mMO’ MONEY!: Virtual Beggars.

“Does anyone have a spare 10 million Isk I could borrow?” – random blurb seen in EVE Online rookie chat.

I’m sure along the lines of your mMO’ career you have run into the occasion where you are short a couple of gold, Isk or gil for something; it happens to us all. But if you’re like me you will be damned before you are going to ask for 1 red cent in local or regional chat, regardless of how bad you need it. This problem is usually solved by rummaging around our bags or banks for something to sell to an npc for the small bit we need. If that isn’t possible we might possibly lower ourselves to ask our guild or a close friend (in private chat).

Some people make a career out of begging. In real life and in virtual, some aren’t as fortunate as others and I am a sucker for someone who is in a bad position. An old friend of mine would de-brief me whenever we went out to the city. “And NO money to bums!” she would say with a furrowed set of eyebrows. Usually by the end of the night I would find my way to some homeless man or woman and put some money in their hands as she would roll her eyes. Call me a sucker or a bleeding heart.

Although when it comes to virtuality I am one of those folks who read someone’s plead in chat, “Just 5 gold preeeeeze!” only to find myself typing “Go farm!” or “Grind!” I guess that is where my soft-heartedness ends. That is nothing compared to the tirades of abuse that other players give a person who begs in public chat. Heavens forbid that YOU BEGGED IN PUBLIC CHAAAT!!! @.@ !!!

“Slit your wrists!” or “Go die in a fire noob!” were the typical responses and these are the more politically correct ones I choose to enter here. Have we no mercy? No kindness for our fellow man or woman in need?

Nahhh. We farm like everyone else does! Money always comes easy to some of us; we get online sometimes specifically to run our route of dailies or crafting to make ends meet. Or we might be virtual entrepreneurs and find an unexploited fresh market to expand our wallets quickly. Tobold has a rune business, I have a missile business and I’m sure you have your own type of revenue stream. Whatever it is we find ways and means to make enough money to sustain ourselves. We look at our accounts and feel confident only to end up looking down on someone just because YOU BEGGED IN PUBLIC CHAAATT! @.@!!!

Granted some can be very annoying and sometimes downright offensive. I remember one of the ploys in Ogrimmar was someone opening trade to you and saying, “gold plz.” Eww…no…stopbeggin’ and have a fresh /ignore while you’re at it. Still here!?!?! Be gone, go away, shoo! How lazy can someone be? Well maybe they are role-playing a beggar (yeah ok sure). So how does the compassion I feel in real life differ from my virtual life?

Virtuality is set up so you can make money instantly. Sign on to new game: Level 1. Go outside, bop something on the head with your level 1 sword and sell whatever it drops for you when it dies. Take that back to Joe Blow NPC and sell it for whatever “The Code Gods” deem it is worth and walk away with more money as you started. Rinse twice and repeat. MMORPG’s have built in jobs and usually the economies are a joke, such as the economy in Warhammer. Economies are the glue that bond some online communities together and if they aren’t fully developed can break a game. :::cough:::War:::cough:::Hammer:::cough:::

I don’t understand how someone can have the finances to own the pc or console to play a mmorpg. Have the money to buy the game (considering you are not playing a free-to-play) and afford the monthly fee if there is one and not have the sense to JUST GO KILL SOMETHING! Virtual economics couldn’t be easier to get ahead. It’s not like you have to work to keep a roof over your head or feed a family of four, we just need enough to buy the next (insert paper doll slot here). If we don’t have the money then oh well; go out with our level 60 sword and bop something on the head until it dies … blah, blah, blah. You get the idea – rinse twice and repeat.

In virtual economies many of the same real-space rules of finance apply. Words like: Saving, supply, demand, sell, buy and labor all have a place in our vocabularies. If you want something then work for it by saving your money and (labor) grind out the gold the old fashioned way. I am an IGF: Italian Gold Farmer. If I want something bad enough I will sit there and kill whatever I can make the most on until I get what I want. Good old fashioned hard work, determination and stick-to-it-ness never hurt anybody. That is why when someone asks for money in public chat the roof caves in on them. Because each and every person on that server has at one time or another had to work for something and no one feels that they deserve anything given to them.

My advice for someone even remotely thinking about asking for money in public chat: Just don’t do it. If you are really short a few bits then go do a quick quest or sell something. If only it was that easy in real life, I would be out in the field right now whackin’ away at something and it would probably solve the world’s economic crisis. However, if I went out and killed some wolves in the wild I would end up getting arrested for trespassing on someone’s land. “I’m telling you, Your Honor I was on a quest and the farmer told me to kill five wolves and come back!” Times have changed and we don’t need to kill animals for their fur to survive anymore, instead it goes on rich women’s backs. That is another tirade entirely.

For the rich enchanter or the billionaire ship captain: it doesn’t hurt to pay it forward a little bit now and then. I am sure that someone has helped you out with something in your history that your readily couldn’t afford. Something that had changed your game experience just a tiny bit – think back and pay it forward.

Until then…

Play safe,

Frank