$ Players

[Legendary Apophis]

There seems to be a big difference between buying as many UU and naq as you can afford on the unofficial black market versus buying USS or even some ATs on the official black market. Spending money on this game is required to keep it running, however there is a big difference in getting something to help you help yourself, and just giving it to you. The black market can be the former, however with the unofficial one available and no limits imposed on the official one, basically the sky does become the limit. The game starts to become less about skill and more about who has the biggest stick.

I have spent money recently (not so much, just bought 10 or 15tril naq). I have friends who spent money in this game too in past. I have spent on the INGAME black market. Rates are high? So what? I am supporting the GAME by doing so!!
Anti $$ people (conveniently?) seem to put everything in the same bag. You either give money to a player, or to admin & the game. Difference being, the player can disappear after trade is done (not necessarly scamming, I mean, player sold all his stuff and will buy him/herself something with money made off sgw).
Want a comparing? Buying stuff in black market ingame is like buying dvds or cds in your local shop. Buying in the players market is like buying burned unofficial cds and dvds. Yes, it's not forbidden here, but you see what I mean. The first benefits the "industry", the second people not having to do with it.

Also, what's wrong with spending money? Yes, spending *too* much (if it's not in black market) is an issue, granted.
But otherwise, do you anti $$ people expect everyone to spend as much time as "hard dedicated" players (those with amazing amounts of naq & uu stolen)? If there wasn't the $$ factor, I can tel you that yes, there would have also many people who would have left by now. Because they would feel they could NEVER catch up, unless they were to spend alot of time here. Some people can stand raiding, some can't. I'm part of those who can't, it hurts my head to look for targets and raid them for hours. So because of this, I should say "oh bad luck!" and don't try to "fix" the issue as much as I can?
Buying uu with naq...or buying naq with $$ (again, in official black market).

[CABAL]

There seems to be a big difference between buying as many UU and naq as you can afford on the unofficial black market versus buying USS or even some ATs on the official black market. Spending money on this game is required to keep it running, however there is a big difference in getting something to help you help yourself, and just giving it to you. The black market can be the former, however with the unofficial one available and no limits imposed on the official one, basically the sky does become the limit. The game starts to become less about skill and more about who has the biggest stick.

Emphasizing "the biggest stick"

Anyways, this is a FREE game, a person with stolen credit cards shouldn't be able to walk in and buy their way to the top. I agree that a FSS/USS every once in a while DOES help keep the game alive, it shouldn't mean ''rich" people should be able to walk in and get a big advantage.

[Lore]

Until someone can show me undisputable proof, I stand by what I said. Without people who support these "Free" games, they do not exist. I do not believe many, if any can survive on advertising alone.

With real proof I am willing to change my thinking, but not until. If no one had ever bought a SS, SGW would be a forgotten memory.

At what cost though lore? if memory serves you're not a massive $$ spender if at all.. (I may be very wrong)... but does the means truly justify the outcome? How can the game truly ever flourish if people buy their way to the top. It removes the real competitive value from building accounts and wars. Someone who spends the $$ is always going to have a bigger MS than yourself, they're always going to have a very effective set of planets to the point it seems like they're the best players since the mutated clone combination of ETL, Goo, Buck, Esker and gen Lucky!

More and more people will back out of that system... hell I can PROMISE you one of the main reasons origins was/is a failure was because the second it got up and running Qacol and drunk monkies ran in, purse in hand, to buy the top dog accounts and no one would sit there and put effort into a game when someone was just going to throw cash at it and make their efforts worthless on a competitive level.

Everything generally needs money... but there is nothing you can say to me to defend the level of spending some people have gone to, or what ways are out there to encourage such spending. Jason will make enough a year from the advertising and then the add one time expenditures of the odd SS now and then in main and on Q, chaos and battle orgs... it quickly adds up and it'd be enough to cover server cost's, internet subscription, power consumption and a few royalties (i'd be very surprised, and I mean very, if it did not).

The system is flawed. Jason just saw $$ signs when he saw SS. Many other games have SS bonus' that have a far less gravitational effect on the game itself.

In the end though they all succumb to greed and are defended by a few naive players who see the only few peg legged benefits their are opposed to any of the bad points.

This defence you're using is weak at best. It's foundations are stripped away by the blatant greed of the admins it's indirectly defending and the excess players have gone to causing disgusting imbalances and unfair advantages in the game. This defence may have been good four years ago, but it's not anymore...

