Gil. Gold. Adeena. ISK. Influence. Infamy. Chips. Crowns. Whatever the game calls it (and there are a lot more words aside from those) money is an important part of most MMOs. Much like money in the real world, it generally follows three simple rules: you need it, you don't have enough of it, and you can't get it fast enough. And we all deal with it in our own way.
But when the time comes, almost every one of us will pony up seemingly astronomical sums for that one thing. It might be a mount, maybe weapons or armor, perhaps a piece of furniture in a game with player housing. Whatever the item is, the cost of obtaining it becomes a non-obstacle, and your cash display turns into a new experience bar that you need to fill for your precious treasure.
So, what was your biggest purchase? Was it something that was once expensive but now cheap, or is it still pricey as ever? Were you happy to have it or regretful at blowing your bankroll? And perhaps most importantly, do you still have it and use it, or has it long since been replaced?
Reader Comments (23)
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 8:31AM DrewIW said
After fitting, my Rorqual cost around 2 billion ISK. After that it's my solo-wormhole Legion, which I purchased and fit for about 1.1b, but is worth much less these days.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 8:34AM (Unverified) said
I crafted a weapon that cost over 3 million in-game money, and I was still 60+ levels below the level cap.
Lost it when I moved on, as always.
There was something else but I just can't put my finger on it. Most of my losses are time oriented, I'm as frugal as you can get when it comes to ingame money. Love to hoard it.
That's what I loved about Morrowwind, you could stack all that stuff up into a mountain and just bask in it.
Lost it when I moved on, as always.
There was something else but I just can't put my finger on it. Most of my losses are time oriented, I'm as frugal as you can get when it comes to ingame money. Love to hoard it.
That's what I loved about Morrowwind, you could stack all that stuff up into a mountain and just bask in it.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 8:43AM Vladimyr said
Ah, it was a long time ago. I can hardly remember the specifics, but back WoW, when BC was something new, I bought a part to build the roflcopter for nearly 1000 gold. The sum certainly may not seem like much, compared to what some other people spend, but that's the largest single amount I've dropped in all my time in the game.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 8:52AM (Unverified) said
Anyone that buys in-game currrency in exchange for real money is a P.O.S. and needs to be shot in the throat by a n'avi and then peed on by Clifford, the Big Red Dog.
Or, as my elcor friend would say "Disgusted rage: You people make me sick."
Or, as my elcor friend would say "Disgusted rage: You people make me sick."
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 9:08AM (Unverified) said
Who said anything about buying in-game gold for real money? Or are you so bent out of shape that you feel the need to create a racket without understanding what is being discussed?
Reply
Posted: Feb 17th 2010 8:51AM (Unverified) said
You know damn well they're out there. Don't pretend the problem doesn't exist and don't pretend that half the people that posted a reply to this article aren't guilty of it.
Reply
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 8:52AM Valdamar said
In CoH/V the inf cap is 2 billion per character, but I've spent more than that buying enhancements for a single character on several occasions. Admittedly I've never paid more than 300million inf for a single enhancement, because I refuse to pay the "buy it now!" prices when I can wait a few days and get the same IO set enhancement (or its recipe) much cheaper.
My Widow is probably the most extreme case - her Night Widow build cost around 2.7billion a year ago and I finally decided to "purple up" her Fortunata build, which should have been cheaper, but purple prices have risen sharply in the last year - I've already spent around 2.5billion inf on her and she still needs 5 Apocalypse set IOs and 5 LotG+7.5 IOs, which will likely cost me at least another 2.5billion inf in total.
Aside from vendor-bought stuff like mounts I've managed to avoid buying "big ticket" items in other MMOs, where most of my gear has come from questing/raiding and was mostly "no drop" (so couldn't be sold).
My Widow is probably the most extreme case - her Night Widow build cost around 2.7billion a year ago and I finally decided to "purple up" her Fortunata build, which should have been cheaper, but purple prices have risen sharply in the last year - I've already spent around 2.5billion inf on her and she still needs 5 Apocalypse set IOs and 5 LotG+7.5 IOs, which will likely cost me at least another 2.5billion inf in total.
