Real money currency for the auction house
Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty share two things in common. First: A free-to-play model linked with real money currency related to the auction house. Second: A significant bot problem that the respective developers just can’t manage.
Both issues are closely linked. And in both cases, the problem is: The more aggressive the measures taken by developers to combat bots and real-money trading, the more negatively it affects the experience of all normal players who want to have fun with the game in a fair way.
The trailer for the Talandre Wilderness expansion for Throne and Liberty:
The best way to combat bots and real-money trading is to set high barriers to entry from the start (like through purchase price and/or subscription) and to avoid any form of real-money influence on player trading.
And even then, it is very likely that bots will still exist because people will try to extract extra euros from you through services like boosting or gold selling on external sites.
It is still important to not make it too easy for bot users and to open all barn doors from launch – as many Asian MMORPGs tend to do. In the West, the following equation also applies: The more bots in the world and the more spam ads in chat, the more players seeking to leave.
