The will allow us to sell virtual items from the game on sites like ebay

@PrimeRib actually since BitCoins aren't governed by anyone specifically you are only incurring tax liability if you claim it as income.

 

He might be referring to the Ebay aspect of this thread than the BTC aspect.

 

Just shows how up to date RG is about Ebay rules.

" In January, 2007, eBay began removing all virtual item listings. The sale of such items is prohibited and anyone violating this policy can find their account limited or suspended."

From Buying and Selling Virtual Items on eBay

 

No, we do not need to be patient. We need to know if they are going to allow P2W and buying gold for cash. This will influence if people want to play such a game. It's not right to make people invest money in a game they have ethical dilemmas over supporting.

They still have not officially addressed this issue and should.

If they want to support it, they should say it outright. If they do not, they should also say it outright.

This closed mouth stuff doesn't work for investors in any market, anywhere. Why should it for investors in this game?

 

Which would explain why he wants to keep housing limited and rare.

 

people will use playerauctions.com instead, it's much better than ebay anyway and they have a great rating system.

 

I do see your point, and while I agree there needs an eventual clarification for once the game releases, my point was limited to the pre-production time before the game launches. They have made a fairly clear statement that they will not support and are watching to prevent RL monies from causing pre-launch transactions that would cause legal problems.

It comes down to basic contract law, and the trading of property between two people. In this case, any "property" is still held by Portalarium, and is still subject to change, delays, design issues, and other unforeseen influences that could invalidate the transaction agreement between third-parties. That is why there is such a tight rein on them for now.

I think once we get closer to Beta, and actual production deadlines, they may ease the restrictions and provide more open communication about it. It is a potentially large market for players, I agree.

 

sure would be cool if portalarium facilitated the real money trade and took 10-20% or so of the profits. but if they allow it to be on sites like playerauctions then that is fine with me also.


i want to see this game become a big success

 

Couple of recent bitcoin related articles:

Mt. Gox Gone? Apparent Theft Shakes Bitcoin World

"
mendax was one of many readers to write with news about the apparent shutdown of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, in the wake of massive theft.

"The New York Times is reporting that Mt. Gox, the most prominent Bitcoin exchange, 'appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.' 'On Monday night, a number of leading Bitcoin companies jointly announced that Mt. Gox, the largest exchange for most of Bitcoin's existence, was planning to file for bankruptcy after months of technological problems and what appeared to have been a major theft. A document circulating widely in the Bitcoin world said the company had lost 744,000 Bitcoins in a theft that had gone unnoticed for years. That would be about 6 percent of the 12.4 million Bitcoins in circulation.' Maybe the U.S. Dollar isn't so bad after all."

Forbes goes further, and says flatly that Mt. Gox has shut down; Wired calls it an implosion. Reader electron gunner links to the alleged leaked document which outlines the exchange's crisis strategy.
Watch this story for updates, since there are bound to be new developments.
"

 

Weren't tons of bitcoins seized when Silk Road and Silk Road 2 were shut down, each time with the market taking a nose dive?

People kept asking me how to get into bitcoins thinking it was a clear path to becoming rich. But part of the reason it spiked so high to begin with was that allure of being rich and the risk involved with the currency.

 

Actually pleases me this news, the best times in UO was where I was making a living from this game as well as working in real life. Bring it!

 

Who would have ever thought a site that started as an exchange for trading Magic Cards that amassed $300 million of other peoples' money in crypto-currency would be a bit shady and shut down, abandon their offices, and disappear?

 

We played Silk Road for awhile. There were so many bots and gold/cash scams, we quit the game. It seemed an obvious front for money laundering. I think anytime games condone earning income from a game, they're asking for nightmares.

 

knowing that they are taking this stance made me increase my pledge

 

It's one of the many reasons I won't play beyond my pledge.

 

He has stated that he supports BTC, owns BTC and would like it to be accepted as a payment option. He's a smart guy and adopting/incorporating Bitcoin only makes sense.

 

Well, he talks about Ebay trading, and Ebay has a policy against selling virtual goods (see my previous post).

And as for Bitcoin: February 25, 2014 - "The Bitcoin-trading website Mt.Gox was taken offline late Monday, putting at risk millions of dollars put there by investors who gambled on the digital currency."

From: Mt.Gox site disappears, Bitcoin future in doubt

 

It may make sense to you, that does not mean that it makes sense for Portalarium as a business

The reason I posted what you quoted is to ensure that people do not take his statement as official policy - which it is not until they put it on paper - I'm hoping to avoid threads that become argument over nothing.

As for RG - he is a person who seems to explore of lot of ideas/possibilities, I believe that is what he is doing here

If you think it makes sense post your reasons - I'm sure that this topic will come up in the future

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from their views on Bitcoin - I personally have not made up my mind, but at the moment don't think that their is a need for it one way or the other

What matters more to me - beyond how things are purchased - is if Portalarium plans to sell in game gold

 

well the decision to allow people to trade items for cash on sites like playerauctions.com got me to increase my pledge from $750 to $1500. knowing that i will be allowed to sell my property if i choose.

but i hope to get a nice house spot and i plan to play the game for years to come.

i believe in richard garriott's vision for the game. sounds like it will be a huge improvement on what uo was, especially with the rare housing and pvp areas with rare resources in it etc. i hope the game ends up being a huge success and i intend to keep supporting it.

 

from what i have heard about them planning to have a stable supply of gold, that would be impossible if they sold gold.

in fact the company selling game currency would ruin the economy, the best way for them to monetize it would be to sell cosmetic items, for example if they sold boxes for real money that when opened gave random items with a very small chance for rare cosmetic items/mounts, then they could make a lot of money that way. it would be far superior to creating infinite supplies of gold and inflating the economy with it