You are making the same mistake as the people I am addressing. Your painting ever single person who has put a dollar in this game as 1. Weather they bought a 20$ SS 1 time 4 yrs ago, or if they have spent 5K$ in the last month. Thats BS, and thats my point. My defense is not "weak at best" and sadly for you it is more valid now then it was 4 yrs ago.

What was actually the best thing jason did was run with no SS for some time, then later in the game introduced it. He also left a way for anyone to get the same benifits (Ascended). This to me is the core of why SGW ingulfed and surpassed so many other games. As for origins, you are 100% correct. bringing in SS so close to release was nothing but pure greed on Jasons part, just like duel planets on main. Look what happened in both cases. He doent take care of the players, nor the problems and hes suffering for it now.

I have spent a good chunk of $$ in SGW, and I have made about the same. For me it was investments. I had a crap unascended account and trying to stand against LG+1's and getting waxed at every turn. So I bought Budakajana's account. A player who had been around from the beginning, and had made some cash commitments to jason ingame. He just wanted to make some of his cash back. In 3 months I was back even as I sold resources till I had my $$ back. Then I bought legolas's account, and was back even within a week. Why should players leaving lose 2 or 3 or 4 yrs of work? and all the monitary support they have given?

I dont make money from SGW, and until recently I always sold to support the game with SS and such. Now that has stopped and i sell SGW stuff to support other games with an active and caring Admin.

Yet the average narrow minded veiw here is all $$ players are the same, and thats complete and total BS.

Point Blank Plain and Simple, no matter if your willing to accept it or not is a 100% true fact. Without people putting $$ in a free game it does not exist.

Now if you want to do the right thing, and seperate "supporters" from "excessive" money players thats fine, but until you find a thinner brush and stop painting everyone the same you are wrong. All of you are.

*edit, missed one point*
I don't argue the fact having big time $$ spenders hurts the people who do it the old fashioned way, nor that it takes away from their accomplishments. I personally agree with you, but I want to point out 2 very valid points.
1. Jason does the EXACT same thing over and over again. How many times and how many updates were put in place SOLELY to hurt bigger/longstanding players? How many?

2. You say many will not come into this envirnment because of $$ spenders, and in the heart of that statement I agree with you. Where we differ is in the fact I also believe that allowing $$ spender has also brought a many a player as well. Fact is, without $$ spending being allowed, a new account WILL NEVER be able to stand against a 4 yr old account.

Basicly, like so many other things Jason has done. Like so many updates he put in. They had a place and a time, and the game changes. Sadly Jason no longer seems to care, nor changes with it. I agree that big $$ spending is hurting the game now, but in the past money spending helped keep it alive and it is where it is now because of it.

[Lore]

The game wouldn't survive without an income, that is true. But it's also true that spending real money on the game is sanctioned cheating, more so now than ever. No matter how many times you try to justify it as supporting the game, it boils down to obtaining an easy and unfair advantage.


Should everyone be demonized equally for spending cash? No.

Should it be demonized at all? Well that is up to you to decide. Personally, I don't like the advantage given, but I can't really blame the players for employing a sanctioned tactic. The only person to be blamed in my opinion is Jason.

Glad we agree on that.

Now, pitch your idea on how spending $$ is cheating? I think I understand, but not fully and I have many questions concerning it.

[buck]

Spending dollars to keep the game alive is perfectly fine, because the official $ market, as far as i can tell, only lets you buy up to the buy limit, It has LIMITS of units you can buy and limits to your top Whack. And the SS's etc really dont give you a huge advantage anymore, in main at least, not counting other servers...

The unnoficiall buying is a different matter, But i will say one thing on that...

It shows the Real Players from the people who think they are "Playa's" .


Now , for old time sake...

[semper]

Oh Newbie!

You are making the same mistake as the people I am addressing. Your painting ever single person who has put a dollar in this game as 1. Weather they bought a 20$ SS 1 time 4 yrs ago, or if they have spent 5K$ in the last month. Thats BS, and thats my point. My defense is not "weak at best" and sadly for you it is more valid now then it was 4 yrs ago.

not at all. I rightly said towards the end of my first point.. there is a massive difference between the one off SS and spending copious amounts of naq. It's not BS though... you say that (and I am yet to read further down) without even touching upon the other points I made. You ignore so much...at this point and that's why your argument is terribly weak.

