Yes, and when you start GAMING the game, you're now discussing this in terms of XP per minute, or DPS, or some useful metric, and optimizing within the ruleset for that, as opposed to merely naively playing it: You treat the game as a GAME, rather than a toy.
So are you then making the argument that if the company allows RMT to "game the game", then that is "within" the rules? If so... I can accept that premise and I will only say that such systems are pretty stupid and are a gimmick for cheaters. It is obvious it is a cheat, the fact that the company saw that it was a means to turn a profit only makes the idea of that game pretty stupid. I can't see the point of "gaming the game" by spending real money, it just as "I am fucking idiot" written all over it. /shrug
Well, of course. As you said yourself, a game is a contest played according to a set of rules. Without an opposition, there's no contest. Therefore, within the game, you always seek to outdo your competition, either directly by crushing them into the dirt, or by outperforming them.
You are ignoring the fact that a contest does not specifically mean another "person". A contest is a struggle for victory, a battle or race. The opposition is the game mechanics. If we were to only accept your definition, then only a multiplayer game could actually be termed a game, which we obviously know is not the case. When you play a game, you play it according to the rules and you do everything you can within those rules to achieve victory. As I said previously, if you point is that these cheats are "part of the game", well... we both know they don't exist for the sake of honest game play and only exist as a means to profit.
Yeah, those were good times, back when you could kill stuff in interesting ways.
That is my point though, it isn't that "MMOs" are the problem, it is that they have been hijacked by "businesses" that have no care or desire to make a game, rather they are seeking the next means to profit. To them, a game is just a widget to maximize return. The best way to achieve that is to take a impatient ADD player with OCD that has no concept of value as it concerns time/effort, risk/reward and then feed them mundane time sink objectives that have no worth of reward and then dangle RMT solutions before them (consumables like exp, health, mana, etc... and many other "convenient" items that attend to that persons vices). Now there are still some styles of MMOs I would say are counter to your expected favor of play, but that is a matter of taste. My point though is that the MMOs today aren't an issue of "Taste", they are gimmicks at their very core and that is what will result in them all failing eventually.
Truth, that's why I became an Auction House Guy. When killing someone doesn't matter anymore, you move to the next thing: Taking their MONEY. After all, that's why you were killing them in the first place, right?
Why do you play a game? What is your goal, your point? What do you expect a game to be? See, I think the thing here is that you are very specific to a style of play and everything else is invalid. You have a hammer and everything is a nail to you. I see PvP at the core of your arguments, that the very competitive, in your face, win win against another mentality. Nothing wrong with that, but it does limit the types of games you will find acceptable and it severely slants your expectations as to what is even considered a valid game system. It almost seems like you are better off with FPS games as they would serve your core desire for constant personal conflict, that or maybe some old school MUDs designed to bypass the whole "middle game" for the sake of the action and politics of end game.
Urgh, fun. Fun is a filthy parasite. If I'm still having FUN, I'm not enjoying the game. The game is most enjoyable when I have sucked all the fun out of it, turning it into a dry mathematical exercise in NOT HAVING FUN.
Yeah, I would see about some medication for that.
I do indeed love watching numbers get bigger. Moar DPSes, moar golds, more wallet. SPENDING money is, however, a BAD, since it does NOT make my numbers get bigger, it makes my wallet get smaller while someone ELSE's wallet gets bigger. That's a lose! Wallet is best number! The last MMO I was in, I spent approximately negative two thousand bucks so far. It's their fault, really. They taught me to see wallet as an in-game stat.
Well, I am not typically a fan of player economies as they are gimmicky and lack real world consequences, but... your point I don't think is valid. You say that you spend money, and your numbers don't get bigger? Well, I guess it depends, but if you spend money and buy that more powerful weapon, then your numbers do get bigger. Also, money is pointless unless it has a practical purpose in the game. If you never spend it, then it might as well be useless rocks you lug around. The goal of a game is to overcome obstacles. To do that, you seek more power in various forums (ie defense, offense, utility, knowledge, etc...). Money is one aspect that helps to achieve that power so you can overcome those obstacles. Thing is, if you think end game is where the game "begins", it is no wonder you think all progression aspects are pointless. Your "end game" is just collecting crap that is useless because you have no purpose to apply it to. That is the problem with games today. What you desire is what you hate. Its a cycle of self loathing you seem to be going through.
