not quite up to anymore. I might get back into it later but not until I can commit that time.

btw grats... that kind of money for an account is awesome. Kind of makes me wish I sold my diablo II accounts. I had some seriously powerful low level duelers back in the day. That's what I enjoyed most from that game after a while. Taking a level 25-35 and wasting high levels. It was always tons of fun having a cocky lvl 90+ go hostile vs my 35 necro and I'd kill em without being touched.

LiquidSound · December 2005

Ebay link Demiurge?

Demiurge · December 2005

Blizzard killed my first auction.

I had to relist it today and I put it up for a 1 day auction. Got $700.

*removed*

LiquidSound · December 2005

They did what?? How is that possible?

lanion · December 2005

It is against TOS, so if Blizzard finds out about it they can tell ebay to cancel it. Ebay has a policy not to sell that kind of thing too, but they rarely enforce it.

Money in Games...

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