What was actually the best thing jason did was run with no SS for some time, then later in the game introduced it. He also left a way for anyone to get the same benifits (Ascended). This to me is the core of why SGW ingulfed and surpassed so many other games. As for origins, you are 100% correct. bringing in SS so close to release was nothing but pure greed on Jasons part, just like duel planets on main. Look what happened in both cases. He doent take care of the players, nor the problems and hes suffering for it now.

Glad we can agree on that. In main though SS should have, and still should be massive limited on a $$ level. At this point in your post, you're still to make a relevant point to defend it.

I have spent a good chunk of $$ in SGW, and I have made about the same. For me it was investments. I had a crap unascended account and trying to stand against LG+1's and getting waxed at every turn. So I bought Budakajana's account. A player who had been around from the beginning, and had made some cash commitments to jason ingame. He just wanted to make some of his cash back. In 3 months I was back even as I sold resources till I had my $$ back. Then I bought legolas's account, and was back even within a week. Why should players leaving lose 2 or 3 or 4 yrs of work? and all the monitary support they have given?

They shouldn't have spent so much money in the first place to get all these advantages because it retracts from the worth of that 2-3 years. Why should legolas and everyone else work their asses off (or in that case, NOT do so) and just see some newbie buy an ace $$ built account that nullifies that effort? Why don't we ALL just buy ourselves to the top and make jason a millionaire? Will you be so quick to sit there and say "well we kept the game going!" then? That's the point. For better or worse this game WILL end.. and no matter what any of you do... you will lose the money you put into it.. unless you've sold things off to make it back to the next fool with cash in hand.

You may get enjoyment out of it.. but in the process you've robbed others of the full authority of their achievement's with your lazy attitude. You can do it.. but all these arguments defending it and trying to justify it beyond it being utter laziness and cheating are just ridiculous.

On top of that.. their work.. their 2-3 years.. why should someone else have claim to that achievement? It, quite obviously so, bestows incorrect grandeur on certain individuals for goals that they did not reach justly.

I dont make money from SGW, and until recently I always sold to support the game with SS and such. Now that has stopped and i sell SGW stuff to support other games with an active and caring Admin.

Lore. This self righteous attitude does not wash with me mate. There is no non morally ambiguous reasonable reason to justify such a level of $$ moving surrounding a free online game.

As I said before the continued increase of flux of players would have brought in a fair amount of one off buys of SS to start trading (all that's EVER needed) on top of that Jason does plenty of advertising and he has more than one game. It will have ALL generated more than enough to support these things without someone having to spend such a copious amount of $$. If you're intelligent to work all this out.. you can go the few extra steps to see that. You, like everyone else who would stand up and say 'i've spent such and such' have crossed the line between doing your tiny bit to support the game and just blatant cheating. The difference between yourself and say Qacol or JT atm.. is the fact they're not here trying to justify it with nonsense, at least not anymore.

Yet the average narrow minded veiw here is all $$ players are the same, and thats complete and total BS.

On the contrary they're not the same. As you've very graciously proven some believe their own BS personal justification for reaching in their pocket to make that 400mill account get ever so closer.

Point Blank Plain and Simple, no matter if your willing to accept it or not is a 100% true fact. Without people putting $$ in a free game it does not exist.

lol. Well duh... but that does not mean it has to be you. That also does not mean it has to be over the one $25.

How about we throw another few examples out there... erm... is it right for sport's professionals to use steroids during a sporting competition? Should I continually eat fruit to the point of bloating because a little bit of it is good for me? My friend is on drugs, they need a fix, should I give them money or drugs to feed that addition? I mean.. it's keeping them relaxed and helping them right? My kid needs a lot of food. he'll die without food...but he's over weight.. I should keep giving him the food he likes.. I get love and attention from it.

All general facts.. some not directly applying to me... but I applied your thinking to all the situations. I assume you agree with the implied answers to them all. Or not?

Now if you want to do the right thing, and seperate "supporters" from "excessive" money players thats fine, but until you find a thinner brush and stop painting everyone the same you are wrong. All of you are.

I think not. You have committed one of humanity's greatest mistakes in this issue Lore.. you've fallen so far and learned nothing. You crossed a line with your spending and moved from supporter to cheater.... just because you have some pathetic justification for your spending does not make the level to which you took it morally good. Why don't we make Adolf Hitler a saint whilst we're at it... I mean he had good intentions...from his point of view.

