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Old 09-02-2007, 09:09 AM   #2
Valg
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Home MUD: Carrion Fields
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Re: What Does "Fair" Mean?

The reason I personally avoid the pay-for-perks model in competitive games is that it always seems to devolve into an arms race. Player A has a sword. Player B buys a Shiny Sword. Now, player A buys a Shiny Sword because he's tired of losing to all the Player Bs of the world. From a business perspective, the administration notices "Shiny Swords are very popular. What if we offered an Especially Shiny Sword?" So player B buys an E.S.S. Player A, despite having spent money, is back at their original competitive disadvantage to Player B.

The problem gets worse if the game involves any sort of PvE challenge-- if Scary Dungeon is balanced to be a challenge for the guy wielding an Especially Shiny Sword, it's often too hard for a regular player to adventure in. If a lot of dungeons share this trait, the game further devolves into de facto pay-to-play-- either you buy the perks, or else you sit in the introductory areas and miss out on all the 'cool' stuff.
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