Content sellers and Party Finder

[Purrfectstorm]

Or they'll join and ruin a PF group with their inability to handle the content.



Only the top 1% of players can consider themselves in the "competitive tier" of raiding. The only competition there, is competing for server/world first. If you're buying a run from a group, you're not even close to "competing".

Players that are buying runs can't win with you. If they suck and try to get better, they're ruining the PF group but if they buy content clears, they might later decide to try to do it legit and then ruin PF group again. This mentality irritates me because the people that talk this way are clearly motivated by the very competitive nature you're saying only the top 1% possesses - to keep "lesser" players content locked so you can be all "Har har har, I'm better than you!"

Like it or not, this does not make for a good game. If players can't clear content via winning or buying runs, they won't play, and a game of just the hardcore "elite" won't last very long. There's room for both types of players and the players who buy runs aren't affecting you negatively at ALL LOL

2 additional points:

1) This top 1% at the competitive tier that you mention - well how many people do you think would admit they're NOT in this competitive tier?

which brings me to...

2) Competition is about more than ability it's about mentality. Let's say a casual player buys a run and gets some new shiny piece of gear for it. They obviously know full well that they can't really compete with someone who can clear the content without buying it (although as a side tangent this often has more to do with who you know, last I checked instances require a competent party not just one individual). However, buying it allows them to not fall too far behind their competitive peers who may ridicule them for not having a fight unlocked or having obtained a certain piece of gear.

TL;DR Just admit you want players you think are weaker to be stuck behind you so that you can feel superior, don't try to hide behind the argument that buying runs is immoral.

[kidvideo]

Answer this Mr strawman: How would buying penta melded ilvl 90 gear help you if you cannot dodge landslides at all?

That's 1 mechanic from 1 trial. If they don't have skill, luck may keep them alive. If they die, the group may succeed. But melded gear & even the Echo can undeniably help someone pass their objective.

By your argument, the only difference between an FC that carries an inexperienced member & a merc party is the exchange of gil. The inexperienced will die in an FC group yet they will still advance, same as a merc group. They may never care to learn the mechanic. There is no real difference, yet one is legit to you & the other isn't. That's your opinion.

Same with the DoH & DoL classes crafting & melding relics. Do it yourself or buy it from MB. Personally, I leveled my DoH's & DoL's to gather my mats, craft & meld my own relic. But I have nothing against someone who doesn't have the time to invest like I did. Pointing our similarities here doesn’t make it invalid.

You can wear you "no merc" badge of personal "honor" proudly. But for those who don't have the time to invest in the game, don't have FC's or reliable & experienced FC's, & are unable to pass the content with DF or PF... merc groups may be their only option.

[PixelPirate]

I wouldn't mind at all except for the predictable number of players who buy merc "help" are doing so with gil that they bought from RMT's. Mercs usually charge prices that people can only afford if they bought gil. I mean who has that much gil, but not enough skill or patience to get the content done with friends? Well the answer is logical -- gil buyers, lazy or spoiled, gil buyers.

[Purrfectstorm]

I wouldn't mind at all except for the predictable number of players who buy merc "help" are doing so with gil that they bought from RMT's. Mercs usually charge prices that people can only afford if they bought gil. I mean who has that much gil, but not enough skill or patience to get the content done with friends? Well the answer is logical -- gil buyers, lazy or spoiled, gil buyers.

How did players get the gil to buy i90 pentamelded gear for T6-9 right off the bat? The answer is obvious of course: buying gil! (it has nothing to do with the major gil sinks being crafting/melding or buying merc runs i.e. players who can't craft/meld gear have gil lying around to buy it and the players that can craft/meld gear have gil lying around to buy merc runs... hmm can't be that at all!)

[Purrfectstorm]

If people are out there buying runs, elite gear becomes more common plus nobody knows that your gear was earned by your great skill. How will others know to bow to you?! This is indeed a great problem facing many players. Fortunately, all they must do is attack the morality of using the buying runs method. If the arguments fail against the method itself, you can always assume that there is something immoral about acquiring the gil to use the method.

Nobody is accusing Bluebird/Tonberry/Mindflayer minion owners of gil buying. How very interesting...

[kidvideo]

Nothing beats out-right outrage like hypocritical outrage.

[Raxion]

snip

It has nothing to do with keeping people behind me, competition, feeding my ego, or whatever you assume it to be. It's about people who are incapable of progressing through the content, paying their way through it. Instead of trying to learn an encounter with an FC, they just pay for the win, and progress on to even more challenging content that they're even less prepared for.

I openly admit that I'm not part of the top 1%. Nor do I want to be. I'm not saying that players should be indefinitely content locked either. I'm saying that players should work to overcome the challenging parts of the game, not just pay 400k and skip it. Why even play at all if you're just going pay for content clears? You're not even playing the game anymore, you're just paying other people to play it for you.

As for your TL;DR, you really shouldn't make such strong assumptions about someone that you know nothing about. You know what they say about assuming.

[Purrfectstorm]

It has nothing to do with keeping people behind me, competition, feeding my ego, or whatever you assume it to be. It's about people who are incapable of progressing through the content, paying their way through it. Instead of trying to learn an encounter with an FC, they just pay for the win, and progress on to even more challenging content that they're even less prepared for.

I openly admit that I'm not part of the top 1%. Nor do I want to be. I'm not saying that players should be indefinitely content locked either. I'm saying that players should work to overcome the challenging parts of the game, not just pay 400k and skip it. Why even play at all if you're just going pay for content clears? You're not even playing the game anymore, you're just paying other people to play it for you.

As for your TL;DR, you really shouldn't make such strong assumptions about someone that you know nothing about. You know what they say about assuming.

Ok, serious question then, why do you care about players paying for content wins then? I get that you don't think they should do it and I get why you don't think they should do it. I just want to know what your personal stake in the discussion is. Fair?

[Raxion]

snip

Truthfully, I find myself more annoyed with the people selling the runs than the people buying them. The higher FCs use the gil from these runs to gear their members with the HQ crafted/melded gear. This helps their group clear the harder content, but hurts the ones they sell to. If you're someone struggling with a certain encounter, and you see someone selling clears of said encounter, you're going to be very tempted to give in and just pay for it.

People that pay for runs just don't realize that they're only depriving themselves of the entire reason we all log in to play the game at all. To join a group of friends and take on the challenges together is the entire point of an MMORPG. If you're paying other people to clear encounters that you're not yet able to beat, why even bother with the game at all? You're only taking a bad situation and making it worse.

[Zaels]

Nobody is accusing Bluebird/Tonberry/Mindflayer minion owners of gil buying. How very interesting...

Maybe because treasure map hunting takes no skill, is pure RNG based, and is something anyone can do?

That's not really a good analogy.