Aside from vendor-bought stuff like mounts I've managed to avoid buying "big ticket" items in other MMOs, where most of my gear has come from questing/raiding and was mostly "no drop" (so couldn't be sold).
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 9:16AM (Unverified) said
My Sons of Hodir three-seater Mammoth.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 9:37AM GaaaaaH said
I managed to farm my ass off for Obsidian in GW, but liked my Pink Norn Armor better (on a male warrior).
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 9:56AM breezer said
omg! I remember seeing Expensive! stores in Italy.
There was an Expensive! a few doors away from another hilariously Engrish-titled store: Pretty White Kids.
There was an Expensive! a few doors away from another hilariously Engrish-titled store: Pretty White Kids.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 10:18AM (Unverified) said
Definitely my Yalmaha. Yes guys, it's Anarchy Online! I dreamed a long time of it, and it was my first virtual MMO-orgasmn to own one and fly around on Rubi-Ka.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 10:30AM Stormwaltz said
The downpayment on my house in LotRO was 8g. I ninja-mined Dwarf-iron in Trollshaws and sold it on BreeBay for two full weeks to earn it.
I still live in it, though housing in LotRO has little use.
I still live in it, though housing in LotRO has little use.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 10:39AM Randomessa said
The Vabbian sets of armor for my Warrior and Necromancer in GW is by far the most money I've spent in-game. Those, and the three white dyes per piece that I spent on getting my Elementalist's Sunspear armor to match her hair color just so.
I don't regret it; the armor looks as lovely as ever, even though I don't really play anymore.
I don't regret it; the armor looks as lovely as ever, even though I don't really play anymore.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 10:47AM (Unverified) said
My most expensive purchase in GW must have been the Luxon Elite armour I bought for my Warrior. Not only does each piece cost you 15k anyways (up to a total of 75k for all pieces), you also need Jadeite, an expensive material. The second-most expensive purchase was Primeval armour for my Dervish, which costed about the same, only were the materials slightly cheaper.
In EVE, the most expensive thing I ever bought was a Hulk. I paid 106 million ISK for it in Jita. Nowadays, Hulks are 200 mil or more, meaning my Hulk has doubled in value since I bought it. Though that makes me happy, I also no longer dare take it out to mine. It's just too valuable, and there are too many suicide gankers. I think I'll buy a Covetor soon...
In EVE, the most expensive thing I ever bought was a Hulk. I paid 106 million ISK for it in Jita. Nowadays, Hulks are 200 mil or more, meaning my Hulk has doubled in value since I bought it. Though that makes me happy, I also no longer dare take it out to mine. It's just too valuable, and there are too many suicide gankers. I think I'll buy a Covetor soon...
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 10:50AM dudemanjac said
Back in the beginnings of Eve, I was witness to a little altercation between a hauler and a a frigate that ended in the destruction of both by the police. The hauler was carrying untold billions in materials. I happened to be in my early level cruiser that i was using for mining and swppoed in and filled my self to capacity with high quality ored that I would never have been able to get on my own.
The owner who claimed to be part of some large corp, demanded I give it all back or face their wrath. I refused instead spending almost every dime on my first battleship, fully loaded, implants and skills that I didn't need anytime soon. I even shared the wealth with my corp.
The owner who claimed to be part of some large corp, demanded I give it all back or face their wrath. I refused instead spending almost every dime on my first battleship, fully loaded, implants and skills that I didn't need anytime soon. I even shared the wealth with my corp.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 11:35AM Cinnamoon said
GW is a weak spot for me; I think I have around 10 elite sets of armor, several of them of the most expensive sort, including a set of (highly expensive) Vabbian on my necro. But armor was the point of GW for me. :D I probably also spent more on all of their weapons, totaled up. Unlike other MMOs, those things don't get "replaced".
