02-16-2007, 12:02 AM
Quote:Unfortunately, the exact same appellation can be applied to anyone who purchases a copy of Windows Vista, Mac OS X, Adobe Photoshop, or even Diablo II. You're paying money for computer data, a copy of program information.
Those are not virtual assets. They are more along the lines of intellectual property. Companies spend real world time and resources developing the concepts into software, and we pay for the right to use a copy of said software, whether it be for something "useful" or mere entertainment.
You or I could develop the coolest item ever for World of Warcraft in a few minutes of time. The catch is that in order to maintain the balance of the game, such items must be rare and take a lot of playing time to acquire. Thus it is only for in game reasons that one must spend a lot of time in order to acquire vast wealth or rare items within the game. Thus you have something which is valuable in the game, and in order to be valuable in the game it must take a lot of playing time to get, and as a result it takes on a real life value equated to the amount of time one must spend acquiring it.
However, that (kill a monster, get a cookie, have fun *in the process*) is the very essence of the game. If it were not so, Blizzard could just give everyone maxed out characters with uber items and stockpiles of gold, charge $500 per copy, only develop end game content, and everyone would be happy. People are paying Blizzard for the game, and then paying other people to play it for them, all so that they can acquire a high status level in the virtual world. It is a very strange phenomenon, which erodes immersion and is detrimental to the gaming environment.
Imagine playing Monopoly, and someone whips out a real $20 bill and offers it to the player across the table for Park Place. It's within the rules, right? I would feel like, not only is this guy totally wasting his money, but he is kind of screwing up the game for the rest of us too. His $20 don't have any place in the virtual real estate world that I am trying to conquer.