3 ms·

There was a good reason that early MMOs treated gold-sellers as persona non grata. Allowing the trade of real money for in-game advantage (pay-to-win) strips th

There was a good reason that early MMOs treated gold-sellers as persona non grata. Allowing the trade of real money for in-game advantage (pay-to-win) strips the value from in-game achievements. Spending $1000 on some gold/items/runs is not particularly impressive or notable. It's just a function of your real life social standing. There's definitely an audience for games where you can perform conspicuous consumption in front of your peers (see any Gacha game), but to me it's far less interesting than the skill/time-based competition it replaces. My impression is that a lot of the competitive, intrinsically-motivated energy in gaming that made old MMOs so addictive to some has moved into e-sports and speed running. Spaces where time investment and skill are still differentiators.

wccrawford 5y ago
That's an optimistic take. A more cynical take would be that content is expensive to create, and if players could just buy it, they wouldn't spend time playing the game. And if they stop playing the game, they stop paying for a subscription. Without something to "work" for, players would stop paying. Which makes the title of this article ironic to me. As if game studios didn't invent grind decades ago. They turned "play into work" a long, long time ago. Gold sellers completed the cycle and enabled people to actually live off it.
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  I think the key difference is in the motivation of the player. Many people have hobbies that one might call "grindy", consider how much time and effort goes into gardening for example, but because they're not getting paid we don't call this work. For me it becomes work when the motivation to keep playing shifts from intrinsic (sense of achievement, community, completion, etc) to extrinsic (money).
adamrezich 5y ago
I'll never forget spending like five bucks on the Real Money Auction House in Diablo III, only for it to completely ruin the enjoyment I was getting out of the game at the time. every weapon I'd find was substantially worse than the sword I spent a few bucks on. these things seem like a good idea at the time, but...
Talanes 5y ago
>spending $1000 on some gold/items/runs is not particularly impressive or notable. It's specifically the real money investment too. I bought some Challenge runs back in my WoW days, but with Gold that I had earned playing the auction house. Didn't feel an less earned, just a different challenge. I imagine it would feel different doing so today with the solid wall between AH and Cash shop partially dissolved.

wccrawford 5y ago

That's an optimistic take. A more cynical take would be that content is expensive to create, and if players could just buy it, they wouldn't spend time playing the game. And if they stop playing the game, they stop paying for a subscription. Without something to "work" for, players would stop paying. Which makes the title of this article ironic to me. As if game studios didn't invent grind decades ago. They turned "play into work" a long, long time ago. Gold sellers completed the cycle and enabled people to actually live off it.

AlexandrB 5y ago
I think the key difference is in the motivation of the player. Many people have hobbies that one might call "grindy", consider how much time and effort goes into gardening for example, but because they're not getting paid we don't call this work. For me it becomes work when the motivation to keep playing shifts from intrinsic (sense of achievement, community, completion, etc) to extrinsic (money).

adamrezich 5y ago

I'll never forget spending like five bucks on the Real Money Auction House in Diablo III, only for it to completely ruin the enjoyment I was getting out of the game at the time. every weapon I'd find was substantially worse than the sword I spent a few bucks on. these things seem like a good idea at the time, but...

Talanes 5y ago

>spending $1000 on some gold/items/runs is not particularly impressive or notable. It's specifically the real money investment too. I bought some Challenge runs back in my WoW days, but with Gold that I had earned playing the auction house. Didn't feel an less earned, just a different challenge. I imagine it would feel different doing so today with the solid wall between AH and Cash shop partially dissolved.