Marketplace Item Gifting Now Available!

Kaisha@Permafrost wrote:

A bit off-topic, but have you taken a trip back to 2008 in your hottub time machine? Buying mythicals is completely irrelevant, and you don't have to raid to get the buffs and something for your appearance slot; you're not even making a good strawman argument there.
My personal opinion is that SOE should quit dancing around all this and make all of the servers "extended", allow players to gift SC and be done with it. They've been trying to boil the proverbial frog slowly here, but all it does is cause more freakout amongst the players. Do it all at once, let people get the "OMG! I'm so quitting!" posts out of their system and be done with it.

What I'd love to see is a "trade in" opportunity. For instance, I have a bucketload of cherry grove furniture I don't use, because the later sets fit my decor better. I'd love to be able to "trade in" that furniture for a percentage of its original SC amount. SOE wouldn't be losing any money, because I already purchased the items once, and I'll be spending the SC received again.

Just a thought...

Streppoch@Guk wrote:

or all those extra petmorph wands I have now that they changed them to unlimited and attunable(great change but now...). If I could only gift those extras I stocked up on before that are still unattuned to my alts on other accounts that would be great.

Arandar@Everfrost wrote:

A thousand times THIS! Let's just get this over with. They should have taken the whole game to the Extended model in the first place. Grant existing subscribers all the things that Gold subscriber still have to pay for and move on.

They'd screw themselves going fully extended and they know it.

Arandar@Everfrost wrote:

You're missing a part of my comment : " That last part was sarcasm btw .. yes, I would like to have it but since I'll never raid, I'll just never have it and I'm fine with that. "
I never said it was a good argument .. it was merely sarcasm and you're right it's not even very good sarcasm. I don't really care. Basically, nothing SOE does anymore really surprises me.
Disgusts me, annoys me and occassionally pisses me off but doesn't surprise me. I have no doubt they will eventually put up Myths because they'll rationalize it as being something someone can do already in game (yes, guilds have been selling Myths since the 1st month they came out) and the item isn't as valuable as when it first came out and will be less so every Xpac that advances the level cap.
Oh, and of 'course because they had lots of requests for it to be added. Can't forget that little catch phrase they always pull out when they add in something that weirdly gets a lot of negative attention despite the many requests for it.
(Probably not any better sarcasm but give me a break! I'm juggling Thankgiving dinner prep, cleaning & heroes' quests farming .. not to mention trying to catch a puppy before she piddles on my nice clean floor .. again ..)

Arandar@Everfrost wrote:

Seriously this piecemeal method of doing things is costing more customers in the long run. Do it and be done with it!

Cant we all just git along? Buy some station cash and sell mounts in game for plat Buy some LoN boosters and sell em in game for plat....see a pattern? (Working as intended)


Oh! BTW whats a good station cash to plat ratio??

Might I make a suggestion here? SOE says they have had numerous requests from people to be allowed to gift things. I don't doubt that. The Frostfell Backpack, the "handy" servant (can't remember the name) a lot of the household furniture etc... It's all cute, and sure, it'd be nice to have it. But there's also concern over the potions, etc... THESE DO AFFECT GAMEPLAY (not much, but they do) ... I believe THOSE are what most people are having an issue with.
So. First off, allow the right to refuse the item. I've seen some people ask for this, and it's not really a bad idea. Or, make it like the mailbox. After 30 days, poof! Item goes back to the original purchaser no harm, no foul.
Now, make the items gifted NO TRADE, NO VALUE and HEIRLOOM. The recipient gets the item, can't sell it to make $$ off it, but is allowed to trade it with his other toons. Before people start off with "how can you gift it if it's no trade" ... most items from the Marketplace that I've seen are actually just 'placeholders' ... you have to click/equip or somehow interact with it to actually 'claim' the item. This shouldn't be too difficult.
You want to send someone the Ebony Bedroom set? Fine! It's great that you have the real world $$ for it, and I'm sure your friend will greatly appreciate it. You want to have someone send you $50 real cash via PayPal and you'll gift them with Tradeskill/XP potions so they can sell them on the vendor and make in-game $$? Yeah, I've got an issue with that.
Here's the thing. Wether I give you the Tradeskill/XP potion in-game via SC gifts or I give you $50 real money so you can add it to SC Marketplace and buy your own, the result is the same. Your character gets a Tradeskill/XP potion. BUT if it's your intent to turn around and sell that Tradeskill/XP poition in-game to boost your platinum, THAT'S an issue. But if the item is NO TRADE, you're stuck with it. If it's NO VALUE, no one will pay you for it. But, the plus is that the item is HEIRLOOM so if you don't want it for one toon, you can give it to another toon on your account.
Just thinking out loud here. Seems like this might be a solution worth looking into.

