Solution: have the mmo company sell gold themselves
Companies these days are selling potions, bags, convenience items, classes (DDO), even expansions through their own websites whether they are subscription-based, free-to-play or a hybrid model.. why can't they sell gold too?
The only way gold sellers would be profitable (in this scenario)is if they sold it at a cheaper rate, which to be honest, they will be able to do somehow anyways.
I figure there is no way to stop gold sellers; people will either see them spamming on the chat channels, hear about them from other people or actively look for them as a way to make their gaming experience easier.
If it was even easier to buy through the official channels (company) then that should reduce illegal gold selling. Also, the negative connotations of doing so (buying illegal gold; against the ocmpany policy) and the stress of getting caught will also hamper the profits of the gold seller. For a few more dolllars, you'd get legitimate gold and piece of mind. This will hopefully decrease their profits and force them to sell gold somewhere else. People need to be educated if not constantly reminded that funding these people (gold sellers) is not 'sticking it to the man' but actually funding crime. People still may not care until they find out that this can lead to their own account being hacked themselves. Only then will people learn. Possibly by offering deals or special promos, will the company have an edge against a gold seller. Promos such as special in-game items for purchases or temporary buffs might be an incentive to purchase.
I wonder if game companies have the ability to track the flow of gold/currency between players or the current amount a person has at one time. The game obviously remembers the gold you have as when you log out and log back in, you have the same amount of gold as before. Couldn't spikes of gold transactions be traced and investigated? I suppose gold sellers aren't caught this way as gold selling may be a low priority for mmo companies?
Maybe this solution will be the eventual downfall of the gold sellers. For years and years, you've profited from people in your gold selling ways, to force the company's hand to actually sell gold themselves. This ease of fluid, legitimate currency coupled with poor implementation (b/c that will probably happen)destroys the economy and causes people to buy gold from the company instead of them. And people become more comfortable buying gold and convenience items from the company. Which will lead to the success of the next solution..
Second solution: why not add an in-game store (that doesn't sell gold) to games that do not currently have one? Items, being mediocre to good items that are both common and unique. And make it relatively cheap so that buying gold from an illegal source isn't really worth it. People will still buy from the auction house b/c there isn't a huge influx of cash, and if you can't spend the time to obtain x-item you just purchase it legally from the company instead of spending cash from a shady source which then you still need to use to purchase. Isn't that what WoW did by providing fully lvled up characters for a modest fee? Make buyable items both unique and common but possibly imposing a certain limit(bind on limit, untradeable) , so that a richer person couldn't be fully twinked out or give to someone else.
Companies these days are selling potions, bags, convenience items, classes (DDO), even expansions through their own websites whether they are subscription-based, free-to-play or a hybrid model.. why can't they sell gold too?
The only way gold sellers would be profitable (in this scenario)is if they sold it at a cheaper rate, which to be honest, they will be able to do somehow anyways.
I figure there is no way to stop gold sellers; people will either see them spamming on the chat channels, hear about them from other people or actively look for them as a way to make their gaming experience easier.
If it was even easier to buy through the official channels (company) then that should reduce illegal gold selling. Also, the negative connotations of doing so (buying illegal gold; against the ocmpany policy) and the stress of getting caught will also hamper the profits of the gold seller. For a few more dolllars, you'd get legitimate gold and piece of mind. This will hopefully decrease their profits and force them to sell gold somewhere else. People need to be educated if not constantly reminded that funding these people (gold sellers) is not 'sticking it to the man' but actually funding crime. People still may not care until they find out that this can lead to their own account being hacked themselves. Only then will people learn. Possibly by offering deals or special promos, will the company have an edge against a gold seller. Promos such as special in-game items for purchases or temporary buffs might be an incentive to purchase.
I wonder if game companies have the ability to track the flow of gold/currency between players or the current amount a person has at one time. The game obviously remembers the gold you have as when you log out and log back in, you have the same amount of gold as before. Couldn't spikes of gold transactions be traced and investigated? I suppose gold sellers aren't caught this way as gold selling may be a low priority for mmo companies?
Maybe this solution will be the eventual downfall of the gold sellers. For years and years, you've profited from people in your gold selling ways, to force the company's hand to actually sell gold themselves. This ease of fluid, legitimate currency coupled with poor implementation (b/c that will probably happen)destroys the economy and causes people to buy gold from the company instead of them. And people become more comfortable buying gold and convenience items from the company. Which will lead to the success of the next solution..
Second solution: why not add an in-game store (that doesn't sell gold) to games that do not currently have one? Items, being mediocre to good items that are both common and unique. And make it relatively cheap so that buying gold from an illegal source isn't really worth it. People will still buy from the auction house b/c there isn't a huge influx of cash, and if you can't spend the time to obtain x-item you just purchase it legally from the company instead of spending cash from a shady source which then you still need to use to purchase. Isn't that what WoW did by providing fully lvled up characters for a modest fee? Make buyable items both unique and common but possibly imposing a certain limit(bind on limit, untradeable) , so that a richer person couldn't be fully twinked out or give to someone else.
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