by John Hoskin on Dec 28, 2007
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Daily Column
14 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 227 so far in December!
Stargate Worlds (SGW) fans should watch Stargate Atlantis on January 4th (Is that the first show of the season?) for a look at the new SGW trailer. I wasn't very fond of Atlantis when it first aired, but the series is growing on me.
While perusing my daily run of blogs I came across a little ditty at Raph's site regarding cheating.
"The thing thats funny is that yes, of course players regard RMT as cheating. But make no mistake, looking up the steps to a quest was once upon a time a bannable offense on many muds, and widely considered cheating. (Calling the sites out there today strategy guides is a bit of stretch theyre more like complete walkthroughs). Powerlevelling someone was once upon a time a bannable offense on some muds. Going through a quest with someone and telling them the steps. Chatting the location of an item on a public channel. You get the idea."
"Cheating is, in the end, violating the spirit of the rules. But the spirits of games evolve, for better or worse, and not always in ways we like (I reference again the tale of Monopoly, and how it changed from an anti-landlord game into a game celebrating greed). It isnt the designers doing it, usually rather, its designers conceding ground under the weight of player pressure and market pressure. You may call it pragmatism or you may call it caving. Either way, those of us left behind will always sit and bitch about what used to be a purer, nobler sort of game."
There is a very significant difference between reading a strategy guide and buying money or characters. The former educates you on how to be a better player, sending you out into the virtual wilds to do the work yourself. The latter takes the game out of your hands and supplies you with the end result of the labours. Real money trading (RMT) bypasses the game mechanics taking the player to the reward without experiencing the journey.
In a single player game nobody cares. Your actions don't affect anyone else. In a MMOG the person who uses RMT services is cheating by giving themselves an unfair advantage over those that are playing by the rules. There is no grey area. It is cheating. Players have a right to be upset about it.
Enjoy your weekend folks! The new year is almost here.
Do you feel the need to contact me? Your wish is my command. E-mail or Forums - The choice is yours!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
EverQuest 2: Heritage Quest Guide Update Fiesta: Twenty Screenshots Lord of the Rings Online: Lone Lands Resource Gathering Guide Lord of the Rings Online: Weekly Troll Report 12.27.2007 Secret of the Solstice: New Screenshots Tabula Rasa: Guide to Recruits Tabula Rasa: Guide to Exobiologists Tabula Rasa: Leveling Guide 1-10 Tabula Rasa: Guide To Comm Tower TenTonHamster: Webkinz - Guide To Tile Towers TenTonHamster: Webkinz - Heavy Holiday Traffic Vanguard: Giving The Gift of Vanguard Warhammer Online: Dark Elf Disciple Overview Video World of Warcraft: Guide to the Daily Cooking QuestsHot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to
MMORPG Documentarians Pure West Interviewed - Part 2 Network Rewind - The Year In Ten Ton Hammer Pirates of the Burning Sea: Open Beta InterviewReal World News
Fat Squirrel Trapped Behind Bars [Thanks John]Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com
- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team