TWO WORDS BUCKO - NO AND DROP. TRY THEM TOGETHER SOMETIME. IT JUST MIGHT WORK. [Author: wirehead]
Brad McQuaid, Everquest’s designer, posted the following response to questions of eBay sales:
> Just sell players the items. You already have their credit card info. Just
> add a button to the server selection screens that says “Aradune’s Equipment
> Shop” or something where players can do a little online shopping for that
> executioner’s axe or ghoulbane or SMR or FB earring.
> Talk about increased cash flow…
I agree that games should either embrace real money transactions for in-game goods (and thus be built from the ground up with that in mind) or forbid it
(like EQ).
> Doesn’t fit your idea of how the game should be?
No, it doesn’t — personally I don’t think it’s fair and I think it disrupts the immersiveness and integrity of the game. Others disagree.
> Then why allow players to
> do it?
We don’t — it expressly forbidden as per our licensing agreement and we’ve also posted messages reminding our players of the problems associated with such transactions. That said, we lack the resources to police the internet.
I guess they also lack the resources to fix their own game so that people aren’t fighting over rare spawns like airline passengers trapped in the Andes with no food but each other…