I don’t know (and no one will until it happens) that brokers would be empty because everything is in the LG system because if players aren’t buying with RMT then the sellers will have to take their stuff back out and put it back into the in-game brokers/AH. Supply and Demand, etc. I’m quite certain that regardless of all the “this is Vanguard, we’re old-school, we’re not going to tolerate RMT” brow-beating, greed will rule the day in the beginning and people will try to cash in and sell their wares. The real measure of the community will be in whether or not people stick to their guns or jump in and start buying.

You do have a point that not having an item that someone else does will not affect your game… But, how affected will you be when you browse through the broker and find only junk? How will you feel when you need an upgrade and the only option you have is to spend real cash on it? Not everyone is lucky enough to be a member of . Some people actually depend on the broker and would like to have items on there instead of for sale on LG.

It’s not about not having an item. It’s about not having a choice. As you say, they may not “win”, but, I promise, we will all “lose”.

If Item X only drops from Contested Boss Y then does the “average player” ever have a chance of seeing that item anyway??? Probably not. Is “contested loot” bound? If so, this particular argument is moot because bound items cannot be traded. If it is tradeable, then someone has to be seeing this content, killing Contested Boss Y, winning the roll for Item X then making a decision to sell it on the AH for a gold price or sell it on LG for a cash price. Will it sell at $50? Who knows? It’s not a Item Shop with set prices, it’s an RMT AH. Players set prices and players decide for themselves if they’re willing to pay that price. Pixels are only “worth” what someone is actually willing to pay, and the particular currency (cash or gold) doesn’t matter for that reality. But once again I’ll return to the point that someone else having Item X while I do not has no bearing whatsoever on my game. They don’t “win” nor do I “lose.”

Enjoy your gaming.

Only normally tradeable items can be used here. It’s not like we can roll a level 1 character and with a little cash equip him in APW gear.

People get so effing uptight about what other players do. Vanguard is a PvE game. There is no real competition nor is there equality in modern PvE.

Someone who plays all day every day will get to level cap before me. Does that affect my game? NO! Someone buys a level 50 character, so *poof* they’ve obviously gotten to level cap before me. Does that affect my game? NO! Even if someone was able to buy their APW gear (which they cannot) would that affect my game? NO! Would that affect the raider’s game? NO! They’ll still be raiding. They may feel anger or some emotion that their “work” or their “achievements” are now worthless, but that’s only because they have obviously put too much personal value on said “achievements” to begin with. Raiders tend to stick with their raid guild, so that means whatever some other player outside that guild does *has no effect whatsoever on them* so get over it.

What if I buy gold from some farmer? At least now I won’t be subject to identify theft and credit card fraud. What would I do with that gold? Probably buy a boat from a crafter, which *would* affect *my* game, giving me an extra toy to play with and extra travel options. Isn’t that putting the money right back into the economy? Or, what if the crafter puts his boat up for cash purchase rather than gold purchase in the AH? Now I’m literally paying the crafter for his “work.” What if the crafter pays cash for his ingredients? He still has to manually play/work to level his crafting to make those boats; you can’t buy status.

I think we all need to take a look at how often the word “work” comes up in these discussions, then consider what that final G on the end of the MMORPG acronym stands for…