View Single Post
Old 05-12-2008, 01:50 PM   #53
Threshold
Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Home MUD: Threshold RPG
Posts: 1,260
Threshold will become famous soon enough
Re: What Does "Fair" Mean?

In a pay-for-perks game, all financial transactions are above board and known about in advance. Players know exactly what other people can get by paying money, and can make their decision to play or not play well in advance.

But in games that claim to be totally non-commercial, but sell merchandise behind the scenes, nobody really knows what is going on. There is no in-game evidence of merchandise sales, so people have no idea who has done what. Many people who pay money to a game inevitably expect SOMETHING for their money and "generosity", and admins frequently feel gratitude for these purchases (obviously), and together this commonly lends itself to favoritism for people who support the game through merchandise sales (the same goes for "donation" sytems, by the way).

An explicit, known system that is published to players in advance is much clearer and less prone to abuse than a secretive system that is not described explicitly in advance. Furthermore, since this is all on-the-side rather than an explicit, clear system, players are not able to factor it into their initial decision to play the game or not.
Threshold is offline   Reply With Quote