I just gotta say cheers for L2 posters, in most forums you ask or say something noob and ur brutally penalized, and flogged with words of hate :eek: :p but iv noticed that l2 forum posters are very mature and with the execptions of some "ignorant" people its nice to be able to talk and not see any hating :p lol so everyone give a huray or something!
That would be because those who speak negatively about the game or NC don't last very long here.
I bet they spend more time enforcing the board rules than the ingame rules. Or when they are enforcing rules in the game they ban legit players for any small thing while they let groups of "resource gathering individuals" roam free. That doesn't suprise me much though... considering there are interviews like this one from their own CEO: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/16/ncsoft_garriott_interview_mp3/
I know one of the mod's had to mention it was only his personal view, but personal view or not... those are the views being enforced.
That would be because those who speak negatively about the game or NC don't last very long here.
I bet they spend more time enforcing the board rules than the ingame rules. Or when they are enforcing rules in the game they ban legit players for any small thing while they let groups of "resource gathering individuals" roam free. That doesn't suprise me much though... considering there are interviews like this one from their own CEO: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/16/ncsoft_garriott_interview_mp3/
I know one of the mod's had to mention it was only his personal view, but personal view or not... those are the views being enforced.
ROFL. Richard Garriott ain't NCSoft's American CEO.
lol care to endulge us in your vast amount of <cough>useless<cough> knowledge sirE? :p
Richard Garriott is "Lord British" of Ultima fame. He is the brother of Robert Garriott, the CEO of NCNA. Richard Garriott's opinions mean about as much to me as Billy Carter's did during Jimmy Carter Administration.
Edit: Okay, I'll have to explain that to the kids here. Jimmy Carter was President of the United States from 1977 - 1981. He had a loud mouth, hill-billy brother named Billy. Asking Richard Garriott his opinion about L2 policy is about as useful as was asking Billy his opinion on foreign policy.
Sorry, I felt the need to explain this since people keep posting "OMG the CEO buys adena" everywhere. I mean, think about it, if you were the CEO would you have to buy adena or GM it up? Think people.
Hardly anyone even comes these boards anymore. Most just come here to see what nc is doing about the farmer/bot issue... then get banned and/or silenced.
Actually, SirE knows more about the game than most people give him credit. He clowns around a lot on these boards, but I'd go to him in a heartbeat (and have) with any number of game questions.
Hardly anyone even comes these boards anymore. Most just come here to see what nc is doing about the farmer/bot issue... then get banned and/or silenced.
This is kind of ironic, since you were obviously here.
I guess you missed the part where the interview is with both the Garriott brothers. Here's a quote from the article.
"Robert puts it succinctly, "He talks about changing the future in terms of game design. My standpoint is when I look at it in terms of, you know, genre and business model, and where I think companies are going to be taking this."
"Disclaimers aside, though, Lord British says he's "very interested in creating games that have virtual items that are sold just outright for real money, and skip the front end."
IMO, you can't disregard what Richard says about buying gold.. considering he's the one who will be designing the game itself and well... I'd rather not have the game designer designing the game in such a way that it supports you know who.
The fact remains, 2 of NC NA's top executives support you know what.
Hardly anyone even comes these boards anymore. Most just come here to see what nc is doing about the farmer/bot issue... then get banned and/or silenced.
This is kind of ironic, since you were obviously here.
If you look at my posts, I have posted maybe 10 times since Jan 2005... and most are about the farmer problems, I just havent been banned.... yet...
Well first of all, Richard Garriott is not designing L2. The folks over at Korea are. Additionally NC has an official stance that trumps the actions of a few businessmen. Garriott stated that he supported the official stance on the matter anyway, he just has a more realistic view of the problem.
Furthermore, he's trying to create games where problems such as this won't exist. If Garriott wants to sell official items to players in his own games then that's his business, it's not going to have any effect on L2.
I understand that he's not the one designing L2 and that the company states it has a different stance on the matter.
Although, isn't that a bit hypocritical? They say it's against the EULA to buy gold etc, yet their own top executive's are involved in and support it? How can I trust that the company is working to get rid of farmers, when their own guys are involved in it? Especially, when I see those who are trying to stop the farmers ingame get banned while the same farmers are there every day 24/7.
I know that NC does ban some farmers, but when there are alliances filled with probably 100+ farmers that has been around since c3 it makes one wonder... is NC doing everything it can to stop them and if not, what can I do to help?
Although, isn't that a bit hypocritical? They say it's against the EULA to buy gold etc, yet their own top executive's are involved in and support it? How can I trust that the company is working to get rid of farmers, when their own guys are involved in it?
He never states specifically what game he's buying gold from. You can be sure it isn't L2 however, as we don't deal in 'gold'. It's not hypocritcal to go into a different game with a different ruleset and buy currency there.
