Jim Leonard schrieb: > Sorry this is a bit off-topic, but it's been bugging me: Can someone > explain to me the reasoning behind selling online stuff? No, wait -- > what I really mean is, can someone explain the rationale behind *buying* > online accounts/items? According to my research, games are fun because > you actually PLAY them. What motivates someone to actively seek out and > purchase in-game items for $100, $200, or more is beyond me...
Six years ago I played a bit of UO. That was back in the time when here in Germany there were no flatrates for internet access and you paid by the minute. Some folks in my "guild" ran up telephone bills beyond $1000 a month. One guy I met in the game had started it about the same time I did and we losely became friends through the guild. As I wasn't willing to pay as much for playing the game as the others and didn't want to invest that much time either, I couldn't keep up and lost interest soon enough. A couple months later, I still had my UO account active for some reason, I logged back on to see what had changed during my absence. Sure enough I met my buddy from above and he told me he now "lives" in Britannia. And this guy was married and had a little son. So, it seems that besides what Edward said about people buying their status to get an easy start, others also lose all rationalism over the game. The game becomes more important than life itself. In those people's minds buying anything, for whatever amount, that brings the character forward may be justified. This also reminds of this Korean MMOPRG, where people have actual real life fights over what happens in the game. Marco ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