SWG: 120 million for a diner. And I bought two. That's actually not much money for SWG; my expense records indicate I've spent over a billion credits in the last nine months, and made all of it back and then some. Just not all on one big thing.
WoW: mounts. Elite flying mounts for six toons. Rawr!
UO: a 120 archery power scroll.
What's interesting to me is that I don't usually work toward a specific thing with my money. I tend to work really hard and save up for a long time before I splurge, and then I tend to splurge on fairly practical things (GW excepted, since really most stuff you buy in GW is vanity).
SWG: 120 million for a diner. And I bought two. That's actually not much money for SWG; my expense records indicate I've spent over a billion credits in the last nine months, and made all of it back and then some. Just not all on one big thing.
WoW: mounts. Elite flying mounts for six toons. Rawr!
UO: a 120 archery power scroll.
What's interesting to me is that I don't usually work toward a specific thing with my money. I tend to work really hard and save up for a long time before I splurge, and then I tend to splurge on fairly practical things (GW excepted, since really most stuff you buy in GW is vanity).
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 12:52PM (Unverified) said
Hmmm...way back in my AC days I can't remember the names of the stuff but I had to farm forever to get enough shards to buy a really good weapon. AC had this weird community barter system where we used different keys and crystal fragments and salvage as currency because the in ingame money was worthless.
In SWG, I got an AV 21 back in the day when they were expensive. I forget, I think it was like 20 million(?) These days they go for maybe 5 mil. These days my accumulated rewards and crap make me an instant mega-millionaire in that game. Plus I still have spice from before the NGE
In DAoC I got a crafted suit for a level 50 warrior. I really don't remember the details but it broke me.
Lineage 2 I spent tens of millions on a suit of Blue Wolf armor and a sword. I left the game not long after because I was broke and didn't have the will to rebuild my money legit anymore.
In SWG, I got an AV 21 back in the day when they were expensive. I forget, I think it was like 20 million(?) These days they go for maybe 5 mil. These days my accumulated rewards and crap make me an instant mega-millionaire in that game. Plus I still have spice from before the NGE
In DAoC I got a crafted suit for a level 50 warrior. I really don't remember the details but it broke me.
Lineage 2 I spent tens of millions on a suit of Blue Wolf armor and a sword. I left the game not long after because I was broke and didn't have the will to rebuild my money legit anymore.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 1:02PM (Unverified) said
Most expensive thing was epic flying for my druid in WoW, back when getting it was actually somewhat hard. I did daily quests and played the AH market for weeks to slowly build up the 5000g needed (I'm one of those people that is normally eternally poor in MMOs). I got my epic flight and decided to take a break until Wrath came out. Wrath arrived, I traveled to Northrend and . . . no flight for you!
Ouch.
Ouch.
Posted: Feb 16th 2010 3:23PM mrdrum81 said
In Lord of the Rings Online:
I spent nearly 40 gold on freakin' dwarf-iron ore as I worked towards becoming a Master Metalsmith. To bad now, all the crafted Metalsmithing items are useless once you hit lvl 55ish, due to the stupid Radiance Gear requirements put on most end game instances!
My friend once, because I logged on to do this for him when he was at work, spent nearly 90 gold on a stupid Legendary First Age Burglar weapon. I ended up having a bidding battle with someone on the AH for the item. Don't worry, I bid VERY HIGH when it isn't my money I'm bidding with!!!
I spent nearly 40 gold on freakin' dwarf-iron ore as I worked towards becoming a Master Metalsmith. To bad now, all the crafted Metalsmithing items are useless once you hit lvl 55ish, due to the stupid Radiance Gear requirements put on most end game instances!
My friend once, because I logged on to do this for him when he was at work, spent nearly 90 gold on a stupid Legendary First Age Burglar weapon. I ended up having a bidding battle with someone on the AH for the item. Don't worry, I bid VERY HIGH when it isn't my money I'm bidding with!!!









