Merching vs Playing

[Zynzyn]

This is not a merching guide. This is just a random thread I made to let out thoughts which I often do in posts.

When I enter an elite map, I hardly find people running, unless it is elite northal, cryo or heston preston. Very specific maps, perhaps because of the promise of good loot there. Maybe other pve maps need a revamp.

But when I go to a town, the chat is filled with the word merch spammed over and over again. It seems like every other person is a merch or wants to be or has made alts to spam merch merch. The word merch finds me everywhere. It haunts. Sometimes the love or wrath of merchants strikes even in forum in the forum of merch tricks.

I have observed that while pve maps are not so populated and often empty, and only a handful currently play pvp (even at higher levels where gear is available and para isnt needed), why then are towns filled with people merching?

What are people doing with the gold from re-selling hoarded stuff? Are there merchs who use merched gold to buy equipments to play better? Are there ones who sell the gold? Are there people who just like to collect gold and keep it and do nothing?

What drives a person to merch rather than play? I am very curious why people choose to stand in towns and merch rather than actually play. What drives you- gold? You can earn gold by running pve maps too. Merching is faster and less effort, you say? It must be. Yes mausoleum is very hard. Elite is hard.

But then isnt the game about the excitement of looting something new, about having fun goals and grinding towards them? And children play this game. Merching-which is essentially buying something from a desperate seller at low cost and convincing a desperate buyer to buy it at a higher price- basically manipulating human minds- children train themselves in this trick now?! What kind of human beings are they going to be when they grow up? The desperation could end if the most coveted items were just put up for sale (for plat) in the game store. Simple.

When and how did merching become the thing, the all pervading dominant trend in the game, the life and soul of arcane legends? It is such a lovely mystery to me.