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Do cash shops in MMORPGs Imbalance games? Well.... They do to a degree and sometimes they don't.

We all know what a cash shop is in an MMORPG and I’m sure many of us have been tempted to or made a purchase in the past, I know I have. But with just a fraction of players actually spending money, do cash shops imbalance games? My answer? Sometimes. There’s certainly a divide between those that spend money and those that don’t, but that doesn’t necessarily mean things are at all unfair or imbalanced. After all, when someone in MapleStory purchases a cool ‘outfit’ for themselves in the game’s cash shop which only affects their appearance – does that really place anyone else at a disadvantage? Certainly not. How about if that same someone purchases and uses a 2X EXP scroll in MapleStory, does that make things imbalanced? Yes. Does it matter? No. The way I see it is simple. If someone else is leveling faster than I am, it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t affect me. Whether that person leveled 2x, 5x, or 50x faster than myself it just doesn’t mean anything to me because it doesn’t affect me. Heck, if anything – it benefits me when someone else spends money in a game’s cash shop because it ensures that the game I’m playing will not shut down. Okay, so when do cash shops really imbalance a game? In an MMO. Read more »