Posted on 10/22/2002 10:12:19 AM PDT by yankeedame
Everquest (the game)Monday, 21 October, 2002, 10:55 GMT 11:55 UK
Inflation threatens EverQuest economy
The EverQuest economy is under attack
Real life and online fantasy worlds have at least one thing in common: economics. The company behind the online fantasy game EverQuest has started punishing players who have found a way to bend the game's rules and almost literally make money.
The crackdown has happened because the huge amounts of virtual cash that people were pumping into the game world were threatening to bring the EverQuest economy to its knees.
If left unchecked the influx of cash could have prompted hyperinflation and made it impossible for beginning players to get on in the game world.
Cash pile
In most respects EverQuest is utterly unlike real life as it features warriors, spell-slinging sorcerors and magical beasts of every hue, temperament and size.
But like the real world many of the characters that inhabit the world pursue a profession at the same time as they venture out on heroic quests looking for riches, artefacts or monsters.
As the characters get better at their chosen profession, be it tailor, blacksmith or jeweller, they become capable of creating ever more intricate and powerful items that can be used or sold in the game world.
Typically the time needed by a player to substantially improve the professional expertise of their EverQuest character and to make these powerful items is so great, that it causes little problem in the markets of the game world.
But some people have discovered a very easy way to carry out these time-consuming tasks, and in the process, unbalance the EverQuest economy.
Use real money to buy fantasy cash
In EverQuest, as in many other programs it is possible to automate common or repetitive tasks using a small program called a macro.
In Microsoft's popular Word program many people create their own macros to search through documents and correct spelling mistakes or to add addresses to letters.
But some EverQuest players found a combination of profession, skill level and macro that turns small cash piles into slightly larger ones.
By running the macro countless times they found it was possible to generate large amounts of money.
Some people even set up computers that did nothing but run the macro time and time again.
Once a player created a large pile of cash they then sold it for real money on the many auction boards and marketplaces, such as PlayerAuctions, that have sprung up.
Recent estimates put the amount of platinum pieces available to buy on just one EverQuest server at more than 3million.
The exchange rate of game money to real money is not very good, 100,000 platinum pieces sells for about $350, but it was enough to tempt many people to try it.
Now Verant, the company behind EverQuest, has started cracking down on people that use the money-making macro and is suspending accounts and confiscating items from people it catches exploiting the loophole.
In other words, it is mindless entertainment at best, and a gigantic waste of time at the worst!
But like the real world many of the characters that inhabit the world pursue a profession at the same time as they venture out on heroic quests looking for riches, artefacts or monsters.
Maybe they can get Alan Greenspan to play the game. He can lecture players on irrational exuberance, and then chop them to pieces with a sword if they don't do what he tells them to.
Fast forward to today. We're divorced now, she's married and pregnant (due any day now), by a different guy, who now ALSO plays Everquest avidly. The original guy she was in love with (a sixteen-year-old boy, I might add), committed suicide a few months ago.
So, I cringe when I hear the word Everquest. I realize that games like this are symptoms of larger problems. I suppose I should thank the makers of Everquest for ending my marriage -- it might have dragged on a lot longer otherwise.
Oh, by the way, I was the one who bought her the damned game in the first place.
This game though is not the problem its only an outlet so cause you bought this game it could of been something else.
I have been playing for about a year and have reach a high level Wizard. It is a game to that will be surpassed in Technical and Developement in the future. There will be more outlets so that one does not need to goto the bar to exploit those inner thoughts. Its always start with fantasy games and progresses to other types of genre. Understanding this we can only hope that there is a low percentage that gets hooked like this and allows those that understand its a game to be able to enjoy it.
There's actually an online forum for 'widows' of Everquest players. Most of the widows are women, but there were a few men like me. It's a Yahoo! Group. I was not the only guy whose marriage was ruined in this way. Just another form of infidelity, I guess.
i believe this is the article you refering to.
There'll be some good online games on their way soon--Star Wars and an online Sims. The Sims series has been a great means for me to keep my kids away from television...I'm hoping their online game is as good.
Just give me an old Marauder mech from Mechwarrior2 and I'm happy just blasting stuff.
Sort of like professional sports and most Hollywood entertainment.
LTS
His name was Matthew Meadows, and he lived in the Oakland, CA area. That's all I really know, other than one digitial photo of him that I discovered in her computer. I think he was probably troubled to begin with, thought he found an escape through the game (and my wife), and when she 'left' him, too, he probably spiralled downward even further.
Suicide is kind of a running theme in my life. A high-school friend on the math team with me killed himself, and an uncle of mine did as well (before I was born). My fiance' has been suicidal in the past. And I, personally, have been at that precipice on more than one occasion.
But I do know that online addiction is no panacea, nor is drug use. I consider FR to be a pretty healthy 'addiction', and it is by far where I spend the most online time.
As much anger as I had toward the kid for sneaking around with my then-wife, I wish he could have found a way to straighten himself out, since he ultimately got dumped by her too. I take no solace in that fact, however. I do try to caution others about getting too deep into these role-playing games. It's really no different than other addictions in one sense: there are those who really can handle it, and those who really can NOT. Those who can not are often those who most vehemently insist that they can. But you can't tell them that. There's a quotation I like (not sure who said it): "There's some people that, if they don't know, you can't teach 'em". Very true.
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