Global Chat: September 19-25, 2011

You touch on something that's always troubled me about all MMORPGs, and that is the overwhelming number of player-hero adventurers to NPC civilians.

It's part of the "you're not special because there are 300 other heroes right next to you" syndrome, and also (for me anyway) it's a little bit distracting that I and a thousand other player-hero adventurer-types seem to be fighting to protect anywhere from two dozen to two hundred residents. In Champions Online especially, it sometimes seems like the whole city is actually populated by villains and gang members, and the wandering civilians are there by mistake.

Time brings up the bigger problem of distance, specifically that MMOs often give you a truncated world with just the important landmarks and a token amount of space separating them. WoW's an especially notable offender in this regard.

How do you explain sailing between contents in an instant when lore states the journey takes weeks? Three options: You don't, and you avoid discussing the subject in character; you only roleplay wherever your character is supposed to be and visit other places for game purposes out of character; or you play a character with magical, instantaneous travel methods at his or her disposal.

There's also the issue of how blindingly fast characters' untreated wounds heal. If you want your character to get injured for roleplay, you have to just completely pretend. There's no support in game mechanics at all. That's not really a problem, but it is a little weird when you start thinking about it.

On the subject of credit: I personally prefer game cards. It's a means to control my urges and it provides a nice level of security. I could set up another account, perhaps a light debit card with my own set limit as a precaution (I know a friend who did this for eBay), but I haven't yet.

I am not a parent, but I would also think it is easier to control your kid's spending habits with such cards, as opposed to whipping out a credit card and seeing your child going crazy in the game-item shop. Well, if you want your name in the paper or be interviewed on TV about the horror you found, it's one way to get a portion of your 15 seconds of fame.

As to use in Asia: I can't speak directly for Korea, but I know a bit of Taiwan and have heard a bit about Japan in this regard. I've been told that it is very hard to open up a checking account in these countries, and I assume that may apply to Korea. I think I have also heard this in other non-Asian countries: hard to start a checking account. It's a bit of government control, in that you have to make so much money and prove you are worthy of having such an account with a bank (savings accounts don't seem to apply).

This kinda weeds out those who can't financially support such an account. Of course, this also applies to some credit cards (banks the world over like to see you are a safe financial risk to cover themselves). It's easier to get an American Express compared to a VISA overseas, but the restrictions are about the same as here (they are harder and you have to pay off your bill monthly or close to it).

For the average citizen, especially the greater percentage of players, such credit cards are not so easy for them or their parents to get. Again, not saying it is impossible, since I know many with credit cards, but there are more "hoops to jump through" to get a card and many just opt out and rely on cash and storing/withdrawing money in a standard bank account/savings account. So game cards and even pre-paid debit cards are popular overseas.