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The Lawbringer: Fighting the gold fight -- how the strategy must change
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? Last week on The Lawbringer, I introduced you to the world as it is, a battlefield littered with the corpses of stolen accounts, inconvenienced players, and a priceless reputation on the line. This week, we look at concrete solutions to actually helping the gold selling system wind down and remove many of the hurdles that instant gratification with purchasing gold sets up for Blizzard. You might have mixed and angry reactions to what I'm going to talk about, but do give me the benefit of the doubt. I think being open-minded might win this fight. So what can Blizzard do besides selling its own currency? Here are my suggestions for the first steps that Blizzard needs to take in the new war against gold selling.
The Lawbringer: Fighting the gold fight -- the world as it is
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? The Lawbringer has in the past been used as a personal launching pad for some of the more out-there or esoteric ideas that I have in regards to the World of Warcraft and virtual currency in general. You guys seem to love it, and there's always plenty of great discussion about these ideas. For the next two weeks, I want to introduce you to my thoughts on how Blizzard should be attacking gold sellers and, at the same time, working to remove some of the content gates that gold has erected in the MMO we all love. This week, we will set up the story and the history of it all, and next week, we will talk about hard conclusions. Gold selling isn't going away as long as fungible and liquid currency exists in MMOs. Gold is "fungible" because it can be exchanged for something exactly like it, at a 1:1 ratio -- gold is gold. Gold is also liquid, as it can be used and exchanged for other goods or services. Short of Blizzard's getting rid of this type of currency altogether or selling its own currency for a cheaper price than gold sellers can furnish it, people will sell gold and items that can be traded. Blizzard has shown that it has the guts to go after gold selling as an industry but has so far failed in scope to bring down the snake that slowly poisons everything it has worked to build. As sellers become hackers, and as hacking chips away at the good will, reputation, and stability of the game we love to play and the company we love to patronize, there has never been a more urgent time to fight the gold fight. The strategy needs to change from focusing on the people who sell gold to a combination of those that sell and the gold itself.
WoW Moviewatch: WoW Celestial Steed - Public Service Announcement
Bloodvein is taking a swing at satire and WoW social commentary with WoW Celestial Steed - Public Service Announcement. This video can feel a little frantic as it moves between three different scenes. At first, you have a gnome dutifully begging his mom for the money to buy the star pony. The second scene includes an odd blood elf wearing a gnome mask makes some claims and statements about the steed. Then, lastly, Amazing Horse by Weebls makes a return to machinima, courtesy of Bloodvein. This video is obviously meant to be commentary on the ongoing discussion about whether owning as Celestial Steed qualifies its rider as being a "newb." I'm not sure if Bloodvein is trying to respond to specific other videos, although there have been a few released like Nub Tales episode 1. It's awesome to see machinimators taking part in community dialogue in a way that informs the player base, expressing opinions and feelings about things happening in the game. Hopefully, we'll see more of this kind of thing in the future. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Nub Tales ep. 1: Celestial Steed (the tears of noobs)
Work warning: there is some mild cursing in this video. We all suspected that the star pony might have ulterior motives. Yumfries has blown the lid off the conspiracy with Nub Tales ep. 1: Celestial Steed (the tears of noobs). In a moment of brilliant revelation, we learn that the star pony is not made up of simply stars, but also filled with the tears of noobs. The video then goes on to reveal a dastardly plan as clever as any I have ever heard. I think this is a fun video from Yumfries, but also fills an important community role. This is a player responding to something that's happened in the game, but also the community follow-up after that action. It's also poking fun at the vast overreaction among the WoW community about a horse. Of course, that whole thing just seemed like a snowball to me, rolling down a mountain. It started off as a blip and turned into this gigantic controversy that we've all since forgotten about. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
Phat Loot Phriday: Celestial Steed
How could I not cover the Celestial Steed for this week's Phat Loot Phriday? My Starry Pony has absolutely been the talk of the town ever since it went on sale this week. I went into a Warsong Gulch today . . . and my entire team was riding one. What's so cool about My Starry Pony? First, it's full of stars. I mean, look at that. It's made of stars. Of course, this was a model technique made popular by Algalon, who's all about warning the Titans that we mortals have totally run amuck. But the design is absolutely awesome. It's made of stars! What else is cool about My Starry Pony? You never have to buy another mount. It scales from level 1 all the way through level 80. (No way to know yet whether or not the mount will do whatever cool trick mounts do in Cataclysm.) The Celestial Steed will automatically become the context appropriate mount for your character, moving at the appropriate speed according to your level and training. It will even switch between being a normal ground mount for old Azeroth, or an airborne princess in Northrend. You will only need a single action bar button for your mount -- it'll fly or fall appropriate to the area you're in. The last thing that's cool about it is that it shows up in your mailbox, even for character you've created. That makes it the single, easiest mount to get. Warning, though: you do still have to train the riding skill, just like you would have to with a normal, mundane, boring, not-full-of-stars mount. While requiring the training skill means that the Steed doesn't vastly change gameplay, its one-size-fit-all nature definitely makes it the most convenient mount, especially since you won't ever need to spend gold on another mount. (At least, not until Cataclysm changes the rules again.) All you have to do to get it is head over to the Blizzard Store, and pick one up for 25 bucks. Did I mention it's full of stars? %Gallery-33600%
Win a pony from WoW.com
Is $25 too steep a price for you to pay for a pony made of stars? $10 too much for a train-smashing vanity pet? No worries, because we're giving away two of each right here, right now on WoW.com. To enter, leave a comment on this post between now and the same time tomorrow. To be specific, the contest ends on April 16th at 5:00 PM EDT. Winners must be legal residents of the United States or Canada (except Quebec). You may only enter once, and winners must be 18 years of age or older. Four winners will be chosen at random. The prizes up for grabs are: Two Celestial Steeds worth $25 each Two Lil' XTs worth $10 each Click here for complete official rules.