First I was thinking why not do as CCP have done and let people buy gametime codes and sell them on the ingame market for plat, but I think SoE should go just sell stationcash tokens that can be sold on ingame.

• Legal way to buy plat. (good and bad)
• Alternative way to buy marketplace items (with plat)

Now people can pay their subscription with plat (if game time can be bough on the marketplace nowadays) and people who might like something on the marketplace but don't want to pay real $$ can use plat instead.
Why feed illegal plat sellers when SoE can earn some $$ instead and also open up the marketplace for those who don't want to spend real $$.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me, as it seems the marketplace is here to stay.
The alternative is to make a ragequit post and go find another mmorpg free from such things.
I hope my fur is flameproof!!
Like some others said, do it already and either we quit and they stand with a dead game or they just earn more $$ and we play on until we get bored or find something new and shiny to play.
Squeek!

n/m

Sikaan@Butcherblock wrote:

You are confused on how this works. Every single item in the Marketplace is eitherNo-Trade or Heirloom (which is No-Trade but can be shared with other characters on the same account). It can not be turned around and sold for platinum wether you buy it or it is gifted.
What the Sky is Falling People are afraid of is that someone will tell another player that they will gift them a SC item if that person will give them in game plat for it. Its similar to those that sell LoN loot cards in game for platinum. IMO it should make some people happy because a big complaint I have seen since the Marketplace was brought in was that the items were neat but they could not obtain them without real money involved...well now they can. But someone will always complain about everything so they can shout to the air all they want. This was a good addition and I am glad for it.

Yeah. . Someone. .somewhere . . .will ALWAYS complain about SOMETHING. . . .and this just proves it. Normal people. .when given a gift, don't refuse it. . they accept it graciously weather they like it or not. I for one would be very upset if I gave a gift to sopmone and they refused it. . .weather it be ingame or in RL. And. .I would most likely NEVER get that person anything ever again.
With Christmas/Frostfell upon us. . . I think this is wonderful. . . .I have friends ingame that if I could afford to send them a gift and afford the postage to send it abroad . .like say to Belgium. . ..I would. . .but this IN GAME gifting is more feisable. . . and I can get them something that they mioght enjoy even if it is virtual.

Its more the hypocrisy of SOE against plat sales, unless facilitated by them.

quiarrah wrote:

If someone gave me a gift of a size small sweater, I'd exchange it at the store because I am almost 6' tall and do not feel like strangling myself with my clothes. If I gave my devout Baptist friend a pentacle necklace that I thought was gorgeous, I'm very sure she would thank me for the thought and either politely refuse it or return it to wherever I got it. Heck, I could make my girlfriend my favorite all-time dish, a cheesy chicken casserole, and she wouldn't eat a bite because she's allergic to dairy (as in hospital trip, not night on the can).
So yeah, people do refuse or return gifts for various reasons, usually differences of taste or thoughtlessness on the part of the gifter about the recipient's views or condition. Most Marketplace stuff isn't to everyone's tastes, and why make someone use up bank or house space holding onto something they don't like because the gifter thought it looked awesome? Some people steadfastly refuse to have anything to do with the Marketplace, and a friend who sent them a gift would be boorishly insulting their personal beliefs. And some things a gifter simply wouldn't or couldn't use - yeah, sending me a warg to ride might be a really great idea - if I didn't hate the way they drool and if I didn't already run faster than any mount in the game.
We can't regift SC stuff because it's no-trade, or at best heirloom. We can't exchange it in the store for an equivalent item or SC credit - if they wanted us to do that, they'd just make SC itself giftable. Which means the most reasonable option for getting rid of gifts we don't want would be returning them, so at least whoever sent them isn't out the money.
Unless you'd prefer the person you sent the Mermaid Scale Armor and matching Cloak just quietly delete them, thereby both wasting the money you spent then AND any future funds you might spend getting them more gifts, since they never told you they didn't like what you got them.

