More Schadenfreude: Rise and Fall of IGE

[Venkman]

Ok, so the Wired Article (a bud posted on our guild form) is called the "Decline and Fall of IGE", but the first half is about the founding and rise of both Brock Pierce and IGE. So I'm changing the title. Dammit.

Good read. Great for Schadenfreude. The only part I didn't agree with was this (on the last page).

But by then it was clear that Pierce's undoing had also been the result of uncertainties about the nature of virtual goods in general

I don't think it was that. Rather, it was Blizzard. And I've said this before so apologize for repeating (on the way off chance anyone remembers the earlier conversation we had about this).

WoW set up an interesting inherent contradiction for IGE et al:

• It was the biggest game even within the first few months so was the biggest market.
• But it was also from the single biggest anti-RMT company in the space. I do love the part about SOE "turning them down flat". Heh, yea so they could internalize it. 

Basically, IGE needed to be where the market was but they were up against a hostile market leader.

A patchwork of relatively small-ish MMO publishers are not going to ever work together close enough to drive away an IGE. However, one big monsterously successful company with profit to burn certainly could. That is what I think doomed IGE. When they can't play in the game the biggest percentage of "everyone" is in (and based on a game style that is most conducive to RMTing), the writing is on the wall.

[apocrypha]

I also think that the hostility shown towards IGE by a large part of the gaming community in general had a part to play.

Everyone I know, every gaming forum I've ever frequented, every player who's ever expressed an opinion *hated* IGE. Sure, some of the individuals themselves may have just been me-tooing if they were RMT patrons themselves, but the hostility was/is so widespread that even their own customers displayed it.

Good fucking riddance I say and yet another feather in Blizzard's cap.

[Trippy]

Are there no more gold farmers in WoW? Or is it just that IGE is no longer what it was (as described in the article)? Blizzard might be responsible for the fall of IGE but if there's still a triving gold farmer business in WoW then really all Blizzard did is move control of that business to other people (like Yantis).

[Modern Angel]

Are there no more gold farmers in WoW? Or is it just that IGE is no longer what it was (as described in the article)? Blizzard might be responsible for the fall of IGE but if there's still a triving gold farmer business in WoW then really all Blizzard did is move control of that business to other people (like Yantis).

5k gold for 60 dollars. I got my first tell in nearly a nearly a year the other day. That was the rate. 5k gold for 60 dollars. That's your answer as to whether it's thriving or not.

[Ratman_tf]

Are there no more gold farmers in WoW? Or is it just that IGE is no longer what it was (as described in the article)? Blizzard might be responsible for the fall of IGE but if there's still a triving gold farmer business in WoW then really all Blizzard did is move control of that business to other people (like Yantis).

I certainly haven't seen any gold spam in game for a while. Lots of web ads for leveling services and gold sellers, but I wonder just how much business they do nowadays.

[Venkman]

Are there no more gold farmers in WoW? Or is it just that IGE is no longer what it was (as described in the article)? Blizzard might be responsible for the fall of IGE but if there's still a triving gold farmer business in WoW then really all Blizzard did is move control of that business to other people (like Yantis).

You are correct. And as long as games let players trade goods, there will be RMT. That's why this thread was only about IGE and the interest in what has become of them. We're now back to generic rage against a practice rather than ire for the biggest name in it Kinda like MMOs before Mythic made itmorethan just SOE vs "MMO".

[shiznitz]

All these MMOs are cracking down. I just got busted in EQ2 for buying some plat. I got a warning and all my plat wiped, even the plat I had before the buy. That should bring cheer to the RMT haters.  It also shows that the companies are targeting the buyers which is what they should be doing. I like playing EQ2 more than I need some plat so that warning "cured" me by costing me $75. Luckily it is easy to earn pp in EQ2 these days and I don't need to buy anything.

[damijin]

Keywords for this article include: homosexual pedophilia, extradition, Spanish SWAT, purchase of Liberian diplomat status, prison, 6-boxing, gold farming, child actor, Sinbad.

Seriously, most entertaining piece of journalism ever.

[UnSub]

Are there no more gold farmers in WoW? Or is it just that IGE is no longer what it was (as described in the article)? Blizzard might be responsible for the fall of IGE but if there's still a triving gold farmer business in WoW then really all Blizzard did is move control of that business to other people (like Yantis).

I think this is more the case. IGE was the big name, well-known, first out the blocks gold farming org that everyone knew. Now its been spread world wide, the RMTers have gotten smarter and faster and there are more games to work across. Plus they stay in other countries where it is harder to get to them from a legal standpoint.

[Simond]

Plus gold falls out of the sky in WoW nowadays.