Game Developers on Gold Selling

Aside from the obvious addictive nature, there is another real downside to any type of MMO game: gold sellers. For the uninitiated, gold sellers are companies who sell in-game currency and even accounts, for real-life cash. This is a reality that’s either loved or hated, and it’s easy to see things from the perspective of both sides. If one thing’s for certain though, it’s that gold sellers skew in-game economies, and that’s the factor that personally bugs me most about it.

Eurogamer has just wrapped up a four-part series on the investigation of gold sellers, and they’ve received perspectives on the state of things from gamers, the gold sellers themselves and also the game developers. After reading, you’ll likely have a newfound appreciation for what the game publishers have to deal with, because as it appears, this is not a simple problem to deal with.

One developer stated that the harder they push against botters, the stronger they become. He went on to say that if they keep pushing, eventually bots will be completely undetectable, making things even more difficult to deal with. Indeed, it’s a tough problem, and though some companies are doing interesting things to combat the issue, nothing seems foolproof.

I could write an essay on my personal thoughts on the matter, but to keep things simple, I’ll say that I think game developers need to revamp their thinking on how to design an MMO. Create it in such a way that gamers don’t feel the need to go purchase currency from gold sellers. That’s of course easier said than done, but I have no doubts it can be accomplished in a unique way. In my opinion, an MMO that completely lacks gold sellers will be the best one around. It’s just too bad that this seems impossible to pull off.

“Many people don’t realise that the companies selling services for World of Warcraft often target the players they’ve sold their services to,” argues the spokesperson. “Once these companies have access to an account, they will often turn around and sell the equipment and gold on the account or the actual account itself – if not immediately, then at some point down the line. In effect, players actually end up purchasing gold, items, or entire accounts stolen from other players.