Bungie thought about this in destiny the beta. Wizard gaming we’re helping with its creation then the idea got scrapped because of people charging ridiculous amounts for items in WoW on eBay. There’s a documentary you can search for on YouTube. Talks about a lot of story and in game features that destiny was going to have but got scrapped in the final model.

[quote]If Bungie were to allow item transfers between players they could recapture some of their lost player base. Additionally if you were to monetize these transfers by charging a reasonable amount of silver i.e. 50 to 100 you would also increase your revenue. I am sure many will bring up the multiple potential problems that could be caused to the item economy of the game but with proper forethought and planning this kind of strategy has the potential to revitalize the game and improve the capital structure of the company.[/quote] The major issue I foresee with such a change is that will incentivize more players to try to turn this game into a [b]job[/b] rather than an enjoyable experience, further exacerbating some already existing problems within the game: [b][u]Toxicity[/u][/b]: There are already more than enough players who will openly treat others like garbage for “playing too slow”, “not using the right loadout”, “not knowing the mechanics of the Raid on day two” or “using low skill weapons to kill me in Crucible” when the current sticking points are player time investment and soothing a bruised ego after a poor PvP showing. Adding a subsection of players who are [b]literally trying to feed their families[/b] based on how efficiently they can earn desirable items would be a surefire way to lead to more instances of bullying, threats and harassment when players end up affecting each others’ bottom lines. This will also further stratify LFG posts ([i]KWTD, Experts Only, My Kids Need Braces[/i]) and is likely to result in a surge in… [b][u]Cheating[/u][/b]: Whether it comes in the form of explicit cheat programs, AimBot devices, account recoveries or paid carries, adding a more direct profit motive to the game will create an incentive for “players” (read as: [i]self-employed in-game entrepreneurs who sell gear to those who play [b]merely[/b] for entertainment purposes[/i]) to either directly utilize cheats or to enlist the services of those who will do so, [b]directly funding[/b] those whose products/services negatively impact the game. This will in turn will lead to further problems with… [b][u]Lack of Community Trust in Bungie[/u][/b]: If, as you propose, Bungie were to take a cut of any revenue made by players for the exchange of in-game items for real world currency, it would create a [b]direct profit motive[/b] for Bungie to futz with the RNG of drop rates and perk combinations ([i]remember “Weight Gate”?[/i]) rather than the more nebulous specter of “trying to improve playtime metrics to convince Sony not to shelve the game and studio”. Even if Bungie were to take [b]zero action[/b] to alter RNG rates to try to juice the number of player-to-player sales in an attempt to make the game more profitable, there would be growing suspicion within the community each time somebody runs 50 completions of a Raid only to not receive the Exotic that they were doing just that. This would most assuredly lead to a drop off in normal players who increasingly feel like the game is rigged against them in an attempt to sap them of their time and money, which will lead to a drop off in those farming gear to try to sell who find themselves with fewer and fewer players to sell to, leaving Bungie with an ever dwindling number of users and ever shrinking coffers as Sony looks to “trim the fat” when it comes time to cut costs to keep their shareholders happy. For these reasons I would suggest that allowing for player-to-player trades involving real world money, the proceeds of which Bungie takes a percentage from each sale, would not only [b]not improve[/b] the studio’s bottom line but would [b]accelerate[/b] the erosion of community trust, ultimately killing off the game and the company alongside it. (΄◉◞౪◟◉｀)