*edit, missed one point*
I don't argue the fact having big time $$ spenders hurts the people who do it the old fashioned way, nor that it takes away from their accomplishments. I personally agree with you, but I want to point out 2 very valid points.
1. Jason does the EXACT same thing over and over again. How many times and how many updates were put in place SOLELY to hurt bigger/longstanding players? How many?

And do you see me sitting around professing my undying love and support for all things Jason and TGW? Or have you seen me attempt to change it? Fact of the matter is though it's all relative. Big players face difficult times to go further when bigger... but against small players they should be top dogs.

2. You say many will not come into this envirnment because of $$ spenders, and in the heart of that statement I agree with you. Where we differ is in the fact I also believe that allowing $$ spender has also brought a many a player as well. Fact is, without $$ spending being allowed, a new account WILL NEVER be able to stand against a 4 yr old account.

In time, yes it would. Due to the caps and the game system (even with a fair amount of updates).. it can do so. Then ontop of that a small player should be with small players... a newer smaller player shouldn't be ABLE to stand up to a 4 year old account without a lot of work.

$$ will have only attracted people looking to make money from TGW or people with more money than brains who like a bit of power and saw an easy system they could just buy their way to the top of. People not willing to spend will have become very tired, very quickly with the atmosphere around here when going up against someone who's been playing half their time and has just thrown $10k at their account to be able to best you. The game will have suffered because of it.. and add to that the current game system and the fact the main power house $$ spending accounts are all in one place.. well...no wonder this game is going down the pan.

Basicly, like so many other things Jason has done. Like so many updates he put in. They had a place and a time, and the game changes. Sadly Jason no longer seems to care, nor changes with it. I agree that big $$ spending is hurting the game now, but in the past money spending helped keep it alive and it is where it is now because of it.

No! This only shows your short sightedness. It's the fact people thought it was necessary and ok.. in the first place that showed jason he could get away with it. It's what gave him the taste of the money and it's what made him make updates and a system to benefit the $$ spenders. It's the continued spending of $$ in the game that keeps him ignoring SGW because the money is still coming in and to be frank....so few of the players here are either too spineless to stand up to him and say change it or we walk...and would rather just sit here and complain...or they're reaping the benefits of lucrative trading business's and real ego boost's from the old 'who can spend the most cash and come out as a great player' game.

I don't know....oh rin tin tin tin tin.... when will this community learn....funny we were here the community and I four years ago when I told everyone that SS and the game speeding up would ruin it.. I told everyone the ascension system wasn't going to work.. and I got told to STHU.. yet now I am agreed with by the majority...

by god this time.. i'll be right again except with any luck I won't still be stupid enough to be around to see you lot fall flat on your ass and realise once again that I'm right... because if I am.. you can bet your backside i'll be laughing..problem is though.. I reckon this time.. the game is going for it's death knell.

[killtacular]

I find it laughable when some one says they sell there account for all the hard work they put into it. Give me a break!!! Hard work? pfft!!!!

Its a game hello!!! When I leave I wont let some noob have my account I started with nothing and I will end it with nothing .

[jabujabu]

I find it laughable when some one says they sell there account for all the hard work they put into it. Give me a break!!! Hard work? pfft!!!!

Its a game hello!!! When I leave I wont let some noob have my account I started with nothing and I will end it with nothing .

Some people actually put time and care about the game...just look at the forum you're posting on right now...there are mods that put their time into modding it.

[BMMJ13]

I find it laughable when some one says they sell there account for all the hard work they put into it. Give me a break!!! Hard work? pfft!!!!

Its a game hello!!! When I leave I wont let some noob have my account I started with nothing and I will end it with nothing .

Some people actually put time and care about the game...just look at the forum you're posting on right now...there are mods that put their time into modding it.

Yes, but will the mods be able to sell their time when they are done? I believe what he is trying to say is that this game is about your own enjoyment. You enjoy getting what you need to do to take away what someone else was able to get. That's all this game really is. In order to get forward in it you either need to invest time or money, some say money is cheating, however it does come down to time=money.

[Legendary Apophis]

Anti $$ people (conveniently?) seem to put everything in the same bag. You either give money to a player, or to admin & the game. Difference being, the player can disappear after trade is done (not necessarly scamming, I mean, player sold all his stuff and will buy him/herself something with money made off sgw).
Want a comparing? Buying stuff in black market ingame is like buying dvds or cds in your local shop. Buying in the players market is like buying burned unofficial cds and dvds. Yes, it's not forbidden here, but you see what I mean. The first benefits the "industry", the second people not having to do with it.

