Selling leet account!!!

[Sunrock]

Originally Posted by Rat

I dont see it as pay to win, anyone will be able to buy all of the sidegrades with station cash anyway..the only thing a person would really be bypassing is earning the cert points...and account sales are going to happen anyway, why shouldnt SOE cash in on it?
As long as the afk issue is taken care of I think it would be fine.
It isnt like a new player with a experienced toon is going to be all that effective with it anyway...heck SOE could even require that the purchaser bought a name change.

Buying anything for SC = pay to win...

[Ipimpnoobs]

Originally Posted by Sunrock

You're arguments are allot like saying. People steal and murder each other every day so way should I not do that my self?

Just because people always have committed crimes does not make it ok...

I agree it may seem like it but I promise it is no where near your example. Murder we can pretty much agree, is not the same as buying an account with full certifications.

However, we understand you firmly think no, even if it is going to be in game anyways.

I can assure, ebay will be full of accounts as well as other online companies. The sad thing is, if it is your way, these 3rd party companies will be making money instead of SOE.

It's a very hard call though and I too share your feelings. I wish we lived in an honorable world.

[Sunrock]

Originally Posted by Ipimpnoobs

I agree it may seem like it but I promise it is no where near your example. Murder we can pretty much agree, is not the same as buying an account with full certifications.

However, we understand you firmly think no, even if it is going to be in game anyways.

I can assure, ebay will be full of accounts as well as other online companies. The sad thing is, if it is your way, these 3rd party companies will be making money instead of SOE.

It's a very hard call though and I too share your feelings. I wish we lived in an honorable world.

I don't compare the deeds with each other. I compare the reasoning to commit those deeds.

And it's not really that hard to minimize that it happens. SOE can employ a staff of loyers to hunt them down. It will just cost a bunch of money.

And if I was the emperor of the world I would have death penalty on this things. Not that I think death penalties would discourage people from committing crimes. But it's a bullet proof way to make sure they never do it a again.

[Ipimpnoobs]

Originally Posted by Sunrock

I don't compare the deeds with each other. I compare the reasoning to commit those deeds.

I totally understand and respect your opinion. What did you think about the companies making money instead of SOE?

[RadarX]

Two quick things:

First, the AFK Auraxium gains will not continue too much longer. It's a widely known issue they are currently resolving.

We have had in game support for account sales in other games and to be honest? It wasn't as widely used as you might think. It does however prevent players from doing it on their own and I can provide plenty of horror stories about that.

[Sunrock]

Originally Posted by Ipimpnoobs

I totally understand and respect your opinion. What did you think about the companies making money instead of SOE?

What do you think? The same as any other drug dealing business, fencing stolen goods, launder dirty money. They should all be criminalize.

In fact it is in some European countries.

[morf]

I think that in-game character sales is a fine idea. Let a player list a character for sale in an official marketplace and have it securely transferred from account to account. This activity will happen either way and I prefer that it help benefit the game rather than some ricepickers overseas. Seller earns some extra cash or station cash, buyer who doesnt have time to grind gets the character he wants, SoE takes a cut and uses it to give us all a better game. Win win win win situation for everyone involved.

[Tatwi]

Originally Posted by Mastachief

Because each one of those AFK farmers are consuming a slot of the map, resulting in less actual players.

Yup.

Honestly, I think it would make more sense for SOE to sell Cert Points for 10 SC per point (that's 10 cert points per dollar). That way anyone who would put money down for a "more advanced character" can give that money directly to SOE.

Sure, they would not have high BR (which is really just Bragging Rights and an implant slot unlock atm) or load of Auraxium, but they would be able to log into the game, drop $50 on 500 cert points and have a character that is customized to their liking to start out. Double/Triple SC weekends would be a mad house.

[ISVRaDa]

We can´t compare EVE with PS2 imho. EVE is really a unique MMO sandbox with unique ingame rules, EULA, etc.

I´m not saying that one is better than the other one, they play in different "leagues" inside the same genre (MMOs) in my opinion. PS2 is more an online FPS with some MMO features, and EVE is the biggest MMO out there with a "special" gameplay (it´s more like a RTS).

In EVE there are legal scams ingame..., you can sell/buy accounts using the official forums.., you can play free monthly paying with ISK (EVE´s money), etc. It´s not good to copy a game that it´s made for an specific public, with many differences between them.

EVE player here and excited with PS2

[Baneblade]

I admit, I actually did found a corporation in EvE whose entire revenue stream was creating and selling manufactured characters. I even had several production model series all worked out.

[Ipimpnoobs]

Sunrock: Your honorable person for sure and everyone can respect that.

Morf: I feel the same as you. I'd like to see this game get the profit it deserves. The content is truly amazing and I remember playing planetside 1 when it came out. It was way too advanced for me back then as I was very young and that monthly subscription was too expensive.

Tatwi: Pretty much your saying don't do it half way, go all the way! I respect that but disagree.

If you let people purchase cert's out right, then obviously the duration it takes to level diminishes. But the problem is the result, which is player retention.

I've linked a statistical study done by Thomas Debeauvis and Bonnie Nardi from UC Irvine, Diane Schiano from the Institute of Trans-personal Psychology, Nicolas Ducheneaut and Nicholas Yee from the Palo Alto Research Center talking about player retention in massive multiplayer video games. This study will give you a good understanding of retention. Please read this it is fantastic!
http://www.nickyee.com/pubs/FDG%20-%...%282011%29.pdf

ISVRaDa: You make a very valid point. The similarity we are referring to is the leveling mechanism only, as it is very similar. I think eve is at the end of its life cycle, but it is a testament to their retention success.

Baneblade: One word HULKAGEDON!!!! DAMN U GOONS!!! lol j/k

RadarX: What we need to look at is the game your referring to had an alternate economy. If so, then this would explain why the feature was not used often. This game has station cash which allows players to have a job. That job is to play this game 24/7 and be able to profit from that. Imagine telling your parents, I play Planetside 2 and it pays for my apartment. The great thing is, it takes incredibly long time to level up a character. So when the gates open, it will not affect the game experience.

However, 6 months from now when the shiny fades, a player leaves selling their character for x amount. The new player buys the character and then since he got what he wanted either A) changes training path for a new profession, B) buys another account or C) leaves the game selling the account. If A, then they grind for roughly a year? The economy continues to flourish. If B, the economy continues to flourish. If C, the economy continues to flourish.

All the while, SOE reaps profit by keeping people in game buying station cash to help advance quicker and make their characters shinier.

The horror stories, I can imagine are like, "did you see what that noob did? He used the orbital strike on a friendly base during a friendly photo op." However, I can assure you this will happen regardless.
I think we need to strategize what is the best for long term gain. Pinching pennies is good but not while sacrificing dollars.

What is the impact of noob ebay account gamers? Play any mmo that is standing strong today and ask around. The bottom line, the game is profitable, has a constant player base and continues to gain 8% new players needed to cover the 9% loss. They all have to die. (~faulty sampling based on known population trends)

Post Script: Oh and don't take my word for it look for yourself http://www.playerauctions.com/ Guild wars 2 came out on 8/28/12 literally 8 days ago and look what is already for sell.

[Emperor Newt]

I have to admit that I have sold accounts before, although forbiden by NDA and the like. The thing is: if someone wants to do it, there is pretty not much a company can do about it (if done "right").
So why not include an official service where the company takes a small cut. In other case, the company get's nothing. In the end it's a win/win situation.

[maddoggg]

Hmm,earning money while playing my favorite game and leveling up chars.
I like it!!!