Sold to the stupidest bidder!

January 14, 2002 7:07 PM

Sold to the stupidest bidder! A level 50 (highest) Ranger class character from the online game Dark Age of Camelot sold by owner on eBay for $3,150 US. Wow.
posted by bschoate (26 comments total)

I don't get it-- I thought working your way UP to level 50 was part of the game. In any case, I doubt the seller recovered all their investment if you take the 'time is money' factor into account.
posted by bschoate at 7:07 PM on January 14, 2002

Heh! How do you spell dbum again?
Ah hah ha haaaaaaah!!
Funny!
posted by davidgentle at 7:08 PM on January 14, 2002

Uh < *blush*> "d,u,m,b".
posted by davidgentle at 7:09 PM on January 14, 2002

He's probably like a 16 year old kid, in which case he probably profited hella big.
posted by dopamine at 7:10 PM on January 14, 2002

And here's the ol' MasterCard punchline:

Retail copy of Dark Age of Camelot: $39.99
Level 50 Ranger as purchased on eBay: $3,150.00
Your Mom's reaction to the MasterCard statement: Priceless
posted by bschoate at 7:22 PM on January 14, 2002

Uh, isn't this a virtual item, or am I missing something?
posted by DBAPaul at 7:22 PM on January 14, 2002

I've seen sets of armor go for $6,000 and characters for $5,000 in Asheron's Call. It's not that out of the ordinary.

The truth is, some people have lots of money to burn and want to jump into the game as the biggest and baddest.
posted by Xkot at 7:58 PM on January 14, 2002

eBay buyer: Treasure Type Dumb.
posted by solistrato at 8:52 PM on January 14, 2002

That's crazy! Totally insane!!

I mean, it's not like it's Everquest or anything...
posted by rushmc at 9:08 PM on January 14, 2002

Umm, why is he a stupid bidder exactly?
posted by zekinskia at 9:40 PM on January 14, 2002

I sold my Ultima Online account for $1,500 a few years ago. I really got the money. It's the only time I've ever made a profit playing a video game and probably the most I've ever grinned.
posted by frenetic at 10:01 PM on January 14, 2002

People buy low MeFi account numbers too you know.
posted by Mark at 10:53 PM on January 14, 2002

I would be very surpised if this seller ever collects a cent, the buyer having no rating and all. I am going to send an email to the seller and see what happens. I will post again when a reply comes through.
posted by Eric Lloyd NYC at 11:16 PM on January 14, 2002

There was a point a couple years ago when the Everquest gold piece outvalued the Italian Lyra (RIP)... It's a great example of economics at work, its has value to people just as real as the value of currency, or a george foreman grill, or some incredibly common but arbitrarily "precious" metal.

The 50th level ranger is worth three thousand dollars because thats what was paid for it, ipso facto.
posted by malphigian at 11:26 PM on January 14, 2002

I play this game casually. There is a guy on the server I play on who bought a lvl 50 char for $550. There are some people who want to play the "end game" without doing the work to get there. It doesn't really bother me, but since the whole attraction to these games are the social aspects, I don't quite get it. Buying the account means you skipped the time spent with online friends getting to lvl 50 in the first place. If you are playing for game content, there are single player games that offer much more compelling, exciting gameplay for far less money (Wolfenstein, Halo).
posted by McBain at 11:45 PM on January 14, 2002

Isn't this kinda like high priced hacking, I mean I don
't think anything illegal is going on, but I can't help but think that this is a form of cheating, and that the charachter would be non transferable. Don't you have to agree to a "read me" or something? Anyway, Way too pricey for me.

-d
posted by demannu at 1:09 AM on January 15, 2002

Buying pointless crap like this is a complete waste of money, as well as buying small id's for this site - pull your head out of that troll and wizard ridden world and get a life.
Dont they have anything better to spend their money on?
posted by monkeyJuice at 2:15 AM on January 15, 2002

Lovely... I'm trying to scrape together just enough to get some dental work done, and people are spending thousands of dollars on RPG characters. Sigh....
posted by benjh at 4:52 AM on January 15, 2002

I want no one to judge how I spend my money, I will not judge how others spends theirs.
posted by Mick at 6:03 AM on January 15, 2002

Take a look at housing in Ultima Online. That market has been going strong for almost four years now. Castles regularly sell for $1,000 or more, and 7 x GM characters sell just as well.

Overall, the Ebay thing is looked down upon by developers, but for non powergamers who want to compete, this is their only option. Camping areas in game for hours at a time is not always viable, so some people go the easy route.

I don't agree with it, but I understand. Online games are like crack, and virtual items are just as valuable anything "real".
posted by Benway at 6:56 AM on January 15, 2002

Take a look at housing in Ultima Online. That market has been going strong for almost four years now. Castles regularly sell for $1,000 or more, and 7 x GM characters sell just as well.

Overall, the Ebay thing is looked down upon by developers, but for non powergamers who want to compete, this is their only option. Camping areas in game for hours at a time is not always viable, so some people go the easy route.

I don't agree with it, but I understand. Online games are like crack, and virtual items are just as valuable anything "real".
posted by Benway at 6:58 AM on January 15, 2002

It just seems silly. If you don't work our way up to level 50, aren't you likely to kill that character? A lot of these "experience level" things rely on the actual experience. If they don't, it sounds like a dumb game.

Now Toontown Online, that's a completely different story.. :)
posted by fnirt at 7:19 AM on January 15, 2002

as well as buying small id's for this site

The MeFi user number auction was done with an awareness that the money spent helped support the site. It's a little different than this, which is completely virtual.

I'm trying desperately not to editorialize.
posted by anildash at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2002

It's a little different than this, which is completely virtual.

virtual != not real
posted by rushmc at 10:05 PM on January 15, 2002

Pedantry points for you, rush. I stand corrected.
posted by anildash at 10:51 PM on January 15, 2002

..wasn't aware the money auctioned for the small ids benefited the site! my apologies -
posted by monkeyJuice at 1:55 AM on January 16, 2002