Making money by playing a game

[Lopdo]

Hey guys, I would like to hear you opinion on one thing. I would like to make a game where players could make money by playing, to be more specific, by selling items they find/create to other players , just like diablo 3 is planning to do. The problem is that to make this work with real money (dollars) is beyond capability of indie developer or even smaller company, because problem with laws are enormous.

I had an idea how to go around this problem few days back. It is far from ideal solution, but it might work if enough people are wiling to try. Solution is using bitcoins instead of real money. If you never heard about it before, it is virtual, distributed currency that can be used (and is used) for fast, unmonitored international transaction. There is lot of place that accept bitcoins, even some games. And you don't have to pay any fees You can exchange it for real money in one of many exchange sites (not sure what is official name), for example https://mtgox.com/. Downside is that not everyone is using it and most people probably would not bother starting using just for the sake of one game.

What I would like to know is, did you hear about bitcoins before? would you use it in game? both for paying and getting paid. I think that model where I accept dollars as payment from player and pay in bitcoins to those who wish to withdraw money should be relatively easy to make (or at least doable)

[techgump]

Well, the game is good enough, but I still say just maybe.

[Lopdo]

I did not mean this game it most certainly won't be for VW, it doesn't make much sense

[Lopdo]

oh, I almost forgot... why maybe? is there something specific in this implementation that might make you not use it? or is it whole concept of making money by playing that doesn't agree with you?

[techgump]

I have not heard of bitcoins before. The bitcoins are a hang-up for me (tho now being enlightened on the subject, I like the concept very much).
As for hang-ups, for one, from a players perspective, it is not real cash per-say. If the bitcoin concept was popular and reliable enough however, my opinion would change. Even then tho, I don't play games to make money.
Second for you, investment capital for such an idea should you need it, may be more difficult to generate if you're relying on bitcoins to be successful.

But if it's your only shot at it this way, and you have a good game idea and the time to develop, I don't see why you would not try.

[Robomajor]

To me, it seems slightly confusing. Although, that may just be because I've stayed up all night.I have never heard of bitcoins before, and they seem fishy and make me feel uncomfortable.

[Lopdo]

good thing about bitcoins is that they are around long enough to be proven reliable, you can exchange them for real money anytime you want (although exchange rate varies more than is normal for other currencies) and they are opensource, so you can see how they work and how secure they are (very) if you understand underlying concept. But as you both pointed out, concept is new and many people don't trust them yet. This is the reason why I made this thread, to hear opinions of players that never encountered them.

I would like to increase awareness and popular game seems to be just the thing

[Awesome400]

I am a progamer so I already make money by playing games.

[Mexxor-Dinair]

I never heard of bitcoins before...
And i don't think it would work, because everyone would create things to sell them and if they never buy anything, nobody will get any of those bitcoins...

[Lopdo]

game would be designed in a way that would encourage buying stuff, imagine diablo game, you find some extra rare and powerful weapon and there will be dozens of players that would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it (extreme case, but it can happen and will happen if game is good/popular enough).

Same goes for creating stuff, imagine you find recipe for rare item, you start producing it and selling products for few bucks. If noone wants to buy it, you decrease price, if everyone wants it, you increase price. Free market mechanics in action.

Third case, you are mining some stuff (minerals, wood, whatever) that other people need, they have a choice, they can spend couple hours mining it themselves or pay few bucks to get it instantly from you.

Game would support both real money marketplace and ingame currency marketplace. It is up to you to decide where to sell your item