Buying Items on Ebay?

[Occhidiangela]

I then discussed parallels in compulsive behaviour. Playing Diablo II _can_ be addicting, and addict-like behaviour is noted by psychologists and socioligists as an element of computer addiction that can and does disrupt the lives of _some_ people.

What I wrote:

Title:  Your drug dealer _analogy_ is telling
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What you were doing is a lot closer to selling a few nickel bags of pot than you might realize.  Video game addiction, drug addiction, and for that matter tobacco addiction are all subsets of compulsive behavior.  Feeding the craving for items on Ebay is the same sort of action supporting the compulsive behavior as selling a guy a nickel bag of pot.

As to those who buy: their thirst for gratification has overcome their inhibitions, just like a man and his bottle, or a rogue and her caffeine. (Hey, how did that get in there?!!)

Your reaction?

Addiction

Reality check people!

Selling game items is not like drug dealing

Drugs are illegal for good reasons - they can really mess someone up by causing chemical changes to that person's personality and behaviour. These can be permanent, even.

Bad trips, ODs, cutting with dubious substances can all kill the user.

Drugs are associated with crime syndicates and violence. Does anyone think D2 dupers keep Uzis under the bed???

Legality and criminality were not what I was discussing, it was the enabling behaviour related to another's compulsion. I drew parallels about the compulsive behaviour and instant gratification that are similar in the item hungry D II player and the drug user, drug addict, alcoholic, smoker, or the caffeine addicted rogue. :)

E-Bay buyers are the least obsessive players. How can one class them as addicts? They are not the addicts, we are. They do not stay up all night MFing.  What is offensive to us about them is that they want parity with, or even superiority to, the addicts without spending all that time.  Diablo2 is an absorbing computer game and like a great many absorbing hobbies it can cause family disagreements, obsessive behaviour and so on. But it is just a hobby and anyone who lets their playing of a game ruin their life is probably very messed up anyway.   Drugs can mess up people who are not messed up.

I don't agree with how you put all of those thoughts together, however, you make an interesting point in comparing the eBay customer with the obsessive MFer: who really is more obsessed?

I'd say the answer to that depends on the goal: items for cash sales, items for particular builds/duelling builds, items 'just to have them.' As you and others point out, the eBay customer is using cash as a substitute for his time in the interest of finishing his build with a particular item.

The problem with addictive behaviour (addictive PC game and absorbing PC game are so close in meaning as to be almost identical in this discussion -- we are working shades of meaing here) is that both PC game addiction and drug addiction can be damaging to people's lives. However, NOT ALL drug users are addicts, nor are ALL PC game players addicted to their game(s).

  I have known of stamp collectors, paperback book collectors, birdspotters, trainspotters, sports fans and Magic:The Gathering players who are far more disruptive of their family's lives than D2 players. For a start the hobby doesn't involve travel or the expenditure of large amounts of money - even for E-Bayers

Try golf, the ultimate compulsive behaviour sport. :) That addiction, for me, was a source of some friction a few years back with The Missus. Last time I checked, golf equipment, anymore, is way more expensive than D II junk on Ebay. And as for smoking . . . gaaaah! I am once again on the 'OK, I am quitting for good this time!'

In fact I've got some old Magic:TG cards I've been meaning to sell. Dealing drugs? Lol, I don't think so although I might think someone's a twit if they pay loads for one 

No, not dealing drugs, but similar to that transaction in that one is pandering to some one else's compulsive behaviour. Just like the golf pro who sells Titanium drivers to a golfer whose golf game will benefit more from lessons and practice than it will from trying to buy a better game. :)

Swarmalicious, I'm very glad you've moved on from your past. But don't beat yourself up that you did something evil, for heaven's sake 

He was just makin' a buck. :) P.T. Barnum was right, after all. :)