Here's my two cents. I've read all I can on the subject, absorbed all the knowledge, so here it is:
I 100% understand the effort made by ArenaNet to combat Real Money Trading. By accepting that the only way to combat it would be to reverse the trend and bring the system "in house" ArenaNet have made RMT pretty much defunct - this is only a good thing, and trying as many options as possible to combat this blight on the MMO system is great.
I get that the "system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players." Great! Brillo! Fill your boots! (bu...)
I also accept it isn't going to "mess with the economy". Every economy will eventually find balance - that is supply and demand. Being able to buy gems won't make real-life rich people gods, and real-life poor people minnows. The system will eventually find its own entropy. (If you're getting my tone already, you can tell there is a "but" coming... wait for it!)
I also do not think this is Buy 2 Win. As has been stated quite explicitly: there are no items in the game which are drastically better than the ones available to the average player at each level. So, you couldn't pop into the game at level 10 with your 1000 gems bought with £100 and sell them all to buy the Sundering Lightsabre of the Elders and pwn-face for ever-more. It simply isn't possible - no matter how many gems you buy. (The "but" is almost here!)
As Mike O'Brien has said:
“… it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.”
That's true - the advantage isn't unfair, I think that is clear. But it is an advantage.
I believe that being able to take my £10 and buy an armour set which I haven't played the game for is wrong. Regardless of whether the player receiving the gems I've bought has earned the money to buy them from me, even if that armour is an equivalent level to that which I could have achieved by playing the game - I haven't played the game to get it - and as fair and as balanced as the system is, getting the equivalent content for less effort is an advantage. Getting the armour in-game takes skill, time and effort - inputting my credit card details doesn't.
I have absolutely no doubts that the system will work. It will be balanced and fair, it won't crash the economy or destroy the game. But that doesn't make it right.
Another but: I'm not some stoic who won't listen to reason. If I've drastically misunderstood the system then let me know. The fact is I will probably use the gem store anyway, because I am a massive hypocrite.
I 100% understand the effort made by ArenaNet to combat Real Money Trading. By accepting that the only way to combat it would be to reverse the trend and bring the system "in house" ArenaNet have made RMT pretty much defunct - this is only a good thing, and trying as many options as possible to combat this blight on the MMO system is great.
I get that the "system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players." Great! Brillo! Fill your boots! (bu...)
I also accept it isn't going to "mess with the economy". Every economy will eventually find balance - that is supply and demand. Being able to buy gems won't make real-life rich people gods, and real-life poor people minnows. The system will eventually find its own entropy. (If you're getting my tone already, you can tell there is a "but" coming... wait for it!)
I also do not think this is Buy 2 Win. As has been stated quite explicitly: there are no items in the game which are drastically better than the ones available to the average player at each level. So, you couldn't pop into the game at level 10 with your 1000 gems bought with £100 and sell them all to buy the Sundering Lightsabre of the Elders and pwn-face for ever-more. It simply isn't possible - no matter how many gems you buy. (The "but" is almost here!)
As Mike O'Brien has said:
“… it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time.”
That's true - the advantage isn't unfair, I think that is clear. But it is an advantage.
I believe that being able to take my £10 and buy an armour set which I haven't played the game for is wrong. Regardless of whether the player receiving the gems I've bought has earned the money to buy them from me, even if that armour is an equivalent level to that which I could have achieved by playing the game - I haven't played the game to get it - and as fair and as balanced as the system is, getting the equivalent content for less effort is an advantage. Getting the armour in-game takes skill, time and effort - inputting my credit card details doesn't.
I have absolutely no doubts that the system will work. It will be balanced and fair, it won't crash the economy or destroy the game. But that doesn't make it right.
Another but: I'm not some stoic who won't listen to reason. If I've drastically misunderstood the system then let me know. The fact is I will probably use the gem store anyway, because I am a massive hypocrite.
