| Street |
08-27-2012 04:57 AM |
Quote:
Posted by Talon
(Post 187258)
No on the trading system. As Street once said, the owners of the game don't want a free economy in which other players can capitalize in certain assets, whether it be guns, melees, or currency. In an open market such as one created by a trading system, the demand for certain items is determined by the supply of the item (infinite, in our case). Prices are set by developers. If we allowed trading of items such as guns, prices will decline way below the original price set for the item. Why? Because when players find no more use for, say, a BAR, they will sell it for a lesser price to appeal to players and use the money to buy a new gun. Eventually the price players set tend to turn into an accepted status quo, which is indefinitely lower than store prices. When this happens, the players' money circulates only through players as opposed to Gralats disappearing when an item in a store is purchased. When money circulates through players, eventually the need for purchasing Gralat Packs is gone as players can just easily sell items to gain money.
This is an issue for any game developer with no outside revenue source. When players are constantly shelling for money, soon all of the money will STAY in circulation through the players, assuming items are bought at lower prices from other players (which any rational player will do). When this happens, TONS of money will be, and stay in the economy which ultimately defeats the purpose of buying packs. This means no revenue for the game owners. Our current system regulates this by forcing players to buy items in-store. Having money disappear when items are bought in-store lessens the amount of money circulating in the economy. When there is less money going around, players are more inclined to buy Gralat packs - that is where game owners make their profit.
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Thanks for bringing it back up, I'm surprised someone actually remembered what I said. :D
The problem is not about the lack of a trading system, or a a system to facilitate trading. The issue, in regards to to scamming, is the player. Players are at fault for trusting someone they shouldn't be or players being greedy and scamming.
We can keep things the way they are, in regards to what could be given away. Guns and "non-tradeables" should still not be traded for the exact reasons as quoted. In my opinion, anything that could be bought via Gralats in a shop, should not be able to be traded. This will prevent the trading market from making a significant impact on the gralats economy. Emphasis on the "significant impact" due to the fact that there will still be ways to affect the gralats economy via the auction house.
I think a trading system will be healthy for the game community. We will need to re-evaluate which items could be traded or not though. It will prevent players from being scammed... although it won't eradicate the issue. Players will still get scammed (via account identify scamming, false promises etc). It would still reduce the scamming issue significantly though.
It promotes a community, since it facilitates interactions with other players. As mentioned previously, if we removed all item dropping etc, it will just be like a "single player mode" but with online friends. A trading system helps promote relations and interaction between players. For example, a player will remember if another player gave him a really good deal in a trade, or if another player helped him by giving free shells etc. As I said, it'll be healthier for the game community than not having any interactions other than PK/gang related stuff.
Someone mentioned a "gift" option, there's a flaw with that idea because players will simply just use the gift feature to trade AND scam. |
