Why is it important to be 'rich' in a game?

That's just a question I'm constantly pondering, especially in a game like GW where you can pretty much get max and elite armor just by playing through the game. People put so much effort into amassing ingame money, I have to wonder if they pursue real money with as much effort in real life.

What's your reason for acquiring large amounts of ingame cash and what purpose does it serve?

Just a question...

There's not much to do in this game.

I am amassing ig cash so when I stop playing I can spread the wealth to my guild to hopefully allow them to gain 50/50 easier.

I really like business type games so I like to play the "economy" side of GW. Amassing a great fortune isnt as important to me than making a big profit on something. So I got my wealth by doing what I like, buying low selling high. I like GW also for the MMORPG stuff too that is why i hope there is a good crafting system in GW2 so I can play the market there too.

That's the thing. You've got max gear and beat the campaigns, now what?

A) Quit.
B) Amass pretty things.

So yeah, alot of people did pick A, thus the only ones you see around are B.

Well, I spent a lot of mine of runes and insignia for my heroes (even before the new rage), on maxing out titles for HoM and GWAMM...

right now, I'm just adding some up, got 161k. No idea what I'll spend it all on, maybe a communing obsidian headpiece for my ritualist.

P.S. Oh, I also often give money to my guildies. But they've almost stopped playing...

Pretty much the same reason as IRL I think, and sometimes as a substitute since it's easier to do in-game: feeling important, enjoying it as a sport, believing it to be a source of happiness, buying rare or shiny things, getting your perceived needs met reliably, or practicing generosity.

I won the halloween contest last year and sold the minipet for an imo ridiculous amount of ecto.
After paying for 50/50 and GWAMM for my guildleader and myself I started helping random players getting on their way to at least 30/50.
I gave some player who went out of his way to run me through the desert to get all the missions 40e and an ambrace just for the fun of giving.
I plan on entering again this year in both the halloween and wintersday contests to get more money, just for handing it out again!
Time will be tight with the release of GW2 looming around that thime I think and lots of peeps need help filling that hall.
That's my only reason for getting richer atm.

Really honestly it's not important to be super uber rich in the game unless you do RMT.
I play the game because I genuinely like it and I happen to get stuff along the way to sell so I can equip my toons. The only reason that I put reserves of cash away is for treasure hunter title because I like going after titles in video games because it actually gives me a goal to play towards.

GW is about titles and "stuff"

Always has been, always will be.

You do not have to have a q9 BDS on every hero, but some people do, and like it that way.

Totally up to you how you play and what you aspire to do.

I like pretties, I don't like having to farm a long time after I discover a pretty I like in order to afford it, i'm pre-emptively amassing wealth so when I find something I want, I can buy it there and then.

Although, compared to come players I wouldn't call myself "rich". Never had more than a stack of ectos in a liquid state at any one time.

It's kind of human nature to see something "just out of" your price range and really really want it badly. I remember the first time I saw one of those everlasting tonics and I just "had to have one". Otherwise, most of us do kind of reach that point where you realize that all the junk like tonics, weapons, armor, etc... doesn't really add anything at all to your gaming experience and you start to re-prioritize.

For me, short of selling off a few of the genuinely valuable items I do own (well, 40+ ecto=valuable in my eyes), I'm just living on the edge financially just keeping up with outfitting 7 heroes for multiple toons.

Same here, mostly, except swap "Halloween" and "mini" for "Wintersday" and "tonic". Sold the tonic, used a chunk of the money to do my consumable titles and properly kit out all of my heroes and get myself Obby armor. I've probably spent twice as much on my friends than I have myself at this point.

Yes, having plenty of money in-game is nice. But I don't care about trying to find the rarest shield ever or anything like that. I have a small guild of good friends, as well as many good friends I've met in the game, and helping and giving stuff to them is far more important to me.

Money buy's titles, titles transfer various rewards to Guild Wars 2. Simple really.

What FoxBat said.

After playing through the game more than once, you need to have goals. Most people aren't very generous at heart, so their goals are simplistic like "get a BDS, chaos gloves, FoW armor, and VS".

Other options tend to be more meaningful but not as "showy": equipping your character with every skill in the game (no title for this), playing through on another character (extra work for nothing since mercenaries don't get added benefits), going for every available title (pointless after 30th), helping random people with the missions/quests, PvP.

Money buys titles is BS. Sure you can buy minis, hero armor, armor, weapons. The only titles you can buy are Survivor, Zaishen, Wisdom, Sweet Tooth, Alcohol, Party unless you also buy runs. If you also buy runs for every mission, cap, & vanquish you might as well not play at all.

P.S. read http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n32061569/
http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/bart...mer-psychology ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test

It's been said, but I am also trying to get rich to get to 50/50. After that, I'll spread the wealth and feel better about myself.

It isnt.....

Treasure Hunter costs millions for the necessary keys and lockpicks. Likewise for Lucky/Unlucky, which are very hard titles to max without spending some time on Nine Rings in addition to lockpick costs. It's fair to call those "bought" titles, even though you can't buy services to run them. You can't reasonably expect to get any of them without spending large amounts of cash.

OTOH, I've never spent a cent on Survivor or any of the consumable titles, and as little as possible on Wisdom. While you can buy those titles, it doesn't take unreasonably long to get them if you rely on consumable drops, Nick gifts, and friends who are willing to let you ID their gold drops.

All of my wealth, such as it is, just came my way by playing the game normally and getting very lucky with drops and making a few good trades.

I did farm for a few things, like a guild hall when they were 70K and Obsidian armor when ecto were 14K, but for the most part I have just been very lucky with drops.

I do agree with several other posters that picking up shiny objects is most of what the end content is about and being able to spread the wealth amoungst friends and guildies is a good thing as well.

if you are trying to keep up with the jones that is fine, but there is no need to be rich---play the game for what YOU want to get out of it--and if peer pressure gets to you -----

I see no reason to be rich, I have what I need to play the game, and as for the rest, I play for fun (and to see if I will ever max the chests opened title). I play to RELAX not compete with others who sit in kamadan all day long spamming: 'please buy this ugly way over priced weapon'; apples and oranges.

If you want to be rich, that is your personal goal, but it is not the goal of the game.