quiarrah wrote:

I worked with a Jehovah's Witness back in the 1980s. Very nice person, friendly, outgoing, popular. It was an office environment and there was a convention that on birthdays the person with the birthday bought everyone cake. And at Christmas there was the usual "Secret Santa" thing.
The Jehova's Witness couldn't accept any gifts because of her religion. She could give them, and did, but she couldn''t accept any in return. Everyone was fine with it.
I don't know if that's standard practice for JWs or just something specific to that time and place, but I offer it as an example of why it's unwise to make assumptions about how people might react to be offered a gift. There are obviously other problematic situations that don't take a huge imaginative leap to work out.
On the addition of Gifting to SC, I think it's an excellent idea. Over the years Mrs Bhagpuss and I have often passed each other gifts via the in-game mail and this just seems like a logical extension. It absolutely does need a "Refuse Gift" option, though.

This is in no way RMT. RMT by definition is real life money trading hands between players with one (in most cases) making a profit (Exchange Servers). What the market place is, is a cash shop with real life cash only going to SOE. As such, no RMT violation of the EULA is being done.
Can plat be exchanged in game for market place items with the gifting option? Sure. It could be done before as well. I have gone to the store and bought physical SC cards a few times and “gifted” the code on them via e-mail to guild members who have won contests. One could have done the same for ingame plat if they wanted to. So, what some say the devs said would not happen, has in fact been an available option since the SC cards were made available.
All the negative arguments here were doable two weeks ago. The new “auto-gifting” does not change anything. Aside from making the process easier.
Thanks SOE. This option will be put to good use in our guild (as well as for some public contests I am sure).

RogueSlayer wrote:

Er, not to burst your bubble...
But, whose definition is that?
Searching google, and I can't even find a definition for it.
And yes, making a process easier is *changing* something.
Also, Good luck making a profit on the Exchange anymore.

Vortexelemental@The Bazaar wrote:

"But, whose definition is that?"
"http://www.brighthub.com/video-game.../29884.aspx?p=2
RMT (Real Money Trade) - This is a category of online commerce that includes the buying and selling of game currency (gold, dil, influence, platinum, etc.), items, characters, powerlevelling services, etc. This is a highly controversial issue in the gaming world. Developers claim to be against it, and so do most players, and yet the market for RMT is over $1 billion USD worldwide.
http://www.metaboli.co.uk/gaming-di...tion-of-rmt.htm
RMT is the abbreviation of "Real Money Trading". In video games, it refers to the trading of virtual objects in real life, like on the world famous eBay site. Synonym of Virtual Economy. Professional players usually sell a lot of objects for real hard currency. This can be tolerated in some games, but is not always allowed.
Enough definitions or do you need the next 15 pages that should up also?
Going to the store and buying cards to give to someone else has nothing to do with it, do that all the time with my daughters - I am NOT exchanging plat in game becasue of this. does it happen, I am sure that it does - there is always someone out there willing to spend real earnings on virtual junk - that is just the qualities of the human race.

quiarrah wrote:

The dynamics here are different than RL gifting, however. When you give someone a gift in real life that they may not like, or have a need for, they're not stuck with it. They can return it, exchange it, or pass it along to someone else.
Here though, you have someone spending their real money on a virtual item (which some people take issue with in itself, but beyond that) - if the person has no need for it, they're basically stuck destroying the item... destroying that person's money. If a friend can't understand why their friend wouldn't want to destroy their money, or if a friend can't respect the wishes/opinions of another friend... well...

(This doesn't even touch on the whole possibility for (non-RMT) abuse or harassment that someone pointed out earlier.)


I have no doubt that this will be used as intended - friends giving gifts, all goes well. That doesn't mean that is the only way it will be used, or that there are no problems that may pop up (problems that could be solved with a "return" button or some other way to decline gifts - either from an individual or all people). It shouldn't be that hard to see beyond your own circumstances to realize that.