100 million? 880 million? More?
by Alphaville Herald on 05/11/04 at 12:29 pm
Ok, the market in Simoleans, Linden Dollars, Hammers of Kick Ass, and whatnot are big — we knew that — but just how big. Just a couple days ago The New Scientist ran an article quoting Ted Castronova as putting the world wide sales of game currency etc. at 100 million (and also quoting some guy named Ludlow about this being a glimpse into the future — whatever that means). Now, in his talk at State of Play, IGE President Stephen Sayler put the number at 880 million – and he is certainly in a position to know. We are rapidly approaching a billion dollar market. Good luck fighting this monster, AJ!
ajdown@jp
Nov 5th, 2004
Hmmmmmmm not sure how I got dragged into this particular one…… but as you asked, I shall continue my same old strategy, educate educate educate.
I don’t know how many billions of illicit simoleans are bouncing round TSO (I can only comment on the one game I play), but when the game gets pulled, whenever that may be, all those hundreds or even thousands of dollars people have invested in game currency will be worth absolutely nothing.
A few people have made a lot of real cash out of selling game items, but the real losers are the people that spend it regularly buying the money, to artificially boost their visitor hours through payouts, or other unsavoury practices, all for nothing. What a shame eh.
aj
Urizenus
Nov 5th, 2004
Now AJ, suppose those same people had spent their money on movies, or big tall mojitos at Bar 89 or on Broadway Plays (or in your case West End Plays). When you leave the bar/theater your money is gone and all you have to look forward to is the hangover, but maybe it wasn’t a waste of money. Maybe you were paying for good times and entertainment. Maybe that comes in the form of yet another performance of Rent, or maybe it comes in the form of a nice Gorean Castle in tso.
TBT
Nov 5th, 2004
The people who have all that tso money obviously aren’t morons AJ… They too will know when the end of TSO is coming and will sell off their stocks cheaply just to get rid of them..
I don’t know why you think that they’ll just wake up on the very last day and be like “OH NO I have millions of simoleans to get rid of and i can’t, i’m screwed”..
LOL On the contrary they’ll be selling off like crazy for months/weeks/days before it closes and basking in their new fortunes the entire time..
Even if they do take a loss its a loss that over the course of their selling in TSO they have long made up for and this in no way will hurt any of the sellers I CAN guarantee you that..
Trust me those that invest money in simoleans are only investing profits from previous sales and still would not be all that much of a loss.. Nobody is spending 10s of thousands of dollars buying simoleans. A couple hundred to a couple thousand and they’re earning it right back plus more by turning right around and selling it off..
As to the people u call losers who buy simoleans for payouts or what ever reasons well i have news for you they are far from being losers… they are paying for entertainment and items they can use at any time they please to..
Go out to dinner, a movie, a date if you could ever get one that is, a bar, a whore house i think u could use that you’re uptight ;-p and you’re buying things you’ll only use or see ocnce….
At least the people buying simoleans in the game can reuse them most of the time and even if not it was healy entertainment that didn’t endanger them nor anyone around them..
Yea yeah I know the story I’ve offended you here and by doing such you won’t respond to me, yeah yellow people always take the easy way out..
Father Callahan
Nov 5th, 2004
Excellent example, Peter.
RB
Nov 5th, 2004
Agreed.
- RB
ajdown@jp
Nov 6th, 2004
Glad I read this, because I’m going away for a couple of days and I’d hate you to call me yellow simply for having a life away from a game and not responding.
I do kinda see your point about ‘investing in entertainment’, but if you pay $50 to see a show then you’re spending money on entertaining yourself, whereas $50 worth of simoleans to bribe visitors doesn’t give you much does it, except some hours and an arbitarily temporary hop up the top 100 list until the money runs out. You may be ‘helping’ other players by giving them money – but the damage that payouts have done to the game is well documented and free for anyone to see by the amount of beggars there are in the game.
Now… I’m sure you will have something to say to this but please do forgive me for having reality interfere until Tuesday.
aj
TBT
Nov 6th, 2004
Well you kind of contradict yourself in your own sentances there..
You say that the houses giving payouts have affected the game by handing out loads of cash, but then say that “the damage is well documented and is seen by the large numbers of beggars in the game”…
Now I don’t know how money or the economy works where ever you live, but here if people are begging for money it generally means that they have none and are trying to get it and that there is a lack of it thus the begging..
If there was so much money in the game damaging it as you profess here then wouldn’t people not be begging for money? Their begging to me shows a lack of it on their part..
As to the yellow comment even you aren’t as stupid as you’re pretending to be by entirely misunderstanding what the intent was…
I wasn’t saying it in regards that you might reply some days later… I was saying that when you seem to be told differently or are shown the opposite of what you think and maybe shown with sarcasum or dig(cheap shot you might say), you always opt to not address the issue and simply state along the lines of “ok i’m done with this conversation because you’ve offended me” and thats your excuse out of the discussion.
As to your comment on seeing the point well then maybe those people get entertainment and most likkely wind up with newly met friends by offering payouts to folks who visit the house.. Hey there was a time when sims wouldn’t come to all these houses and it was the only way to get people to come so don’t blame the people paying them, blame the ones demanding to be paid or else they won’t come as they are the true greedy ones as you might say…
Sometimes these people have no choices but to do this just to compete with those others that started doing it to keep their #1 house or what ever..
I see no difference in entertainment between seeing a show or buying simoleans and using them however you like.. Go out to dinner have a nice expensive and delicious meal or go to a bar and drink up all night or buy simoleans and play a game.. They are all different forms of entertainment and with variety in people preferences and satisfy those needs or wants and after all is said and done what do you have after any of that entertainment? At least depending what you use the simoleans for they could very easily be an ongoing entertainment source for a long time to come..
TBT
Nov 6th, 2004
BTW where are these well documented what ever that have proven “the damage that payouts have done to the game” i would like to see it?
Father Callahan
Nov 6th, 2004
I am not playing the devil’s advocate here, but I can see AJ’s point. He plays the game, and somehow he found a way to enjoy it (also please share because it bored the shit out of me). Anyways, the well documented proof is, when you walk into game and see how shitty it has become. I mean look at Dragon’s Cove, it is like the Paris of TSO. With a matter of 50 days everyone has everything they need. This could be on fault of how the designers didn’t make it challenging enough (and it was not, if that is hardcore to them I would really suggest them to view other games economies such as Second Life). Anyways, AJ you have to understand it isn’t the sellers fault (well it possibly could be) but it is the buyers fault. I hate to point fingers, but if there was no demand, there would be no supply. TSO was ruined before it turned 2003.
TBT
Nov 6th, 2004
Anyone who was in the beta and saw the previous wipes in the game knew exactly how DC was going to be and what sims would do in the first days..
With a fresh city everyone scramnbles gathering cash to buy lots and furnish homes by either combining cash from multiple accounts or pooling with friends, this act is not a simoleans seller only feat, just about everyone does it..
Then its time for the rush to skilling up. The next step obviously is making more money for the better objects in the game..
It would not matter how hard a city is and if sellers were there or not the fact remais is it is truly only hard(hard being used very loosely mind you) for the first couple days and after that everyone has the best items in the game etc and its “Paris”? as previously described..
Face it people no matter what you to to TSO it’s barely what anyone can really call hard, a pain or boring maybe in the times of wipes or fresh cities, but TSO hard? lol never!
Dyerbrook
Nov 10th, 2004
Does anybody want to buy my silver pet anniversary statues?