Also, what's wrong with spending money? Yes, spending *too* much (if it's not in black market) is an issue, granted (shopping addicted to use again my example lol).
But otherwise, do you anti $$ people expect everyone to spend as much time as "hard dedicated" players (those with amazing amounts of naq & uu stolen)? If there wasn't the $$ factor, I can tell you that yes, there would have also many people who would have left by now. Because they would feel they could NEVER catch up, unless they were to spend alot of time here. Some people can stand raiding, some can't. I'm part of those who can't, it hurts my head to look for targets and raid them for hours. So because of this, I should say "oh bad luck!" and don't try to "fix" the issue as much as I can?
Buying uu with naq...or buying naq with $$ (again, in official black market, in not so great amounts, due to not so great amounts of money to start with).

[semper]

Now, pitch your idea on how spending $$ is cheating? I think I understand, but not fully and I have many questions concerning it.

Because it is a quick and easy way to gain an unfair advantage over everyone else.

Pretty much.

Just think Lore... how much bigger this game could have been had $$ spending not catalysed it to a point of stupidity. It's most certainly not the only forum of blame.. but it's one of the main ones. 3t MS wouldn't even have been a twinckle in someone's eye atm... nor would a ton of other feats.
Origins may have ended up all the effort a lot of people put into getting it made.

I'd be happy to see any of these big $$ spending players to start from scratch and work their way up. They're all hailed as great players...but I don't think they'd make the cut.. in fact I am certain they wouldn't..because push comes to shove...as far as ingame goes.. on a ultimate level.. you're only as good as your account and if you built that with $$... you're not a very good player. It's easy to hurt someone else with an MS twice or more the size of theirs, a mass of eternally protected duals. I'd like to see a non $$ spending player have eternally protected planets without a lot of work, or a 3t MS.

[MaxSterling]

Semper,
Your whole argument is based on your definition of cheating and how you perceive it. Not everyone views it the same way. To me, cheating would involve someone going against the game rules or exploiting an option not available or known to everyone else in the game.

You believe in the tooth fairy. You believe that if you put your tooth under your pillow at night, the tooth fairy will take your tooth and put money under your pillow the next morning. Lore knows the tooth fairy doesn't exist. He takes his tooth directly to his parents and they give him money on the spot. The end result is the same. It's your set of beliefs that are holding you back. It must piss you off that he cheated and didn't go through the hard work of putting his tooth under the pillow and waiting an entire night to get his money.

According to your logic, bowlers that buy a bowling ball for every type of lane condition are cheaters because they do not use the "house" bowling balls. Dart throwers that build their own custom darts are cheating because they don't use the "house" darts. Hell... I can't even buy a sand wedge or 5-wood in my golf club set because that would be like buying a mothership on GW.

My point is... there are no rules stating that you cannot buy resources/accounts outside of the game market. If there were, then they would be cheating. Just because you believe that the game should be played a certain way, doesn't mean others are cheating because they do not share your beliefs. The option to spend $$$ to upgrade an account is available to everyone with a means to pay. Everyone can sell their own resources in-game, farm, and raid to raise the resources to buy a new account. Just because you do not want to take that option, doesn't mean everyone that does take that option is cheating. Hell there are specific forums in the game's official forum specifically for $$$ trades... probably created with Jason's knowledge. Therefore we know it's not against the rules.

Is buying resources immoral to some players? Yes
Is it cheating? Obviously not considering the game admin knowingly allows it.

FYI... the only personal $$$ I've spent on this game has gone to Full Supporter Status.

Personally I don't mind if people spend $$$ on this game to gain an advantage. I've decided long ago that I'm building up my account the hard way. The fact that people are spending $$$ just makes it more challenging for me... and I like that challenge ahead of me. It just makes my accomplishments that much sweeter.

No matter how much $$$ they spend on the game, their defense and mothership can still be massed by players that put in the time and effort.

[kojak]

Wow... Nice post and well said...

[deni]

Semper,
Your whole argument is based on your definition of cheating and how you perceive it. Not everyone views it the same way. To me, cheating would involve someone going against the game rules or exploiting an option not available or known to everyone else in the game.

