Goldfarming/Leveling

Now this is kind of a follow up to the last blog. When we had read about gold farming and discussed the topic in class, I felt that I had a sufficient understanding of what to hear and expect. I had come to know what gold farming was through playing a once very popular MMO by the name of "Diablo 2." In my personal experiences with the game, there had always been what is known as "spam bots" that joined games and channels only to relay information about the prices of items/gold that they were selling on their particular website. As a player, I always felt that it was almost shameful if you will, to ever buy a product online only with real money, only to play a video game. Then we discussed a particular individual by the name of "ChillyBubbly" (I think) who powerleveled her WOW character all the way up to 40 for a certain amount of money. If I were told of her actions initially before class, I would have said she was cheating the people online who do play the game, and cheating herself of the time you have to put in, to get the results at the end. After hearing some of the reasoning from fellow classmates for what she decided to partake in her actions, I found that maybe gold farming and powerleveling isn't the shameful act it is portrayed out to be. Becoming the best character in a realm requires hundreds of hours in front of a glaring computer screen, repeating thousands of repetitive tasks, so as it was so nicely put in class "Gaming is all about time, and if you can pay for your time, then its no different then actually gaming itself." Personally, I still have that gaming bias inside of me, where you have to pay your dues to the video game, in order to get such outstanding results, but I feel that in this specific media of gold farming/powerleveling actually dis enables one's personal identity. I know that my who blog site is about enabling one's personal identity, but the more I think about it, the more I can see that these acts take away from our identities. Not only are you having other people build your character, you are excluding yourself from the full gaming experience. The way I look at it is, if you were trying to become a better basketball player, you could practice by yourself or hire a personal trainer of some sort. Either option you take, you still have to put in the time for yourself regardless of the kind help around you. It all comes down to how much time you put in to get better, and its a very gradual process that takes dedication and hard work. There is no amount of money that can instantly make you better without putting the time, and I feel the same way about gold farming and powerleveling. Sure in MMO's money can buy you the premium character, but you don't experience the highs and lows of the game for yourself. It is said that the most important part of a journey is not the start of the end, but the journey itself, That's exactly how I feel about gold farming and powerleveling. So you have the best character possible and you have everything at your disposal, so now what? You kill some monsters here and there, brag to some friends, but you didn't see the gradual improvement of you character throughout the game, all you have is this elite character that you cannot relate to at all. I just look at it like, why buy the game if you're not going to play it the way it was meant to be played. That is what I really feel disables one's personal identity, the lack relation you share with your fellow players. You don't know what it feels like to do the monotonous tasks, or the near-impossible missions, all you know is what it feels like to be the best without putting in any of the time.