Such things are beginning to become a standard in certain games (such as EQ2). Even servers which allow the sale of in-game items have been sugguested here to attempt to curb the problem on normal servers. You can expect other games to do this in the future, though whether L2 ever attempts that remains to be seen.
It's never going to eliminate the problem of the secondary market on normal servers, but it will at least divert those casual players who just don't have enough time to grind everything to a server more suited to their gaming style. The secondary market is massive, and ignoring that is a poor business decision.
The ideal is to give people who want to take the easy route their own servers, and attempt to stamp out illegal sales on those servers in which behavior like that is unacceptable. That's just common sense, keeping the customers happy. Morals aside the people at the top just want their customers to be happy, and that includes those of us who hate the secondary market.
Edit: Need to add one last thing.
when I see those who are trying to stop the farmers ingame get banned while the same farmers are there every day 24/7.
I report bots and farmers every day. Not only have I not been banned myself, but 'some' of those who I've reported have disappeared. I'm not saying that this is the case with the people you're speaking of, but I've read many stories in which these great heroes who tirelessly work to remove the farmer problem of Aden have resorted to third party programs (other than bots) and other small crimes in order to further their cause. Then they complain when they get caught instead of the farmers.
I know he never says what game he plays/buys gold in... but the fact is the company has a stance against such things, yet their own employees are involved in it.
If the majority are against this market, then why is it becoming the standard to accept this kind of stuff? That sounds like the opposite of what companies should be doing if they are trying to appease the masses.
Designing the game to support this kind of stuff is simply giving in, there are alternative ways to combat this, both at the design level and after the game has gone live. Will any of these get rid of the problem completely, probably not... but if a company says they are against something, then please stick to it and enforce it. If they want to support the secondary market, as much as I am against the idea, that's fine... so long as they make it known that it is ok.
I know he never says what game he plays/buys gold in... but the fact is the company has a stance against such things, yet their own employees are involved in it.
If the majority are against this market, then why is it becoming the standard to accept this kind of stuff? That sounds like the opposite of what companies should be doing if they are trying to appease the masses.
Designing the game to support this kind of stuff is simply giving in, there are alternative ways to combat this, both at the design level and after the game has gone live. Will any of these get rid of the problem completely, probably not... but if a company says they are against something, then please stick to it and enforce it. If they want to support the secondary market, as much as I am against the idea, that's fine... so long as they make it known that it is ok.
I know he never says what game he plays/buys gold in... but the fact is the company has a stance against such things, yet their own employees are involved in it.
As I said, if he's doing it in a game that has no rules against it there's nothing wrong with that. I can't buy fireworks in my state, does that make me a hypocrite to go down one state and light up the sky there? Rules are objective.
If the majority are against this market, then why is it becoming the standard to accept this kind of stuff?
If the majority was against the secondary market then there would be no secondary market. A lot of people hate the secondary market and a lot of people participate in it, the clash of the two on the same servers is what causes the problem.
Garriott stated that he wanted to diversify the MMO market. That is, to create a variety of games that appeal to all different sets of gamers. I see no problem with having one game that allows the offical sale of items and another in which it is against the rules. If you've fully read that article or many of his other interviews you'd also see that Garriott is attempting to make games in which grinding for hours to obtain items no longer exists. That's the kind of design change that will inhibit the secondary market at its core.
Getting back on topic, I have to agree that the L2 forums are one of the few places in the MMO community that you can have an intelligent conversation with someone wiithout everything resorting to flame wars.
I just enjoy being part of the community here, and I've met quite a few interesting people along the way.
Note from one of the few who is old enough to comment on the CARTER brothers...................
World would have been better off it turns out if we HAD used ideas from Billy Carter for foreign policy. Domestic policy too, come to mention it.
I know, I know--not on the topic. Couldnt resist. Interest rates at 18%, Iran Hostages, Gas shortage and long lines, unemployment near 10%, concensus--concensus--concensus............had to be there I guess!
I know he never says what game he plays/buys gold in... but the fact is the company has a stance against such things, yet their own employees are involved in it.
As I said, if he's doing it in a game that has no rules against it there's nothing wrong with that. I can't buy fireworks in my state, does that make me a hypocrite to go down one state and light up the sky there? Rules are objective.
I do agree, there isn't a problem if he is doing it in a game that allows it, but I do believe that currently most mmorpg's do not allow it. The point I was trying to get across however, was that the company he works for currently has a policy against such acts as a whole, not limited to any one game. In the article, he says that his company is against it, he doesn't say they are only against it in such and such game but it's ok to do it in another.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say NC is some evil company that is only out to screw me over, I'm sure most mmorpg companies are facing most of the same problems with farmers/bots etc.
My problem with NC stems from how they've handled some of these situations with farmers or in some cases lack thereof and that I feel they may not be targetting the highest priority ones. However, for a company to fix these problems they have to know about them first and then the company must follow up on these complaints and try to improve these problems.
EDIT: I'm with Silviera, I love to argue as well :D