Forgive me if this is debated already, but I saw the need to do this thread.

**_____________Raetech** · Dec 18th, 2002, 20:34:56

The title should really be "Ebay and the effects it has on the economy"

Well, the other day I happened onto ebay, and thinking about anarchy, I decided to do a search for it for the hell of it. Well, a lot of auction came up selling credits. I noticed that all of these auctions contained a similarity, a single individual seems to be selling about 100 million credits a week. In his history, all he has sold were these credits. (RK2, rimor) Is ebay a good thing in our economy? or is it a middle man sucking creds out of the lower members and making some man rich in real life. I don't want to say I know who this individual might be, but considering certain indiviualds *caugh* Ghandalf *caugh* tends to buy and sell more then anybody else on the message boards, could it be them? I know it can be refreshing to sell that item for a million more then what you expected, but is it refreshing to also be hopelessly be beat out for an item every time you try and buy it? Just random ponderings.... Ebay, good or bad for AO?

**______________Orchid** · Dec 18th, 2002, 20:36:36

People gotta eat...

**Yakuza** · Dec 18th, 2002, 20:38:39

Ghandalf neither buys nor sells any AO items on ebay, and since he's sick of people asking him that, I figured I would respond to this for him.

**_____________Raetech** · Dec 18th, 2002, 20:42:36

:P
Well, who is it I wonder? Whoever it is, they chew through about 100 million a week, which is a lot for even level 200s

**__________THEDEACON!** · Dec 18th, 2002, 22:02:54

Egay suXx0rs. Earn your credits legit ffs.

**Xandathrii** · Dec 18th, 2002, 22:17:16

Hmm...ebay good or bad for AO economics,tricky question...
I like the "Hard earned" credits,the credits u fight and u fight and u fight to get.. Im currently playing an lvl 42 MA whos earned around 400k in his lifetime on Rubika(is this bad btw?),and i have spent quite some time gettin that cash.... And then i meet a lvl10 dude whos bidding like 10mill or so for an item...He might be an "ALT" or something,but i see this more and more now.... So i "like" to say this is "Bad" for AO economics...if this keeps up we`ll have an "inflation" soon :P ,hehe...
And for those whos sells creds on ebay,u gotta eat(and u have found an way of makin some extra bucks,not bad)....

**Talanie** · Dec 18th, 2002, 22:58:37

Originally posted by ShadowLander
if this keeps up we`ll have an "inflation" soon :P

This is an understatement, would've made sense about a year ago

**Majikall** · Dec 18th, 2002, 23:13:58

If someone is so unbelievably dumb to pay real money for little bits of data.. data that has no effect on anything but a game.. data that gets them imaginary items that in the real world mean nothing to anyone.. Well, good luck to them. I pity them, I honestly do. Ever heard the saying 'More money than sense'?

**_____PrimeTechnocrat** · Dec 19th, 2002, 00:07:33

I don't think that its just one person who is necessarily gathering massive amounts of items to sell online. I followed a link from these boards a few days ago to a site that was basically small company that gathered items on AO and then sold them for real money on their site. You could request almost anything and have it delivered in a few days so I imagine they have quite a few people working on this. Its probably the same deal for some of the people who sell hundreds of millions of credits a week, but a single person could do that if they were really determined and had a lot of time to spare. Anyway, ebay and other online purchases of items and credits is a HORRIBLE influence on the game economy and if you try it you will likely(and rightfully so) be banned.

**Bystander** · Dec 19th, 2002, 00:59:08

One soon to be released SF MMORPG (which I won't name here because that's not really fair on FC) seem to be tackling this whole Ebay profiteering thing head on.

As far as I can tell the game client will be free but they'll charge you to buy in game credits. The neat thing is that not only can you convert real money into game credits but you can also convert game credits back into real money.

Of course presumably some of the in game economy will be funneled straight into their bank

- eg. any money spent buying stuff from shops will go straight to the publisher.

I guess so long as you rein back your spending to $20/month or whatever it'll be the same as playing any other MMORPG, but with the potential to literally win the lottery every now and then.

I can also envisage the company placing the odd seriously expensive Uber item in one of their own shops every now and then when they need to ameliorate their cash flow. (Imagine a GA salesman wandering Hope for 2 days).

I don't imagine there'll be too many blunt knives playing in their drawer, and the amount of open animosity on their forums will be something to be behold.

Lets hope nobody discovers the credit exploit too early.

/me shudders

**_____________Raetech** · Dec 19th, 2002, 03:07:55

hmm, sounds like hobbitholet or something like that. It is like a chat room where you decorate your own "room" you have to pay for everything though.

