Ever wonder just HOW BIG farming is in MMORPGS?

[Sylentwulf]

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141815

yeeeesh....

[dieourumov]

Star Wars Galaxies had a huge problem with people creating macros and farming loot in an automatic regenating "loot" spot.

[Zilla]

I never knew farming gold was that big. That's amazing. I still cant fathom how you spend money on gold in a game when you can just play the game and earn it.

[mezrabad]

Yes, scaaaary article. It kind of whithers and blows away any residual enjoyment/craving/respect I had for MMORPGs.

I still respect the game part of it, in what I imagine to be its purest form.

This is what happens when stuff goes mainstream. I miss the MUD I used to play on in 1989. Of course, back then there was lots of soap operatic crap, too, but at least it was still geeky enough that it would never have crossed one's mind that they were being cheated out of a good loot by a bot run by Chinese sweat shop worker.

I'm a litle behind the times, but is it possible to have the makers of these MMORPGs set up private servers that let members in on an invitation only basis? Like Diablo, only massive. I think it would be cool to run EQ off of a private server and only have 500 people that everyone knew on it.

This may already be happening, I dunno, I don't play them any more.

[Teo]

Yes, scaaaary article. It kind of whithers and blows away any residual enjoyment/craving/respect I had for MMORPGs.

too true

[jajaja]

Ye.. I saw some WoW gold for sale on Ebay. Dont remember how much gold it was, around 2000 i think. When I checked the highest bid was about £190!!

What do you use this gold for anyway?

[ddockery]

I never knew farming gold was that big. That's amazing. I still cant fathom how you spend money on gold in a game when you can just play the game and earn it.

Playing the game and earning the gold takes a lot of time. Lots of peope like to game, but don't have nearly as much spare time as they do money. I assume it's more fun to do whatever else instead of trying to earn cash. I've never gotten into any of the MMO stuff, but I can see buying in being rather tempting.

[Jibbajaba]

I still cant fathom how you spend money on gold in a game when you can just play the game and earn it.

It's funny that you say that when we have people in a different thread right now asking Joe if they can buy meseta.

Chris

[Ed Oscuro]

Heh, buncha small-timers so far...this is gonna get huge. Who knows, maybe farming's Al Capone has already hit the scene, but the infrastructure to allow farming could get much bigger. This is the reason why MMOs should consider allowing players to buy game assets with actual cash, instead of getting it elsewhere. Set up a bank or something that follows demand and value.

I'm sure that entails restrictions such as would apply to real banks (governments?) but we're fast approaching the time where MMOGs should consider looking into currency management. Maybe a fixed rate could do it, at least help the problem...

[MegaManFan]

What's really sad is I used to do this when I was MUDding back in the 90's, but I didn't get paid for it. Mostly I was doing it to jump-start my new characters and help out other newbs. I'd plunk a character down with a macro to kill all the monsters in an area, so as soon as they respawned I'd mow them down toot suite. Pick up all the junk, pick up all the gold, and by the time they respawned I'd be healed up from any minor nicks and cuts. Of course the officially policy of the wizards was that macroing or using a MUD client to macro was not allowed and that if you were caught you'd be banned, but some of those same wizards were doing it too. It just never occured to me to sell the loot for real world cash, because I'd give the equipment to unequipped players or new characters I was trying to level up, and use the MUD money for weapons or armor.

[kevincure]

I don't think it's a problem at all. In fact, I think the term "sweatshop" is a bit overdone. Playing videogames 10 hours a day for above-average wages is not a sweatshop.

Honestly, the people doing this honestly (without bots or cheats) are just providing a service. Nothing wrong with it.

[PDorr3]

Well I played FFXI for a year and I can vow that these gil sellers ruin the game. They camp and repeatedly kill moneters with good items, they player kill, and by them camping all the good items they raise the prices that the items sell for in the auction houses to RIDICULOUS amounts, that forces people to buy gil. Its the reason I quit that game.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

"Wired" did a huge article on this a few years ago. I seem to remember them saying that Everquest's economy beat out that of most third world nations.

The only downside I can see for the actual game companies selling in-game currency and statistics is that it might affect their bottom line as far as subscriptions go. Players might subscribe for a far shorter period if they were able to experience all the game had to offer right off the bat. Any cash brought in through selling stats would have to outweigh the shortened player lifespan.

[FantasiaWHT]

I'm a litle behind the times, but is it possible to have the makers of these MMORPGs set up private servers that let members in on an invitation only basis? Like Diablo, only massive. I think it would be cool to run EQ off of a private server and only have 500 people that everyone knew on it.

This may already be happening, I dunno, I don't play them any more.

There's a ton of private UO servers out there, essentially being run with tacit approval from the maker/owners of UO. Officially they're not allowed, but they're never cracked down on.

[Milk]

All that untaxed income is merely waiting for clueless old men to notice it and want to take it. I can see it now: a MMORPG tax bill. Think of the children!

[Lothars]

I can see why people would do that, but it's just one of those things that people should do it for themselves

of course that's why there's a market for it though because people want to get the resources the easy way out.

I remember with diablo and all the selling same type of things,

but it's all good to each there own.

[mezrabad]

Well I played FFXI for a year and I can vow that these gil sellers ruin the game. They camp and repeatedly kill moneters with good items, they player kill, and by them camping all the good items they raise the prices that the items sell for in the auction houses to RIDICULOUS amounts, that forces people to buy gil. Its the reason I quit that game.

That's a great way of describing one of the big reasons I have a problem with it. As I said, I don't mind one person building a hi-lvl character as a service and selling it to someone who wants to play while having a life. But the bots and cheats really bother me.

I am in love with the idea of MMOs but this twisting of it just ruins it for me. I wish I could play FFXI on a personal server and populate it with Bots programmed to act like courteous players who group well and Lol at my charming wit.

[boatofcar]

I wish I could play FFXI on a personal server and populate it with Bots programmed to act like courteous players who group well and Lol at my charming wit.

That, my friend, is the quote of the day. Huzzah!

[Mangar]

This don't surprise me at all. Been leading a large MMORPG guild for a long time, and i've seen the beginnings of this sort of thing, along with the evolution to the current huge sweatshoppe status. I remember one of my last days playing WoW, all we did was slaughter the "Chinese Farmers" in this one zone. They didn't lose nothing when they died, and didn't even bother fighting back. They simply picked themselves up, and continued farming. No matter how many times we killed them. It does sort of take away any of the "Immersion" factor as far as role-playing is concerned.

The thing to keep in mind however, is that if companies were serious about putting a stop to it - They could. Same with cheating. When i was running my own Everquest server, what i did was simply have certain GM's whose **ONLY** job was to sit around and catch cheaters. Nothing else. The same could easily be done with farming and the selling of in-game resources if the companies were serious about it. It's not difficult at all really.

Which leads me to believe that the companies running these games get some sort of piece of the pie. Be it from people involved selling the odd item or gold here and there for extra "Beer Money" for the month, or just the thousands of paying accounts that would dissapear if they did crack down and remove them. In any case - The Financial Bottom Line trumps gameplay.

[calthaer]

That article makes a great case for having more multiplayer cooperative games on the market where one can play with 2-64 or so friends simultaneously.