Guild Wars 2

I was wondering if charging people for art is allowed here using in-game currency. I played one game in the past that considered this illegal for reasons I can’t remember so I thought I should ask first. I’m not the best artist out there but I figured I’ve moved beyond the stage of offering free stuff for practice – and I’m tired of people using me just to get their stuff drawn over and over. Drawing is fun but it quickly becomes a chore when it’s requested more than what’s fair. In any case it brings me to my second question – if it’s allowed, would people pay for GW2 art that’s something along these lines:

Coloured
http://spudfuzz.deviantart.com/art/Fields-Of-Gold-323259616

Lineart (Old, though.)
http://spudfuzz.deviantart.com/art/Unfurling-Lineart-298757435

Semi realistic somehow (Very time consuming, would cost more)
http://spudfuzz.deviantart.com/art/Upcoming-WIP-307881387

I don’t want to overcharge people but I definitely don’t want to under value myself (and time). I haven’t reached 80 yet due to ADD with alts so I’m unsure what the average 80 character’s net worth looks like or what’s easily obtainable. Any info/ opinions would be great, thanks.

I do not see why it would be bad. Do not quote me though.

The only conflict I see is exchanging real life items for currency. And I’m in your shoes. No clue how far that goes.

You are not breaking the game. You are not exploiting. You are not scamming. Everything is agreed upon beforehand. Far as I understand, that is not punishable.

But again, do not quote me.

Really lovely artwork!

I don’t think GW1 had any policies/restrictions about this in place. But GW1 didn’t have the gem store. An official word might be helpful.

On a related note, since gold can be traded for real money by gems, I wonder if that means that getting virtual gold for a service in GW2 is technically reportable income as far as the IRS is concerned? lol Very weird. Other MMOs must have dealt with this, certainly ones like Second Life.

If you are buying in-game stuff with real money(and your not buying it from Anet), i see a problem. But what’s wrong with what you want to do. You would be providing the service of drawing someone’s character in your style; Instead of charging real money you would be charging in-game items. I don’t see how this could be done in a way that hurts Anet or other players. It’s not like you didn’t earn the gold, your giving people something they want. The only issue is if people pay upfront for something like this and don’t like the image, but that’s buyer’s risk. Also, they could refuse to pay you for the drawing. Really, I don’t see why Anet could have a problem with this. Though I’d wait and see if they have anything to say on the matter.

“The only issue is if people pay upfront for something like this and don’t like the image, but that’s buyer’s risk. Also, they could refuse to pay you for the drawing.”

This kind of issue is easily solved by charging a % of the total price up-front before you begin work on the drawing – that way it weeds out the shady players who have no real intention to pay before hand. I usually charge 50% before hand then ask for the rest after it’s completed. I try to offer exact examples of the style and ask for very specific details of what they want as well. There’s still risks of those things happening but there’s methods you can use to greatly reduce the potential for them to happen.

In any case, I sent Arena Net a ticket about this issue so when I get a reply I’ll also put their answer here.

Here’s the reply:

Hello Spudfuzz.6185,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to suggest this to us. We really appreciate your thoughts and ideas. I think the “selling your art work / fan art to players” for in game currency would be against the Terms of Service.

I’d like you to feedback your idea to the Devs though – they may feel differently about it. The best way to have your feedback or suggestions for Guild Wars 2 reach someone in development is to post it in a public area such as our Official Forums, Twitter feed, or Facebook page. The more people who view and comment on it, the more likely developers will take notice.

Guild Wars 2 Forums: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/
Guild Wars 2 Official Twitter feed: #!/guildwars2
Guild Wars 2 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GuildWars2

Alternatively, we have set up a number of suggestion lists on our official wiki. More information about how to set up a wiki account and create your suggestion can be located at: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Feedback:Getting_started

While members of the Development Team are not always able to respond, having suggestions available in a public area helps them gauge the amount of interest for various ideas, and also allows other players to discuss and offer feedback of their own.

Sincerely,

[GM] Xarqualen

Guild Wars Support Team

The more people who view and comment on it, the more likely developers will take notice.
[...]
Sincerely,
[GM] Xarqualen

Bumping for a talented artist!

If I had an excess of in-game currency, I’d be willing to pay some for a a sweet action shot of my Engineer stomping some enemies or something.

Of course, the issue of trust comes up. Can we be sure that you’ll deliver? Once you establish yourself and have a bunch of art under your belt, I’m sure people will be lining up (metaphorically speaking) to get portraits done.

If this is something that’s allowed (and I see very little reason why it wouldn’t be), you should put together a PR team to pimp your artwork on some prominent fansites. Show people how awesome you are, get support from fansites, and I’d say you have a nice little racket going on.

That is, of course, if Arenanet says it’s ok.

In GW1, the artist would show a watermarked version of the picture and if approved by the buyer, then the game currency would be transferred and the buyer would receive the final copy.

I don’t remember any cases of fraud occurring.