GI.biz Editorial: Gold Rush

A few paragraphs ago, I referred to gold farming as a very real problem for MMO companies, and that's entirely true; however, it's also a very real opportunity for the same companies. Certainly, in its present form, gold farming can damage gameplay and destroy other people's enjoyment of an online world.

However, it's unlikely that it will go away, despite the actions of angry players like Antonio Hernandez or the various technical measures used by firms such as Blizzard to ban the farmers. As such, the question being asked by many MMO firms is straightforward - why not embrace it as part of the business model?

That's why Sony Online Entertainment earlier this year hired former IGE executive Dave Christensen - a move which was roundly slammed by the MMO community. SOE is by no means at the top of the MMO game any more, but despite this, the gamer outcry at bringing an IGE executive into the fold feels a bit like building sand walls against a tsunami. SOE's stance is logical; companies like IGE aren't going to go away, so finding some way to build a cash-for-gold service into Sony's business model makes sense.

It makes sense not least, in fact, because doing so will allow companies to build games that allow players to buy gold without damaging the economy for everyone else. The biggest problem with gold farming is not some kind of overbearing moral question, as some gamers appear to believe; the problem is that it unbalances games and destroys in-game economies. That problem exists because bought gold is a factor which designers don't allow for in creating MMO titles.

The irony here is that, if anything, World of Warcraft is proof that a game gold business can work. The game has encouraged an explosion in the gold farming industry, and not just because of its own vast commercial success.

WOW uses gold as a "speed bump" for players, essentially pausing their progression through the game while they save up currency to buy their way to the next stage - be it a new type of mount, new armour, or new skills. The really desirable items in the game can't be bought, so people still have to play in order to get them; in this regard, gold farming has little impact on the game.

The question, then, for anyone buying gold is simply this; how valuable is your time? If saving up gold is a tedious part of gameplay which is merely there to prolong the game experience and prevent you from reaching end-game content too quickly (which it is), and you consider your time to be worth more than a handful of dollars per hour, then buying gold is a perfectly logical thing to do.

The success of IGE proves that many gamers think this way; what remains is for MMO operators to bite the bullet and accept that this is something which many of their subscribers want to do. It's foolish for them to leave it out of their designs, and business models, for much longer.

Despite this, it's likely that it will take some time before gold sales are fully incorporated into the MMOG business - there's simply too much resistance to the idea from a vocal part of the community, and of course, companies must take that into account. Gold farming is an unpopular idea, and this has become a matter of dogma for many players.

However, it's clear that not all players feel that way - and as the market for MMOGs expands, the lure of a new revenue stream is likely to prove far stronger than the objections of a minority. The biggest threat to IGE, indeed, isn't the anger of gamers or Antonio Hernandez's lawsuit. It's simply that in a few years, IGE's existence will be pointless, because companies like Blizzard, SOE and NCsoft will also be selling gold - their own gold.