**Bystander** · Dec 19th, 2002, 03:43:23

Originally posted by Raetech
hmm, sounds like hobbitholet or something like that. It is like a chat room where you decorate your own "room" you have to pay for everything though.

Lol no,

Do a search for Project Entropia.

(A game written in Sweden that looks so spookily like AO that you wonder what is going on)

**n0life** · Dec 19th, 2002, 04:09:35

This is what gaming in general is coming to.
It can be your IRL profession.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned and don't see this as a real job.
I certainly wouldn't want to see my future kids wanting to be "professional online gamers".

**Bystander** · Dec 19th, 2002, 12:44:40

Yeuch,

Just went and browsed the community forums on the Entropia site and they're actually using the credit transfer system for their beta.

Inevitably the boards are full of "You mis charged my credit card by $450 and the entire game is a bug ridden lag fest." posts.

Don't think I'll be going anywhere near it till its at least 6 months into release.

**______________Vanity** · Dec 19th, 2002, 13:27:21

There's no doubt that the whole Ebay thing is a double edged sword. Yes, it screws the in-game economy and means that people get their hands on items and money that they didn't earn. However, if you can earn some decent money from selling fictional items for real cash then fair play to you.

Earning money and having fun while doing it is a rare experience in life - if you can get away with it, then do it. It certainly seems there is no shortage of people who are willing to pay for credits or items. Capitalise on the niche in the market.

Perhaps the game that sells creds itself is the best way forward. I don't think there is much point in trying to prevent this from happening externally. Its probably best that FC acknowledge that it happens, and adopt their own method. If there's one thing I have discovered about MMORPGS, its that players ALWAYS find a way round a problem. If Ebay put a block on AO stuff, then it will move elsewhere and word will spread fast.

I have no desire to condone what Ebayers do, but I have a lot respect for their ability to earn good money from nothing.

I mentioned this to a friend of mine who is a lawyer, he found the concept hilarious. He said he would go out on the street and try selling Monopoly hotels or Scrabble letters! He also said the phrasing that all these vendors use, ie. 'you are paying for my time spent in acquiring the item' is the same legal defence used by prostitutes. Hence, paying for someone's time (which is legal)rather than the sex (obviously illegal). He added 'but it never works'.

**BugLight** · Dec 20th, 2002, 15:18:33

Just curious....

but I thought that buying and selling game "stuffs" was completely against the game rules for AO .... can someone enlighten me please ?

**DickDelicious** · Dec 20th, 2002, 16:28:08

Your either expoiting or duping credits...Either that or Funcom has a side biz pimping credits on ebay.

Whatever...

We all know how bad the economy is already, as long as Funcom continues to allow the cheaters to make profit and ruin the game for everyone else it will only get worse.

All i can say...

SWG, Febuary baby!

Sha na na na! Na na na na! Hey hey hey Goodbye!

**Archelan** · Dec 20th, 2002, 16:52:00

Originally posted by Majikall
If someone is so unbelievably dumb to pay real money for little bits of data.. data that has no effect on anything but a game.. data that gets them imaginary items that in the real world mean nothing to anyone.. Well, good luck to them. I pity them, I honestly do. Ever heard the saying 'More money than sense'?

Heh... what kind of money do you use to pay for your AO account?

**______________Vanity** · Dec 20th, 2002, 17:28:35

It is possible to generate 100 mill over a week - in fact, if I really put my mind to it, I could generate that in a couple of days just through blitzing alone. Of course, it would be a full day and mind-numbingly dull, but its possible.

When I need cash, my 135 fixer blitzes ql239 Anima nano's which sell in shops for 350k each, plus a 180k mission reward. These 100% missions (in Broken Shores of course) take me between 30 secs and 2 mins to blitz - tops. It takes me longer to roll the missions than it does to blitz them. If FC ever give us the possibility to pull 6 missions at once as opposed to just 3 then the money will roll in even faster. I can understand why they don't like Clicksaver. It's a great program, but it makes life way too easy.

When people say that Ebaying credits destroys the economy - they are right. And no doubt there is still a credit exploit out there somewhere too. But my point is that a shedload of credits can be earned 'legally' in no time at all. As I said in my earlier post - players will always find a way.

**Majikall** · Dec 20th, 2002, 17:47:32

Originally posted by Archelan
Heh... what kind of money do you use to pay for your AO account?

None, I closed my account. The game gets worse the higher you level, until I see no point in going on. But in answer, paying for the whole is fine, I pay for a game, great. Paying real money on top of that to acquire things in game seems just a bit stupid to me. Though didn't it work for Everquest Legends?

Thread: Forgive me if this is debated already, but I saw the need to do this thread.

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Forgive me if this is debated already, but I saw the need to do this thread.

Ebay

Sorry.. if your selling 100 mill a week

Credits

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