Found on Slashdot: Sony Online To Sell Virtual Property

I thought this story might be of interest to everyone:

Sony Online To Sell Virtual Property

http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/04/20/1438221.shtml?tid=209&tid=98

"In an open letter to the community John Smedley, the president of Sony Online Entertainment, announced their new service 'the Station Exchange' which will allow players of Everquest II to trade their items for real live money. Sony Online is the first major player in the MMORPG genre to embrace commercial trading of in-game items."

I'm curious about the details of this "Station Exchange"...specifically how it compares to what is currently happening in Second Life.

Damn it Pathfinder - you're not suppose to point this out, now the cat's out of the hag re: LL plans.

Sigh...

Re, Pathfinder's original post:
http://stationexchange.station.sony.com/

Too little, too late, but it is nice to know I can finally recoup some of the money I spent over those years.

I look forward to how this development will change the MMO industry, and specifically, I look forward to it rolling, bulldozer-style over the zealot game companies who insist the secondary market is something to be repressed at all cost (waving to Vanguard and Sigil).

Hot damn!

Well, before I get excited, I need to read the specifics. Is this open season or are they trying to create a crippled version which will discourage people?

Anyways, this could potentially change everything.

Ok, just read the press release. Looks like some servers are exchange-enabled, some will be not. I guess the shard infrastructure has its advantages!

Another advantage, btw, are rolling upgrades.

Something LL I think will have to eventually accept unless they can figure out a way to do soft roll outs with connected users.

Wow, this is exciting. Sure hope WoW follows suit.

I couldn't agree more. Hopefully this will eventually force MMORPG developers to do away with acquisition of loot as the point of these games in lieu of providing actual gameplay that's rich in strategy and low in drudgery. The formula for most MMO's is anitquated, tired, and boring.

A-MEN!

The secondary market is a true boon to game companies. A pity they're too busy thinking about the perceived 'loss' (Oh! Help! Someone is getting money and I am not!) rather than the potential for gain (Hurray! Now I can build a game that rewards you as you prefer -- be it how much time you have to invest in chasing the loot, or how much money you wish to spend to buy it.).

It is surely a pity that most companies take the former rather than the latter perspective, but I think the secondary market is the wave of the future for the MMO genre. After all, there are so many iterations of 'levels, loot, and plat' for which any customer is willing to pay a monthly subscription.

On a side note, one of the more enjoyable 'vindication' moments in my gaming career has been seeing people who began gaming while in high school or college post four years later than their time commitments have changed and gee, they sure wish someone would build a game that wasn't so mandatory about investment of time to advance/succeed.

Also prominently featured on Wired.com, fyi.

uh huh oh Pathfinder how you taunt me so

k sa ra sa ra what ever will be will be the futures not ours to see...

or so I'm told

The secondary market is anethema to a game (as opposed to a virtual world). Any time a wealthy player can buy an advantage over a poor player, the game ceases to be a contest of skill and becomes a showcase for the rich.

Selling items back to the company for cash is less destructive... but it's rarely profitable either (or the company would rapidly go out of business). Project Entropia has a system along these lines, but it's so carefully controlled that only hitting a rare "jackpot" mob will allow you to break even on a day's hunt, much less profit. In a game where only certain mobs spawn certain items in a certain locations, giving those items a monetary value will lead to non-stop camping and griefing, guaranteed.

World of Warcraft's crackdown on TOS violators is the right approach for RPGs - ban secondary sales in the terms of service, and get rid of the cheaters who break the rules as quickly as possible. Real-world litigation might be helpful, especially for sweatshop operators using shell companies to break the rules (prison time would be even better, as some of their activities could be construed as wire fraud). Other models are fine for open-ended virtual worlds, but are far too unbalancing to integrate into RPGs.

Of course the downside is... it's still Everquest..

Which is to say it's like wrapping an elephants arsehole up with ribbons and a bicycle chain....

Get past the bells and whistles - and it still smells like crap...

Siggy.

They aren't games of skill to begin with. They're exercises in who has the most tolerance for repetition and tedium. If they were games of skill winning wouldn't be entirely dependent on your stats and equipment.

When I bought a camcorder awhile back I was introduced to Sony's "Station Exchange". Back then it was a points system where when you purchased Sony products you earned points you could then redeem for more goods. I dont remember details but I think there was some cash also involved. When I researched it, the deals were not good at all, so I unsubscribed from the newsletter.

Based on this info, my uneducated assumption is that you will be able to trade EQII gold for Sony (and partners) products. I am curious to see details and if the deals would be any better than the past (if my assumption is correct).

Newsflash (and knowing I am being redundant to a point) -- it was NEVER about SKILL.

You don't have to have SKILL to twitch fight. You don't have to have SKILL to learn from failure. You don't have to have SKILL to take 40+ people to zerg something. You don't have to have SKILL to grind out X levels in Y weeks.

All you need to do any of that is time.

The POINT here is that, finally, some companies are recognizing the legitimacy behind the position that TIME should not be the sole criteria for success.

Besides, the only people I ever hear try to bring this lame horse 'skill' argument to the table are folks who have more TIME than MONEY. Which, by the by, was what I meant by the above comments regarding how enjoyable it was to watch them change their tune once they were forced to deal with real life and didn't have double-digit hours per week to invest in being "skillful". -rolling eyes-

As for the rest -- this is a natural and somewhat logical progression in the genre. It is also one that is well endorsed and supported in all other gaming genres (i.e., buy your cheats here! buy this mod here! buy this hint guide here!) and in all ways EXCEPT this final one. I say it is high bloody time.

Add to this the reality that if games in the MMO genre weren't so tied to the 'time sink' as a means of securing revenue, the entire market would flourish with strange and wonderful things like social achievement or roleplaying or interesting lore/mythos schemes -- all of which are less oriented to the 'sacred trio' of levels, loot, and platinum/adena/etc.

Change is good. Even if some of the folks out there can't see it just yet.

I'd love to get involved in an immersive mmorpg again some day, but not until the gameplay is more compelling than the giant hamster wheels/skinner boxes they are now. *pushes button 40 more times* mmmmmm, cheese (woot! +4 cheese of redundancy!).

Frankly, if D&D Online by Turbine doesn't manage it, it can't be done. I once held hope that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes would be the next great hope... but that was long ago dashed by Sigil themselves.

Wish had high promise, but committed suicide upon the knife called 'not enough marketshare'.

There is little else out there that is even remotely of interest.

A pity, really... there have been some truly amazing concepts brought forth since Meridian 59 hit the market. You'd think by now, someone, somewhere would have taken the 'best of the best' from the old Pen and Paper games and the same from the MMOs of the past and made something truly amazing.

Instead, they cling to their cookie cutters with a fanaticism that borders on religious zealotry and the entire market stagnates for it.

The LL game competition is an interesting idea. But they would need a much stronger code base to have the type of in-world gaming I think they're angling for... perhaps the trial balloon will give them the proof of concept they require to delve more deeply into that idea.

One can hope.

As a frequent EQ2 player, I say... YAY!