[Threshold]

The issue of third party virtual sales is brought up in response to people who try to argue that competitive "purity" is possible on any game - regardless of its business model or hobbyist nature. The idea of absolute fairness is a farce, because fairness just doesn't exist in online gaming. There are people with no life who can dump 20 hours a day into grinding up their characters. To people who cannot play 20 hours a day, that is not a fair gaming environment. On almost every MUD/MMO I have ever played (yes, even hobbyist ones!), I have known of at least a handful of people who bought accounts, characters, items, or gold either directly or through a third party. I have even heard of people who traded sexual favors for benefits in games. Crazy as heck, but I bet some of you have heard the same rumors on your own games! So people are kidding themselves if they think there is any donation/payment setup that creates a more fair playing field.

It still boggles me to read the way people are twisting the meaning of the word "free" in this thread. I want to go back to some examples I already gave:
But here in this thread, we have a small handful of people who seem to define free as "absolutely no way for money to exchange hands for any purpose, any reason, direct or indirect, no matter what the circumstances, motivations, or reasons." That is just a ridiculous definition of free.

What these people are effectively arguing is that the Smithsonian museums are not actually free to visit. Why? Because somewhere inside there is a dirty capitalist selling a box of animal crackers. DAMN HIM AND THE LYING LIARS THAT PUT HIM THERE!