I think the main problem is the equation "time invested" = "progress" as the basic MMO design principle. I was a very competitive FPS player until a few years ago, and in FPS, which took some radically different design approaches, the RMT problem is totally absent. FPS, unlike MMO, allowed you to jump in right to the fun part. You could use the rocket launcher without having to fight two months bare-handed so you can advance to the plasma rifle and then another two months working on the shock rifle so you can learn to use the grenade launcher. And the longer you played, the better you got and the more satisfaction you got out of playing.
You make good points there. If they could deal with the repetitiveness, if they could deal with the good stuff not being available until you chew up too much of the bad stuff, if they would make a game where you can still be with your friends and enjoy the game together even though you cannot afford all the time they are spending with the game, that would totally undermine the need for RMT.
The bottom line is that RMT is a symptom of failing game mechanics. And the majority of people are too dumb to argument anything against the game mechanics "Because this is the way it has always been". Until we get rid of the causes we will not cure the symptoms, no matter how "radical" the measures against the symptoms are.
Re: Justifying RMT is justifying speculation
I think the main problem is the equation "time invested" = "progress" as the basic MMO design principle. I was a very competitive FPS player until a few years ago, and in FPS, which took some radically different design approaches, the RMT problem is totally absent. FPS, unlike MMO, allowed you to jump in right to the fun part. You could use the rocket launcher without having to fight two months bare-handed so you can advance to the plasma rifle and then another two months working on the shock rifle so you can learn to use the grenade launcher. And the longer you played, the better you got and the more satisfaction you got out of playing.
You make good points there. If they could deal with the repetitiveness, if they could deal with the good stuff not being available until you chew up too much of the bad stuff, if they would make a game where you can still be with your friends and enjoy the game together even though you cannot afford all the time they are spending with the game, that would totally undermine the need for RMT.
The bottom line is that RMT is a symptom of failing game mechanics. And the majority of people are too dumb to argument anything against the game mechanics "Because this is the way it has always been". Until we get rid of the causes we will not cure the symptoms, no matter how "radical" the measures against the symptoms are.