Barter
Latest
Twitter lets you tip creators with Ethereum
Twitter just made it easier to tip creators using Ethereum as well as services like Barter and Paytm.
Ten things to love and hate about Path of Exile
Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile officially launched last week after a long open beta. Like so many similar titles trailing in Blizzard's wake, it's a dungeon-crawly pseudo-MMO that skirts the boundary between sinking to "just another Diablo clone" and rising above the genre. Some journalists are praising it as Diablo II's rightful heir, while others are putting it aside in favor of their weatherbeaten copies of Titan Quest, which better satisfy their urge to click-click-click. The reality is usually somewhere in the middle of these extremes, but extremes are fun. So let's examine the top 10 things we love and hate about Path of Exile.
Turbine addresses DDO True Heart controversy
As the community protest over Dungeons & Dragons Online's True Heart controversy pushes past its third day, Turbine responded with a forum post regarding the key issue. The studio said that due to testing and feedback, it will be reducing the cost of the True Hearts of Wood planned for Issue 20 that are at the core of the sit-in protest. "The prices on Lamannia are not final," Senior Producer Erik Boyer wrote. "Inspired by the Lamannia feedback, the Heroic Heart of Wood will be greatly reduced from the price displayed in the bartershop today. We'll be looking at your additional feedback and how players play through sagas, and adjust the costs appropriately. We expect the average player to, upon reaching the minimum level requirement, spend additional hours to obtain a Heart of Wood –- but never hundreds of hours. Boyer also said that the Twelve barter NPC will continue to sell Hearts of Wood in Issue 20. Players who were upset at the original changes to the acquisition of the item have been staging an "Occupy Stormreach" protest on one of the city's bridges. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
Valve economist examines TF2's 'sophisticated' barter system
We're not sure why Valve's economist is concerned with the finances of prestigious Covenant Elites in Halo, but the first publication from Yanis Varoufakis on Valve Economics is about exactly that. Only he spelled "Arbiter" wrong like 20 times.Oh, he's talking about "Arbitrage," the practice of capitalizing on the price difference between two or more markets, and its place in the Team Fortress 2 economy. That makes more sense, barely, but between the specialized equations and graphs Varoufakis offers some plain insight into the world of digital economies.For example, Varoufakis calls the TF2 barter economy "peculiarly sophisticated," noting that Steam's support system allows players to side-step the introduction of currency, operating solely on a "double coincidence of wants." This is something that civilizations for centuries have not been able to support for any protracted period of time, and its complexity is the reason we now have money, rather than things to trade with.The isolated nature of digital economies lends itself to intriguing happenings such as that one, as Varoufakis explains in great detail, we assume because he's thrilled to be able to calculate the exchange rates of laser guns and hats rather than boring old dollars and cents.
The Daily Grind: Are you in favor of alternative currency?
It seems to me that more and more MMO developers are utilizing alternative types of currency in our games. Whether they're tokens, barter scraps, or golden leaves, we're now having to chase down all manner of currencies to get the goodies we want. Our subject for discussion today: Is this a good thing or not? On one hand, I can understand that alternative currency helps to limit the amount of damage that gold sellers and farmers can do, and it provides incentives for players to participate in certain zones or activities. On the other hand, it feels as though these alternative currencies are cluttering up our bags, confusing our minds, and devaluing the standard currency in the game. So looking at your favorite games, are you in favor of barter systems and tokens as an alternative to gold, silver and copper? Should every game have a barter wallet if so? Or do you wish that devs would cut it out and stick with one type of money as the standard? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Lawbringer: Mailbag 2.0
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Running parallel to the games we love and enjoy is a world full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play? I love getting emails with questions in them! Incidentally, people also love mailbags. Right? Right? Of course you do. Also, based on my images, can you tell that I've been leveling through Grizzly Hills? After the last two weeks of gold selling/hacking and crazy currency discussions, I found my email littered with questions that I had neglected. At the end of last month I also ran a mailbag feature, but some of these questions were so fun and provoking that I had to answer them publicly. One interesting thing about legal questions and answers is that you're obviously not getting the whole answer, because there are a million and one factors that go into questions and answers in the legal world. Rather, you're getting the beginnings of a concept that you might want to further your knowledge of. Fun times! Learning is fun! Let's learn together. If you have a question for the column, please email me at mat@wowinsider.com, and include a subject with "Lawbringer Question" or something easily categorized/sorted like that!
Mexican government swapping Xbox / PC for gang's weaponry
Here's an interesting one. It appears that a newly-elected mayor is trying desperately to restore order to the "notorious inner-city barrio of Tepito," but rather than raiding gang hangouts and throwing 'em all in the slammer, the Mexican government is looking to reward them. In a presumably last ditch effort to curb gunfighting, officials are offering up computers ( reportedly worth $769) to gunslingers who give up a "high-caliber weapon such as a machine gun," while folks coughing up smaller artillery will be blessed with an Xbox console. Notably, the effort is already seeing minor "success," as some 17 guns were turned in on the program's launch day alone. Look, we know it's a hard choice between gaming and booze (and hair, for that matter), but we seriously doubt that turning citywide bullies into hackers and couch potatoes is the ideal solution here.
Washington Post on Apple and product placement
The Washington Post has an interesting article about all the 'free' product placement Apple has apparently received in TV shows and movies in recent years. The article states that Apple doesn't pay for all that publicity, but the company won't discuss how their products end up helping CSIs track down their suspect or how the iPod helps employees of The Office land a punchline.However, the article goes on to mention that product placement is often "arranged through some kind of barter in which the show provides exposure in exchange for products or services" - doesn't that mean the placement is still being paid for?Semantics aside, let's hope the Hollywood writers and Apple's tech evangelist don't go too overboard; the producers of NBC's The Office "pride themselves on being real" and seem to understand proper placement: "Indeed, actors on the show's drab workplace set do not use snazzy Apple computers, but rather black, generic desktop PCs." Hooray for the real world.[via Slashdot]
