I've seen what Lum has written over at The Escapist. I've seen what Heartless has to say, twice. And I've even seen what Cuppycake has to say about this situation.
Here's what I have to say. SOE should not ever, ever, never, ever bitch and/or moan about RMT and gold farmers in any of their games again. Ever. No more banning of farming accounts. No more press releases about taking a firm stance against non-approved RMT.
SOE gave up the right to be adamant about gold farmers ruining their games when they hired the Crown Prince of gold farming. VP of Biz Dev at IGE? WTF do you think he did all day? What "biz" does IGE need to develop anyway? Here's how I see a typical day for the VP of Biz Dev at IGE:
"Yes, we would like to buy your gold at 4 cents each. Yes, we can take delivery of your entire stock. Yes, if you can supply us with this much every week for a month, we will consider giving you 5 cents each for next month."
This part is pure comedy gold:
Prior to joining SOE, Christensen served as Vice President of Business Development for IGE where he drove the company's relationships with the massively multiplayer publishing community.
I would really like to know what IGE's relationships with the massively multiplayer publishing community are. Oh wait, I already do know. If we are talking about the game publishing community, most of them think that IGE is a boil on the ass of the industry. One that should be lanced with extreme prejudice. If we are talking about the actual publishing community, as in magazines, one of the major players PC Gamer, thinks they are a boil on the ass of the industry. One that should be lanced with extreme prejudice. If we are talking about CGM, they took ad money from IGE for almost 2 years straight, and actually considered actively selling ads for IGE's online properties. CGM is a dead beast right now. I think there's a karmic lesson to be learned there.
And I'm sorry Cuppycake, but I don't agree that just because you think that this guy can lay golden eggs, it doesn't make him a good choice for the job. Greed is not good. Right now, SOE has decided that business ethics don't matter at all. At this point, they may as well hire some alleged felons and sex offenders just to round out the team. Considering they are using IGE as a talent pool, that actually might not be that far off.
I agree with Lum, in that with this one act, SOE has only served to give credence to IGE as a legitimate business. And that's the last thing anyone who isn't ethically challenged needs.
And I have to thank Joystiq for saving me from having to scan in the ad that SOE placed in PC Gamer back in April of 2006, vilifying secondary RMT markets, and gold farmers.
