A Changed Perspective on Release (rmt)

Reading the forums the last few days has had a big impact on my perspective on release and whether this game will be the one going forward.

I've never liked RMT in games, it has an impact on how a game is developed, sometimes massively so. It attracts players who would never have given the game a second thought without it, which also drastically changes the dynamic of the economy and having people in the game whose only interest is a $ can never be a good thing.

The real surprise, although not so much upon reflection, has been the players who seem to be quite indignant and passionate about it being removed.

On any forum for any game I am always as skeptical of the overtly, almost rabidly positive person as I am the rabidly negative. People who go into every thread that even sniffs of a bit of negativity and state how amazing the game is and how release will be amazing.

The same goes for the manically driven. Those who, while a game is still in Alpha, will forge ahead to be at the very top of the pile. Again, the same goes for people who spend money every telethon.

What's the motivation?

A selection of all of the above seemed quite upset about the possibility that RMT may be removed. Someone hoping to make a bit off of launch, someone who has spent money every telethon to cash in on the new players, someone hoping to sell power-leveling.

After all this time of thinking people are crazy with their "This half finished game is going to be amazing" and spending money on otherwise unobtainable items or forging ahead to be the highest AL. The reaction to RMT maybe shows where some players motivations have been all this time.

I'm not saying anyone is a bad person or does not have a right to do this. I'm sure there are many also that do all these things just for the love of the game or because they are collectors or powergamers. The last few days though have brought into question why we are here on the forums trying to push the game, through foul means or well, fairish, towards what we want.

I think RMT is a big factor in this. If someone truly loves the game then the impending doom of RMT possibly being removed should have passed without barely a ripple, assuming it is the game we are actually here for.

 

RMT is a big can of worms!

I want to disclaimer what I'm about to say with the fact that I do sell items via RMT's. However personally I dislike it and think the game would be better off without it.

On countless occasions, I have had new players express their frustrations to me about the fact that they want to buy something but all they can find is people selling what they want via RMT. It can be very hard to get some items without spending real currency on it, and this frustrates a lot of players. I know of some players that have stopped playing due to this frustration.

I decided to embrace the system and started selling via RMT so that I could buy what I wanted without investing more money in the game. In-game currency is worthless if you cannot buy what you want with it.

But this is just why I sell via RMT. I know there are other players who have invested a lot of money in the game, and use it as a form of income. Changing the rules now has a huge financial impact on these people, who didn't do anything wrong(at the time).

It's a difficult situation, and there will be some really unhappy people either way

 

Could you explain the meanig of "RMT" to readers, who don't know, what you're talking about exactly, please?
Thank you

 

Thank you

Real money transactions... for $5 I will explain it in depth, for $25 you may stand in my stand in my shadow, for $50 I will sell you a lock of my hair..... jk, sorry I couldn't help myself

 

I really hope that the devs will clear the questions regarding RMT in their official post at the end of the week. For example:

1. Do we really own virtual items or do we just buy the right to use it?
2. Can we really sell an item even if we do not really own it?
3. Who is responsible when someone steals an item I bought or when some fraud happens?
4. Can I do with an item as I please? After all I bought it so can I destroy it for example? Can I have my property removed from the game?
5. What happens with my property if the game should close? Will I get the programming code of the item? After all I should be the owner of the item.
6. What about taxation when virtual items are sold? Especially regarding the taxation in different countries?
7. What about the possibility of money laundring?

I think those questions are very important and should definitely be answered.

 

Negative, they own the pixels

 

??

Most of these area obvious leading questions with a set answer, some are irrelevant, some are even stupid. But most importantly , none of them can be answered by portalarium. Why? Because we are mostly talking about international law, and on the internet, that is tricky.

One key Point is, that any SALE is subject to tax, but you dont need to own something to be able/allowed to Sell it.

Let me compare an virtual item to a ticket to a football game. Or a ticket for a skydiving. The piece of paper which is the ticket is only that. You dont own the parachute to skydive with, and if the Company Selling dives go out of business, you dont have any rights. If you buy a ticket from me to a football game, and the game is cancelled, you usually dont have any rights ( because you didnt originally on the ticket ).

