First, like many veterans of the genre, you're assuming RMTing is wrong. I appreciate why. Everyone's got their own reason. Your's has always seemed to be about some artistic/innovation issue, that RMTing is a way to cheat a game, used by players to cheat because some fundamental flaw in the design that designers should be fixing rather than justifying.
But RMTing isn't right or wrong. It just is. These games aren't built around RMTing. That's just a byproduct, like other things have been byproducts (powerleveling, buying characters, twinking, etc).
What these games are build around is achievement, in a linear RPG-esque setting (lore is optional but some do play or that). The diku-inspired formula has been well-proven. "Design a better game"? Why? The game already works. Players like them. Some choose to cheat, but as you yourself note, there's very little to actually buy. That's Blizzard's primary approach: disallow RMTing through BoP. But their core experience still works, but it has.
It would be financially irresponsible for a company to not consider diku at least as an option. And that means financially managing the creative process. Anyone is capable of designing a game, but industries only reward those who eventually go build one.
Re: Justifying RMT is justifying speculation
First, like many veterans of the genre, you're assuming RMTing is wrong. I appreciate why. Everyone's got their own reason. Your's has always seemed to be about some artistic/innovation issue, that RMTing is a way to cheat a game, used by players to cheat because some fundamental flaw in the design that designers should be fixing rather than justifying.
But RMTing isn't right or wrong. It just is. These games aren't built around RMTing. That's just a byproduct, like other things have been byproducts (powerleveling, buying characters, twinking, etc).
What these games are build around is achievement, in a linear RPG-esque setting (lore is optional but some do play or that). The diku-inspired formula has been well-proven. "Design a better game"? Why? The game already works. Players like them. Some choose to cheat, but as you yourself note, there's very little to actually buy. That's Blizzard's primary approach: disallow RMTing through BoP. But their core experience still works, but it has.
It would be financially irresponsible for a company to not consider diku at least as an option. And that means financially managing the creative process. Anyone is capable of designing a game, but industries only reward those who eventually go build one.