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I read this, but I couldn't help feeling Hartsman (whom I respect a TON) is being disingenuous here. Rift's game design (subscription based game with high-value farmable items, tradeable currency, and an AH) is exactly what gold sellers need to thrive. Rift has several creative examples of non-tradable currencies (planarite, favor, plaques, etc.) - some are even sharable with your alts. If they really wanted to stop gold sellers, they certainly possess the creativity to do trade/economics in a way that doesn't support gold farmers. I think Hartsman is well aware of this and CHOSE to go this route anyway, for profit motives. As much as I hate the cash shops in most F2P games, it does cut the legs out from under gold sellers. Folks can give the gaming company the cash directly for the stuff they want (like crafting mats), and also reduce the risk of getting their accounts and credit cards jacked by gold farmers. Facinating interview with a gold seller It's a long video, but the main points I took away were: - Gold farmers and seller avoid F2P games: there's no profit for them there. - Most accounts are stolen by hacking into fansite databases. Avoid using the same email/password for those as your game account. Change your game account password frequently, and use an authenticator.
To blame the game is too easy, bottom line is if no players buy gold from gold farmers, they would not have a business! Buying gold from the farmers is the same as supporting all the ways they use to gain it.
She's not blaming the game for gold farmers. What she's saying is that the game designers could have blunted or even eliminated gold farmers by making certain game design choices. But they did not (for many reasons that we do not know I'm sure) and this made them vulnerable to gold farmers. It's sorta like when you don't lock your doors at night and somebody breaks in and robs you. Yes, it's still horrible and the robbers are totally in the wrong. But since you didn't lock the door, you can't totally absolve yourself of blame either.
I'd love to have a 6th role. I'd hate for it to be plat based. Planarite as a way to purchase a 6th role would be a far better option.
This coming patch, Rift is adding in new crafting recipes that can take literally several hundred plat in vendor-sold mats... nothing players can generate on their own, they have to spend plat to get the stuff in order to do the crafting...
I dunno, kinda disappointing to say the least, especially after this big statement about how bad gold buying is =| Would rather they have tied it to something non-gold related.
» Edited on: 2011-07-23 18:12:08
Well the game should keep the prices down, but most times it is the players that drives the prices up. I have not looked at the PTS so I have no idea whats coming up in the future. But no matter if you remember to lock your door or not, codes can be broken. There are several places where the goldfarmers can be stopped, one of them be the players not buying their product.
Players have no influence on this particular cost.
There are crafted items that require several hundred plat in materials bought from vendors.
» Edited on: 2011-07-23 21:26:23
As I said, don't know whats happing on the PTS, but looking at prices atm, they are also a driving factor.
But I'm not saying you are wrong, it just seams retarded to have items that cost several 100 plat to make.
» Edited on: 2011-07-24 00:58:58
