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KaVir · 10-09-2002, 12:41 PM

I can understand your point of view, and in some ways I agree with it - but look it at like this:

Scenario 1: Bubba wants the UberSword of Doom, but he is too lazy to find it himself, so he pays Boffo $10 for it. The result: Bubba now has the UberSword of Doom, and Boffo has $10, which he spends on some beer.

Scenario 2: Bubba wants the UberSword of Doom, but he is too lazy to find it himself, so he pays the mud owner $10 for it. The result: Bubba now has the UberSword of Doom, and the mud owner has $10 to put towards advertising for the mud.

The problem is that Scenario 1 is very difficult to prevent - and if players are going to do this anyway, wouldn't it be better to pump the money into improving the mud, rather than some random player's pocket (assuming it doesn't go against any licenses of course)?

Here's a rather different example:

Bubba creates graphical artwork for a living. He generously spends about 10 hours putting together some fantastic banners and artwork for my website - for free - so in return I give him something in the game that would have taken him about 10 hours to earn, had he been playing instead of working on something for the mud. The result? He is no better off that he would have been if he'd been playing, but the mud now has a much better website.

In the above scenario, Bubba has been rewarded even though he hasn't actually put time and effort into playing the mud - however he has put time and effort into improving the mud. He's no better off than he would have been if he'd been improving his character instead of the mud, so the only person really benefitting overall is the mud owner.

Take a look at another example:

Boffo owns a popular mud-related website, and kindly allows me to put up a banner advert on his site for free. In return, I set up a system whereby players can earn a +5% exp blessing by clicking on a link to his site, once per day.

Boffo gets extra traffic, the mud gets extra traffic, and the players all get a bonus if they're willing to help out.

Now take a look at a more contraversial example:

Biffo earns lots of money, but doesn't have a great deal of time to play the mud - to him, time is more valuable than money. Buffo is a poor student with lots of time on her hands - to her, money is more valuable than time. Biffo spends some of his money so that he can develop his character faster than Buffy - but balanced according to how much time he spends playing. If Bilbo (who has lots of time and money) comes along then he gains little advantage from paying money AND playing a lot.

Thus Biffo and Buffy are able to compete in equal footing. This is rather comparable to my first example, except that instead of directly contributing something to the mud, Biffo is giving me money, which I can then use to improve the mud.

What I do personally disagree with, however, is selling things which the players cannot also earn through time and effort.

10-09-2002, 12:41 PM	#56
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	I can understand your point of view, and in some ways I agree with it - but look it at like this: Scenario 1: Bubba wants the UberSword of Doom, but he is too lazy to find it himself, so he pays Boffo $10 for it. The result: Bubba now has the UberSword of Doom, and Boffo has $10, which he spends on some beer. Scenario 2: Bubba wants the UberSword of Doom, but he is too lazy to find it himself, so he pays the mud owner $10 for it. The result: Bubba now has the UberSword of Doom, and the mud owner has $10 to put towards advertising for the mud. The problem is that Scenario 1 is very difficult to prevent - and if players are going to do this anyway, wouldn't it be better to pump the money into improving the mud, rather than some random player's pocket (assuming it doesn't go against any licenses of course)? Here's a rather different example: Bubba creates graphical artwork for a living. He generously spends about 10 hours putting together some fantastic banners and artwork for my website - for free - so in return I give him something in the game that would have taken him about 10 hours to earn, had he been playing instead of working on something for the mud. The result? He is no better off that he would have been if he'd been playing, but the mud now has a much better website. In the above scenario, Bubba has been rewarded even though he hasn't actually put time and effort into playing the mud - however he has put time and effort into improving the mud. He's no better off than he would have been if he'd been improving his character instead of the mud, so the only person really benefitting overall is the mud owner. Take a look at another example: Boffo owns a popular mud-related website, and kindly allows me to put up a banner advert on his site for free. In return, I set up a system whereby players can earn a +5% exp blessing by clicking on a link to his site, once per day. Boffo gets extra traffic, the mud gets extra traffic, and the players all get a bonus if they're willing to help out. Now take a look at a more contraversial example: Biffo earns lots of money, but doesn't have a great deal of time to play the mud - to him, time is more valuable than money. Buffo is a poor student with lots of time on her hands - to her, money is more valuable than time. Biffo spends some of his money so that he can develop his character faster than Buffy - but balanced according to how much time he spends playing. If Bilbo (who has lots of time and money) comes along then he gains little advantage from paying money AND playing a lot. Thus Biffo and Buffy are able to compete in equal footing. This is rather comparable to my first example, except that instead of directly contributing something to the mud, Biffo is giving me money, which I can then use to improve the mud. What I do personally disagree with, however, is selling things which the players cannot also earn through time and effort.