Bad design in MMOs - Part One - BoE

Introduction
BoE, or Bind on Equip, is terminology used to describe a game mechanic where an item, once equipped by a player character, can no longer be traded or sold to another player in the game. There is another similar term BoP, or Bind on Pickup also known as Bind on Acquire, which provides the same mechanic, but it is applied when the player acquires the item instead of when they equip it. The umbrella term typically applied to the mechanic of tying a specific item to a player is "soulbinding". The argument for these mechanics is that they provide a way to restrict the flow of items in the game world and to help keep the value of desirable items high. The argument against, is usually that it restricts players' freedom and that it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense from a in-game (or possibly RP - Role Play) perspective.

Most players can accept a Bind on Pickup system for items that require a raid to obtain or a long quest chain to be completed, though there are some who believe that no items, under any circumstance, should ever be soulbound to a player. In Everquest, for example, most items were freely trade-able except for the high end raid-obtainable armor and weapons and epic weapons. Popular items, such as SSoY (Short Sword of the Ykesha) or Fungi Tunic were often seen for sale in the trade areas of the game. I even obtained a Fungi on my low/mid level warrior, as I spent a lot of time soloing. Items like these were also very popular on the external item selling websites, such as Player Auctions.

The Pros
Inflation is one thing in most MMOs that is very hard to avoid. As players become richer, they are more willing to pay more and more to twink out their alts. Eventually, that item that sold for 5 gold the first two months the game was available, is now selling for 75 gold a year and a half later. There is also reverse inflation, which typically happens when BoE is not implemented, wherein items that were once the elite must-haves, are now a dime a dozen. Many times, players spend days trying to sell these - when there was a time they sold almost as soon as they were put up for sale.

Twinking is a term that is used to describe the act of a player with a high level character, using money from that character to buy high-end items for one of their lower level charcters, commonly know as "alts" - short for "Alternatives" or "Alternative Characters". A BoE system helps curb this act in some regards, as there is not a high availability of high end items, as most of them are being or have been used already. However, Twinking is more effectively curbed using a level-restriction system - which requires a character to be a certain level before an item may be equipped.

The Cons
With a BoE system, players are no longer able to sell their old gear. Nor can they pass it along to a friend. In Everquest, it was quite common for a high level player to "donate" gear they had outgrown to a lower level friend or guildmate. It was also possible for higher level players to "farm" gear for lower level players. I know I was the recipient of a few high level items on my level 14 mage, thanks to a high level druid friend of mine. Many developers and some players think that this act will make the low level player overpowered; a "god among mortals". I would like to suggest that this is not the case. Sure, it makes them somewhat stronger - but I can guarantee you that my mage, and my warrior (who had a fungi tunic) was far from overpowered. When soloing, my mage still died. My warrior still had to sit forever after killing something to "heal up" - even with the regen bonus from the fungi tunic. However, I was not decked out with high level items. If my warrior, at level 30, had a full set of level 50 armor - then yes most likely he wouldn't be taking a lot of damage at all.

The freedom of helping out a lower level character, of twinking out your alts is something some of us cry foul over. Combine that with a RP (role play) aspect, and it really doesn't make much sense. How come, after I equip uber_sword_01, I can't give it to the guy standing next to me, but I can run across town and sell it to a NPC vendor?

I think the main gripe is though, that once you are done with an item, you are not able to sell it to another player for a decent amount of coin. In WoW for example, there are several BoE epic-quality items that are found and sold to players for hundreds, if not thousands, of gold. This is a prime market for so called "Gold Farmers". They spend hours and hours and hours doing nothing but killing mobs over and over again. They don't quest, they don't contribute the game world, except to steal spawns from legit players - and then sell the gold they acquire for real life money. They also acquire several items that can be sold to other players. With the BoE system in place, the gold farmers, at least in WoW, are the primary source for BoE epic-quality items. If BoE was not implemented, you could buy that new shiny hammer for 800 gold, then use it for a while, and then turn around and re-sell it. This alone would help curb gold farming. Since they would not be the near-sole supplier of these items, they would have a harder time selling them and hence, have a harder time meeting their quotas, possibly eventually forcing them out of their "job".

In Closing
BoE is a lazy system, by lazy developers. Most developers claim twinking is one of the big motivational factors along with preventing gold farming. Their reasoning that this prevents gold farming is that, gold farmers can run a dungeon/instance over and over again and then flood the market with obtained items. As stated, a level-restriction system helps stop massive twinking. To stop the farming of instances, there are other methods that can be implemented - instance lockout timers, modifications to the loot dropping system, etc. BoE has no place in today's MMOs and should never have been implemented in the first place. Come on guys - you are the ones getting paid to develop these games - give us back our freedom and curb the unwanted elements of the game with less restrictive mechanics.