We OBVIOUSLY dont own the virtual items, we OBVIOUSLY are without rights if the game Closes, and we OBVIOUSLY should be allowed to sell or buy items from other players, because IF i wanted to spend IRL Money on something without real value(?) It should be choice.

 

When gaming industry moves into the realm of contract law and in game multinational currency exchanges I'll know that I'm too old for this sh&t. I'll go down to the basement fire up the Atari ST, the Amiga 500 and an IBM XT then just sh&tpost on newsgroups for the rest of my days.

 

Re-read the ToS. Its very clear.

 

The devs have stated, countless times that RMT will be allowed. Not sure why this is even coming up.

 

I think Port seem pretty clear on RMT being OK, and that is OK. The reaction to it being taken away just made me consider peoples motivations for playing and if it's really about the game.

I'm sure your questions will be clear though when Port respond.

 

To be clear my post has nothing to do with RMT being allowed or not (although I did give my opinion on it). It just highlights some players motivations who give the impression the game is most important thing when maybe it's not.

 

I prefer Colecovison but thats just me I guess.

 

I would be thrilled if they stopped selling gold for real dollars.

 

Why can't it be love for a game that has the freedom of having RMT? I collect, I'm a collector- it's fun for me. Without RMT, I'd have a hard time acquiring or trading for items that I'd like to have.

Also, my belief is that having these freedoms is a huge draw for players to play the game, especially for those that envision living in a persistent sand-boxed world with a community of supporters. We can leave our mark here that can last for years, or even the entire length of the game's life.

Games I've played without RMT have a different feel -- like a silent police state with underground profiteering players that have covert means to sell or trade items with RMT for those who want to trade anyway. All that patrolling for enforcement of RMT policy in an non-RMT game costs the company money and ultimately its passed on to the players. "Getting rid of RMT by policy" is certainly not going to get rid of RMT, and it won't stop the complaining either.

I applaud Portalarium's decision to add as many freedoms as they can to the game holistically, which includes RMT, but also community forums, open feedback, telethons, conventions, Dev+ shared resources, the SotA fankit, using their songs in our livestreams and YouTube videos, local get-togethers, etc. Hence, my reason to believe your statement that "if someone truly loves the game then (insert your change here) and it won't make a difference" is flawed, perhaps needs to be rephrased.

And to be clear on responding to your statement, I can love a game less or even not at all if my freedoms are taken away, especially if those lack of freedoms destroy the aspects of the game which I enjoy and believe in the most (i.e., actions that involve silencing the community, ignoring feedback, outside the game watchdogs, etc.)

If we give up our freedoms "by community demand", we won't be getting them back.

Sincerely,

Engineer

 

That's what I'm talking about. There was an epic (at the time) Dungeons and Dragons game for that system.

 

River Raid, Donkey Kong and Squish'em Sam




Money money money!!!!!

 

Some Questions:
- Are people upset about RMT because they see it as being "Pay To Win"?
- How is selling/buying a nifty hat that offers absolutely no combat/pvp advantage, or a wooden styled chair, or an elven house, considered pay to win?

I can see the arguments for moderation of RMT for paying for leveling services, as someone is paying real money for in-game advantage in combat/pvp.
However, I cannot see the arguments to restrict RMT for converting real money into in-game gold (Portalarium already does this with COTO'S), and buying/selling in-game non-combat type objects (addons purchased in the store). In terms of selling add-ons/bundles/telethon rewards...those are items players paid real money for; they're an investment they made. So I don't see an issue of transferring ownership of those paid-for items in return for real money.

 

I can't believe it's 2018 and people are still this upset that RMT happens. It happens in EVERY game. Yes, that game that you love, that you swear has no RMT, absolutely 100% does have it. It's just done via 3rd party sites and back alleys.

 

Oh another question about RMT:

What if I buy virtual items and somehow get banned from the game? Then I cannot use my property anymore which I paid for?