You believe in the tooth fairy. You believe that if you put your tooth under your pillow at night, the tooth fairy will take your tooth and put money under your pillow the next morning. Lore knows the tooth fairy doesn't exist. He takes his tooth directly to his parents and they give him money on the spot. The end result is the same. It's your set of beliefs that are holding you back. It must piss you off that he cheated and didn't go through the hard work of putting his tooth under the pillow and waiting an entire night to get his money.

According to your logic, bowlers that buy a bowling ball for every type of lane condition are cheaters because they do not use the "house" bowling balls. Dart throwers that build their own custom darts are cheating because they don't use the "house" darts. Hell... I can't even buy a sand wedge or 5-wood in my golf club set because that would be like buying a mothership on GW.

My point is... there are no rules stating that you cannot buy resources/accounts outside of the game market. If there were, then they would be cheating. Just because you believe that the game should be played a certain way, doesn't mean others are cheating because they do not share your beliefs. The option to spend $$$ to upgrade an account is available to everyone with a means to pay. Everyone can sell their own resources in-game, farm, and raid to raise the resources to buy a new account. Just because you do not want to take that option, doesn't mean everyone that does take that option is cheating. Hell there are specific forums in the game's official forum specifically for $$$ trades... probably created with Jason's knowledge. Therefore we know it's not against the rules.

Is buying resources immoral to some players? Yes
Is it cheating? Obviously not considering the game admin knowingly allows it.

FYI... the only personal $$$ I've spent on this game has gone to Full Supporter Status.

Personally I don't mind if people spend $$$ on this game to gain an advantage. I've decided long ago that I'm building up my account the hard way. The fact that people are spending $$$ just makes it more challenging for me... and I like that challenge ahead of me. It just makes my accomplishments that much sweeter.

No matter how much $$$ they spend on the game, their defense and mothership can still be massed by players that put in the time and effort.

Well said mate.

*applauds*

[Legendary Apophis]

Semper,
Your whole argument is based on your definition of cheating and how you perceive it. Not everyone views it the same way. To me, cheating would involve someone going against the game rules or exploiting an option not available or known to everyone else in the game.

You believe in the tooth fairy. You believe that if you put your tooth under your pillow at night, the tooth fairy will take your tooth and put money under your pillow the next morning. Lore knows the tooth fairy doesn't exist. He takes his tooth directly to his parents and they give him money on the spot. The end result is the same. It's your set of beliefs that are holding you back. It must piss you off that he cheated and didn't go through the hard work of putting his tooth under the pillow and waiting an entire night to get his money.

According to your logic, bowlers that buy a bowling ball for every type of lane condition are cheaters because they do not use the "house" bowling balls. Dart throwers that build their own custom darts are cheating because they don't use the "house" darts. Hell... I can't even buy a sand wedge or 5-wood in my golf club set because that would be like buying a mothership on GW.

My point is... there are no rules stating that you cannot buy resources/accounts outside of the game market. If there were, then they would be cheating. Just because you believe that the game should be played a certain way, doesn't mean others are cheating because they do not share your beliefs. The option to spend $$$ to upgrade an account is available to everyone with a means to pay. Everyone can sell their own resources in-game, farm, and raid to raise the resources to buy a new account. Just because you do not want to take that option, doesn't mean everyone that does take that option is cheating. Hell there are specific forums in the game's official forum specifically for $$$ trades... probably created with Jason's knowledge. Therefore we know it's not against the rules.

Is buying resources immoral to some players? Yes
Is it cheating? Obviously not considering the game admin knowingly allows it.

FYI... the only personal $$$ I've spent on this game has gone to Full Supporter Status.

Personally I don't mind if people spend $$$ on this game to gain an advantage. I've decided long ago that I'm building up my account the hard way. The fact that people are spending $$$ just makes it more challenging for me... and I like that challenge ahead of me. It just makes my accomplishments that much sweeter.

No matter how much $$$ they spend on the game, their defense and mothership can still be massed by players that put in the time and effort.

I agree. However, as I said, trading for money between players doesn't benefit the game, but just players on the offer and demand sides. No doubts it's permitted, it's just that the outcome is less...interesting in long term global-wise. (unless it's friends with whom you trade, but again, it's just interesting for you and him/her).

IF trading between players for money wasn't allowed by admin, then, I would agree to call it cheating. Presently it's not the case..therefore...