Capitalism Isn't Heroic

Yeah, I've done some market playing. I make a nice chunk of change whenever I really need it. Once you know a few techniques (or just plain old craft) making a few million is trivial.

But after I've made so many market runs, I get increasingly frustrated with each one. At first I wondered why. Why was it working with the market for a comparatively trivial amount of time each day had me wanting to tear my hair out in frustration. It's pretty simple, really.

Nearly three years ago, I signed up for a super hero/super villain game. I wanted to make like the super powered characters of my dreams and save the day or do crime. I wanted to do grand, amazing things. What I didn't sign up for was to play a market simulation.

IOs in and of themselves promote the super powered feeling, since essentially the sky's the limit on how powerful they can make your characters. But how you go about getting those IOs, the market, is anything but super heroic. It's mundane, it's tedious and it's entirely out of genre.

For a super being to modify, make or even acquire something they need to get the job done is very much a part of comic books. But standing in front of an interface, day trading or playing the market...very much isn't.

Some people have fun with the market, I can respect that. But I still wish there could have been a better way. An in genre way. A way that didn't make me feel not only unsuper, but like a beaurocratic policy wonk.

When looking at the fact the game has fallen to its lowest concurrent user base ever, I wonder to what extent the market is to blame for that. Do others look at it with the same resentment I do? Are people not touching the game, in part, due to the fact they want to be a super and not a shopkeep? I wonder.

One thing is certain: capitalism isn't heroic.