Vaguely depressing
So last night I was running Glaukos through Scarlet Monastery with some other friends and guildmates. One was a hunter, a level below me, who was attracting aggro like nothing else (and whooping some butt in the process too…). He had Stalvan’s Reaper, and some other one-hander that I can’t remember (also blue). I asked him where he got the Reaper, and he said at the AH for about 10g. Not a bad deal, I thought, and so this morning I went and spent my hard-earned gold bidding on it. Luckily, there was one for around 10g (others were going for 15-20g). I won it, used it tonight in SM, and topped it off with Sword of Serenity after completing In the Name of the Light. Now I felt like I could do some damage! When my hunter friend came on later, we were chatting about my new gear. He showed me a gun he had just bought, with twice the DPS of mine. I asked “Where do you get all the money for the AH? You must be making bank with your professions!”
“No, I buy gold. Then I buy things at AH and re-sell for profit.”
Oh. My heart sank a little. I spent +10g, busted my ass off in SM night after night, and you bought gold online? *sigh* But hey, at least I have some decent stuff now…
Buying and selling in the AH is like playing the commodities markets in RL …….. Buying gold is pathetic.
Yeah it’s a game but I’d no longer want to play it with that person.
Yeah, I have a few guildmates who do the same thing. It’s definitely depressing.
I’m not sure if the AH prices have always been that high. It’s not unusual to hear people talking about 100g+ for Blue items on Khaz Modan, and I believe the gold buying is partly to blame.
Again, a Khaz Modan person — blues go for crazy amounts, which I can only assume are selling to alts of 60s or to gold-buyers.
(Though I’m just guessing that based on what people try to sell ’em for. I recently found a pair of Swampwalker Boots, which at the time were all at a 100 gold buyout on the AH. They didn’t actually sell until I’d dropped my price down to 30 gold…)
I really don’t get all the noise over RL gold buying…Let me state that I have not bought any gold to-date. That is not to say that I did not think about it, I have even gone looking for gold prices…
What is the difference between buying gold and buying a toon off of ebay or the like?
I have no problem with it. The thing that bothers me is twinking!
I also buy low sell high at the AH but with my own gold. I make the most money this way. I am a lvl 300 tribal leatherworker, fishing, cooking and skinning and the buy low sell high is the best for me.
Rock on.
AZ
Buying gold in RL is like bringing extra monopoly money from your set to your friends house. In my eyes it’s cheating and it makes you a pathetic, lazy, LOSER.
“I really don’t get all the noise over RL gold buying…Let me state that I have not bought any gold to-date. That is not to say that I did not think about it, I have even gone looking for gold prices…
What is the difference between buying gold and buying a toon off of ebay or the like?”
First of all, I think it hurts the spirit of the game to buy gold OR toons, but that’s my opinion. But buying gold does hurt the in-game economy, drives up auction prices, and gives people an unfair advantage. Please, feel free to disagree and let me know exactly how it’s not a bad thing.
“Buying gold in RL is like bringing extra monopoly money from your set to your friends house. In my eyes it’s cheating and it makes you a pathetic, lazy, LOSER.”
That’s not an accurate analogy, In order to get gold you need to, either farm for stuff and sell it, and/or play the AH. But the principle remains, you are trading in-realm assets. Nobody can sell gold in one realm that was acquired in another (except when transfers are open). So far that means that you still have to work for your gold, when you buy it off-line it means that somebody else did the work for you, nothing else.
I’ve had guildmates who have done this as well, but it doesn’t make me angry, so much as sad and bewildered. I can’t imagine spending real world money to buy fake items in a game. What’s the point of playing the game this way? What have you gained? I know it’s frustrating sometimes to have to grind to get what you want, but at least if you’ve gone through the effort, when you get those items, you’re really earned them. Buying gold just to get the loot is kind of pointless. Like cheating at solitaire.
I agree that buying gold does offset the balance of the game, but boy, has it ever been tempting. My level 40 character only has 22 gold — not nearly enough to get a mount! Must.. grind.. more..
BFD…
People have extra money, they don’t have the time to constantly grind out the money in order to compete in this game at the level that they want to or that their friends are. And you are already paying real money to play this game. Some people don’t mind paying extra money to help put the game on EZmode (I mean enough people roll rogues, it’s pretty much the same thing ;).