You've got to be kidding me... I could literally set this up in about 6 hours... although I wouldn't CHARGE people for it.

And like some people are saying, it's pretty fishy when this is running 24/7... How does this guy play? If he's running it on a remote computer somewhere else, that's technically dual boxing.

Great discussion. I can't defend it better than Bidoof. This is not unrelated/outside computer repair service, or any RMT merchandise, this is the EC tunnel chat log I redirect to you. Anyway, the idea is, if GM doesn't allow it, my next step would be an android app with ads to live stream this, that I think it's allowed from what I heard, which is strange since now it involves real cash in the ad...

I have a friend who has a character and afk in EC

EDIT: for real, I have few more friends being the client side just in case one of the clients disconnected or crashed

lol, im just being an ass. But seriously, I don't see how this is different than trading Plat for computer repairs. I wonder if they would have allowed it if he said that he fixed the comp so he could play EQ.

GMs here tend to ban first and ask questions later, just fyi. you might wanna ask one first.

It's okay. It's all pixels anyway :D . alright , gonna be gone for the day, have fun.

I'm on the case!

Objection! ... Um, for something! The comparison doesn't hold up. The repair work is a real life activity. My client is offering his software and his programming time free, pro bono. He merely charges a small fee for his (or as my client has stated on the record, his friend's) character's logging service. People pay 2kpp an hour for PLs; what my client charges PER DAY is significantly less, and is only for the time of the character in the game world.

Like I told wifeaggro in-game, I loved this service when it was free. Now, I can't use it anymore which kinda sucks. I'd definitely consider paying the plat, but it's not worth risking a ban for. It's too grey area for me, which is too bad since it was really nice back when it was free.

The problem is that your client is charging in game plat for a service that is intended to be used outside of the game. Yes the info comes from a character sitting in the game, but this kind of thing be allowed and advertised on the forums would be absurd. How much plat could someone make with 100 bots sitting in various places around the world collecting data about stuff going on in the game? Paying for a PL all takes place in the game, it really isn't the same thing.

I rest my case.

Redirect! Rebuttal! Re-another-thing!

My client is merely offering an in-game resource from an in-game resource. I admit, counsel's PL analogy was flawed, and I apologize for that (sad face to the jury). Perhaps a couple of more direct examples would be in order. If it pleases the court:

Scenario 1: Player 1 is solo'ing in Burned Wood, which is off of Felwithe this week (juries love old jokes). Player 2 is standing in the EC tunnel, retyping everything auctioned, and sending it in tells to Player 1. At the end of the day, Player 1 meets up with Player 2 and gives him some platinum for his trouble.

Scenario 2: Player 1 is looking for an item, say, a Rusty Dagger. Its the one upgrade Player 1 needs in order to complete his gear. Player 1 makes a post on the p1999 boards saying "WTB Rusty Dagger, 10k. Offering a finder's fee. Ask your non-existent friends to check their bags!" Player 2 knows a guy (Player 3) who has 2 handmade backpacks full of rusty daggers, and lets Player 1 know on the boards. Player 1, happy to finally be decked out, pays Player 2 his finder's fee and and then negotiates Player 3 down to 12k on his dagger (Player 3 really knows how to haggle).

These scenarios are of course not exact. The technical aspects are obvious different. These scenarios were devised to answer a specific question: is it ok to charge ingame plats for a service out of game.

In Scenario 1, aside from disproving the statement that this product only has "out of game" usage, we can see that paying someone to tell you what is being auctioned is a lot like paying for a log of the auctions.

In Scenario 2, we see that this service, when used out of the game, is not unlike placing a personal ad on the boards and offering a reward for finding it. Finder's fees in the EC Tunnels, while not common practice, have been done before, and most people would agree that there's nothing wrong with that (wait for jury to nod agreement). So paying for information about auctions out of game is already accepted.

Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I must say that there is no "real world" advantage to this product. Yes, you can see things being sold in game while you're not in the game. Yes, that costs a modest in-game fee. But it offers no real world boon to my client. He earns in-game rewards, for information about in-game auctions, from people who must then go in-game to use the information for in-game transactions.

I'm a shoe-in for the Young Lawyer's Bar Association. ... Wait, that's actually a thing?

But neither of those scenarios involve paying plat to access a website. Despite what information is obtained from that website you are still paying plat to access a third party tool. Now I don't think that the OP has a nefarious intent with what he is doing here, but I really don't think this type of thing should be acceptable.

Let's say that I launched a "premium" quest/mob database, and charged in game plat as a monthly subscription fee. Now to set myself apart with this site, I have some "friends" sitting in important places, gathering info about kills, drops etc etc, and post this info on my site.

I don't know how far into detail I would have to go to make my point here, but I think anyone can see that this type of "pay plat for game related service" thing would only have negative implications for this server.