Hate all you want, I have a valid argument for why this policy should be changed if you keep reading.
What is farming?
Farming is the act of trading kills or intentionally letting yourself be killed for the purpose of earning fast/easy XP, badge and achievement progress, etc. SGI has extended this definition to encompass other behavior that yields similar results, such as self-nading and Back Street rush. For the purpose of this discussion, we will use SGI's definition of farming which is not limited to trading kills.
Current policy on farming
As seen here, farming is currently against the rules and is a bannable offense. Two reasons are specified for this:
- Farming allows players to "[gain] an unfair competitive advantage".
- Players may "[utilize] unapproved third-party applications to facilitate [farming]".
Why this policy is flawed
As previously stated, SGI's policy on farming extends to other behavior that allows for earning fast/easy XP. They justify this with two reasons, the first of which is that supposedly that farming allows players to "[gain] an unfair competitive advantage". Now how exactly do farmers gain an unfair advantage? There are a few possibilities:
- Farmers will have better kill-death ratios on their profiles.
- Farmers gain more XP and end up with higher ranks which they don't have to work as hard for.
- Farmers can gain badge and achievement progress easier.
SGI conveniently leaves out the part where VVIP items and bonus XP items have the same effect as this. Your kill-death ratio can be maintained using the AK-47 Beast Red Eye. VVIP weapons and bonus XP items mean you don't have to work as hard for higher ranks. And the AWM Infernal Dragon doubles the rate at which achievements are earned. If the idea was truly to put all players on even footing, these items shouldn't even be in the game. The ban on farming is just a flawed business model to force players to pay money in order to "legally farm".
Now let us examine what "unfair competitive advantage" players supposedly gain. The kill-death ratio is just a number and does not make you a better player. Rank is just an image next to your name, which does not affect your skill. Badges are also just an image and the rewards for completing badges are temporary items which aren't particularly useful. Some achievements do affect the gameplay to an extent, such as faster defusing. However, items can be purchased for GP to facilitate this already. Players gain little to no competitive advantage from farming.
SGI's second concern actually carries some weight; the use of "unapproved third-party applications to facilitate [farming]" is actually a concern as this could require modification of the game files or bypassing the hack shield. But we have bigger problems to worry about from other unapproved third-party applications, namely hack tools. Is it not more important to worry about the programs that have detrimental effect on the gaming experience of other players? I for one would rather play with farmers than hackers.
In summary, the justification for banning farming is that players "[gain] an unfair competitive advantage" and may "[utilize] unapproved third-party applications to facilitate [farming]". As I have stated, little to no competitive advantage is gained from farming and there are far more malicious third-party applications which should take a priority. If they are able to find an effective way to block all third-party applications (apart from programs like FRAPS, etc.) then this won't even be an issue anymore.
About Back Street rush (and why allowing farming will benefit SGI)
I bring up Back Street rush because it used to be allowed and was considered "legal farming" by a large portion of the community. Essentially, the idea behind this was for all players to rush the enemy base in the map Back Street and knife each other down to end the round quickly. By forcing all players to be VVIP, it was possible to gain large amounts of XP in a short amount of time. At some point, SGI decided that this was abusive because there are other weapons available on the map and decided that players shouldn't be only using their knife. After Back Street rush was banned, it was succeeded by Arena rush which is a knife-only map.
Now why am I saying this? Well as I stated before, the ban on farming is a flawed business model to force players to pay money for faster XP (and better kill-death ratios and faster achievement progress). As such, the company may be concerned that allowing farming would lead to a drop in the sales of these weapons. On the contrary, it would lead to a sharp increase in the sales of these items. I mean, let's look at the example of Back Street rush. In summer of 2013, there was an event where temporary VVIP weapons were given away to players for simply logging in to the game. At the time, Back Street rush was legal and many people began playing it. After the event ended, this died down. In fall 2013, the AWM Infernal Dragon and RPK Infernal Dragon were released and many players pre-ordered these items so that they could play Back Street lobbies. Legalizing farming won't lead to a decrease in VVIP sales, it will lead to an increase.
Conclusion
In summary, these are the main points:
- SGI's justification for banning farming is that it gives players an unfair advantage, but this is actually not the case.
- SGI is also concerned with the use of third-party applications to facilitate farming, but there are far more malicious third-party applications being used in public matches (hack tools). Reducing the amount of cheaters should be a priority, and if they no longer enforce the ban on farming then there is more manpower to spend on banning cheaters.
- Allowing farming will actually increase the sales of VVIP weapons and bonus XP items instead of reduce it, which means SGI will make more money.
My personal views on this matter
Anyone with a high rank is already accused of farming despite the fact that there shouldn't be any farmers in the game according to their policy. Legalizing farming has no adverse effects whatsoever and will actually make the game more "fair" since everyone is allowed to farm. It will also mean that they no longer have to enforce this policy, allowing more time to be spent banning cheaters. Some issues are beyond SGI's control, but this is something they are capable of changing.