Looping the Hen

I am always slightly amused when I read the anti-goldfarm crowd decry the evils of goldfarming. I do understand their point of view, as I used to be a 'purest' gamer. I abhored currency selling in all its forms. I wouldn't even put an extra quarter in an arcade video game because I thought that was cheating. I look back now and wonder how much interesting content I missed because I refused to do so? I still spent the quarters, but all I ended up doing was seeing the same early levels over and over.

How many people who say goldfarming is cheating save their games in single-player RPG's just before a big combat? And how many reload and reload and reload until they make it through without losing any of their characters? One person's cheating is another person's opportunity.

One thing I try to keep in mind is that there are two sides to every discussion. I understand the anti-farming point of view, because I've been on it. However, I don't think the anti-farmers put a lot of effort into understanding the other side.

Today, I am a casual ISK seller in Eve Online. (Flame on!) For those who say that people who buy gold (or in this case ISK) 'don't really like the game', I have to say that is absolutely not the truth. There are so many people who are incredibly excited to play a game, but have such a hard time getting over one hump or another, or find the game simply overwhelming, that without the measly amount of ISK I sell them, would most likely quit the game.

I know there are many thinking 'good riddance', but from what I have found for the most part, people who buy ISK from me are good people, with good social skills, who really want to play the game. They are not buying from me because they want 'uber' anything; they just want a little help, but hate begging in-game. When I stop and chat with them for a half-hour or so about the intricacies of Eve and how I made (and have just about sold through) my fortune, they often sign off by telling me they learned more about the game in that half-hour, than in all the days and weeks prior.

The funny thing was, at one point, Eve was no fun for me. It was a grind, because I couldn't seem to get to where I wanted to be. I quit for months and months, and would come back every once in a while to give it another whirl, because I knew somewhere, there was a game I wanted to play inside its huge, complex shell. Then I'd get discouraged and quit again. One day, I was browsing Ebay for something or other, and saw minerals that I hadn't been able to acquire ingame very successfully. I bought just two lots of minerals for around $15, and have been hooked on Eve ever since. It finally got me over my 'hump', to the point where I made enough that I could sell ISK to get others over theirs also.

And guess what? I don't steal anyone's loot. I don't camp anyone's spawn. I trade. I buy low and sell high. Most of the time, I don't even leave the station I am in. You may not like it, but I sell some of those profits, and in doing so, help some people out while at the same time helping me balance my checkbook. Most of y'all demonize people who buy and sell currency, but I know 80% of you play with and are friends with people who do one or the other; y'all just don't know it. I sell to players in the largest guilds and alliances in my game; people who don't want to feel like a drain to their guild, but want to feel like they are contributing. I help them do that.

If gold-farming rules were enforced 100%, I bet the impact would be a far greater negative than most realize. Good people who could be good friends would quit before we get a chance to know them. Good ideas would never get implemented due to lack of resources. Many of you think you have it all figured out. However, after being on both sides, I have to say that at least in my case, RMT really did facilitate fun far more successfully than grinding and quitting ever did.