What's The Deal Here?

So everything's for sale now, characters, betas...I even hope to buy my next girlfriend on the black market. Well, not really. Then again, a mad Russian monk's gotta have a mail order Russian bride, nyet?

So hot on the heels of Origin floating people [A HREF="http://support.uo.com/advancedcharacter.html" TARGET="_blank"]semiuber characters[/a] for a small upfront investment of $29.95 comes another of [A HREF="http://www.ea.com" TARGET="_blank"]EA[/a]'s babies offering [A HREF="http://www.ea.com/eagames/official/thesimsonline/play/play_pre.jsp"]head starts[/a] on people in [A HREF="http://www.thesimsonline.com" TARGET="_blank"]The Sims Online[/a].

That's right! Just plunk down your cash for the game everybody and their mother is going to buy and you get to keep everything you get in beta! PLUS NEW WOWL33T0 ITEMS LIKE A UNIQUE, FREE FOUNDER'S OBJECT!

I suppose I shouldn't point out that if you've paid for the game then it's not really free, but I'd feel bad if I didn't.

Even funnier is that they don't hide the idea of a head start on other players. Their own [A HREF="http://www.ea.com/eagames/official/thesimsonline/play/play_founders.jsp"]full details[/a] page explains

[BLOCKQUOTE][I]* The Sims Online Founders will automatically carry their developed characters over into the live version of The Sims Online upon retail purchase and registration. During Play Testing, servers are often wiped of data, eliminating all saved information such as characters, objects, and houses. The final server wipe will occur one to two weeks prior to launch. This means Founders will have up to a two-week headstart on character development before anyone else.[/i][/blockquote]

Phew, thanks for the info, guys. I needed that spelled out for me.

So is this fair? Who knows? Say there's an enormous bug that surfaces in that "one to two week prior to launch" window. Maybe your character can max out one of their skills in 5 minutes by standing in one place and macroing. Unlikely? This is EA we're dealing with here. There was a Meditation bug in UO a few years ago where anyone medding at Trinsic's bank gained several points every second. I know a bunch of people who GM'd Meditation during that burst of strangeness.

Nobody was punished for it, but should other players be gimped in a world where your stats determine exatcly what you can do without killing yourself doing inane things?

I'll admit, bunny-bashing and dying to a bear is inane, but so's killing yourself off because you can't work a damned toaster oven. Next thing you know your Sim is running around the house, peeing on the floor and being burned to a crisp.

At least you get a natty looking urn or gravestone.

Bravo, EA. Thanks for levelling the playing field; the division has moved from the people who have no life to the people who have too much life to worry about.