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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawkshere" data-source="post: 49002" data-attributes="member: 2417">All the legal issues aside, the 'real' players (as opposed to the ebay farmers) have significant issues with ebaying for a number of reasons - and its not all simple jealousy either.  There are game-play integrity issues at a social level.The quasi 'professional' seller is only playing the game to make a profit.  That motivation can create a significant conflict of interest when interacting with normal 'recreational' players.  If I know a certain character is played by an ebay merchant, that pretty much destroys any trust I'd have.  These are largely social games, and the very best stuff can only be obtained through the combined efforts of many players.As far as the casual sellers - folks who played the game honestly, and then sell their accounts when they quit - there are serious trust issues here too.  Most folks take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to get into the upper levels of a game like EQ.  Generally, you don't do that by yourself.  There is a social fabric to the game that grows over time.  It would be difficult to underestimate the importance of reputation at the higher levels of game-play.  No one gets to 60th level with really nice gear by themselves - you get there because you have a network of friends (probably a player guild and others) that you established over time.  When another player buys and plays that character, an identity problem occurs until everyone figures out that the character has been 'ebayed'.  But you can't buy friendships or reputation, so if the buyer doesn't have these already, the rep of that character takes a nose-dive.  The really sad cases involve characters that get traded several times, becoming completely damaged goods from a social perspective.I agree that the economic principles involved are really interesting and all.  However, those of you stuck in some darwinian economic model need to have your box shaken a bit and reminded of some other principles.  Its supposed to be a game, not a factory!  So here's a principle to chew on:Playing the game should be its own reward.</blockquote>

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