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 Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 12:03 Post subject: New Business:Real-life Dollars Buy In-game Gold? |
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Will people pay real dollars for in-game virtual money to help their virtual characters buy in-game goods?
One gamer, who goes by the screen name Haylo, said he spent $10 to $20 real dollars a month on in-game platinum(all nonexistent, of course) to buy weapons and other goods in Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC), but would spend more if he could afford it.
Most video games have some form of currency. In many ways, the in-game economy is similar to a real world economy - goods and services are traded to mutual advantage and are mediated in currency (platinum, gold, credit,etc.). "With all the things you can buy in game," a gamer said, "it's hard not to want them, just like real-life stuff."
The average Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game(MMORPG) player is 27-year-old -- a demographic drooled over by marketers. Plus, nearly half of all players have jobs, which often means they have more money than time and are the perfect consumers of virtual assets. On the Internet, many gamers now buy virtual money that only exist as data files stored in a server run by a game company with real-world dollars, and the buying and selling of virtual currencies may be off most people's radar, but it is truly big business.
An online broker, who goes by the screen name Rolala, was not a fan of online games until his 15-year-old son became interested in Final Fantasy XI. He then noticed that a large number of gils which are the currencies used in FFXI were for sale on eBay.
"I started hearing about players leaving the game who were selling their assets at cheap prices," he said, "so I figured, buy low, sell high."
But Rolala found his moneymaking options in FFXI "very limited". He switched toWorld of Warcraft. There, he has leveraged his real-life experience into an online business. He converts his game profits into real money on sites like eBay and Cheap WOW Gold,etc. Earnings can be considerable. He said he was on track to earn about $120,000 in real money in his first year in this business.
Rolala's business is just one example of how increasingly popular online role-playing games have created a shadow economy in which the lines between the real world and the virtual world are getting blurred.
"World of Warcraft", the world's largest MMORPG, boasts more than 1 million paying users in North America.There are many sites like wow gold free strategics, teaching gamers how to earn wow gold in game for free, however many players are still willing to buy gold and weapons to help their virtual characters get a higher virtual status more rapidly. Some virtual goods in World of Warcraft have been sold for thousands of dollars. It obviously creates a large real world market.
Edward Castronova, an economics professor at Indiana University who has written a book on the subject, calculated that if you took the real dollars spent within "EverQuest "as an index, its game world, called Norrath, would be the 77th richest nation on the planet, while annual player earnings surpass those of citizens of Bulgaria, India or China.
Go to GameUSD, an exchange-rate calculator for the virtual worlds, and do a search for the latest rates of virtual currencies against the U.S. dollar, and let your jaw drop open. The rates of some virtual world currencies are even better than that of the Iraqi Dinar! For instance, here is the recent exchange rate of several popular virtual currencies:Everquest Plat ($0.54/1K),EQ2 Gold ($0.17/gold),WOW Gold (World of Warcraft Gold ) ($0.098/gold), SWG Credit ($4.40/1M), Lineage 2 adena ($2.80/1M), Guild Wars Gold ($0.12/1K), FFXI Gil($17.89/1M), etc.
Right now, this business is one of the most hotly debated issues on the internet. Many game companies such as Blizzard who run World of Warcraft discourage profit from in-game properties, though none have found a way to stop it.
Sony Online Entertainment, on the other hand, encourages the practice (albeit within the confines of their own "Station Exchange", their own forum for the sale of in-game properties). It recently announced the first month's figures from "Station Exchange". According to SOE, over 45,000 characters from "EverQuest 2" have been active on the exchange and have spent over $180,000 USD in one month, half of which have been spent on in-game gold and platinum.
Despite of different attitudes towards virtual currency trade, the number of people who are getting into such business is rising, and the size of market has been expanding very rapidly.The market also creates a competitive environment. We could refer to sites like Cheap World of Warcraft Gold, a price comparison site, to see the fierce price competition between different exchange sites.
For some ordinary gamers, however, such a capitalist approach spoils the experience. Nick Yee, a psychology researcher from Stanford University, believes many players dislike virtual currency traders because, by using real wealth to buy virtual power, "they're breaking the fantasy-reality bubble, getting an advantage in a way that other players can't".
According to a recent survey by IGN, an internet media focused on the videogame markets, most gamers say they dislike and avoid this business, believing that it gives players with more discretionary income an unfair advantage.
But such attitudes are called into question by size estimates for the virtual asset trading market, which is seen having a value of $200 million to nearly $900 million in 2005.
One potential explanation for the disconnection between attitudes and money spent may be that gamers are unwilling to admit they use the services, IGN said.
In terms of the law's concern, another issue is, who owns the virtual money? Many virtual world designers maintain that anything created in the world belong to the company. They refuse to recognise the rights of their players in the virtual property for fear of attracting liability for its maintenance or security.
But will this work in the long term? Players spend considerable time and/or money acquiring such assets. In many cases they are the creation of the player and even the intellectual property ownership is questionable. "As we spend more time in these worlds, it's not enough for companies to say that 'we own everything and we can turn it off at any time,'" said a gamer. "The question may soon be should we have recourse against a game company for obliterating virtual assets?"
With the rapid growth of virtual currency exchange market, should people accord virtual property the same protection as property in the real world?
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 12:20 Post subject: |
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Karmeck
Posts: 3341
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 12:59 Post subject: |
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IF i wanna spend real money, I do it in the real world.
Last edited by Karmeck on Mon, 25th Sep 2006 13:13; edited 1 time in total
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Ankh
Posts: 23251
Location: Trelleborg
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 13:08 Post subject: |
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Not really new stuff in that post and there is that swedish shite mmorpg where you only use real money (Can't remember its name).
But my answer to the main question is : No, I'd rather chew off me own leg than spend money on game items.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 15:53 Post subject: |
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a friend of mine showed me a chat log where two brothers from china, members of his guild, confessed that they were power-leveling characters 24/7 (in shifts) and selling them later on ebay to get money and buy a rice-growing farm or whatever it's called over there.
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 15:57 Post subject: |
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lol people here dont even spend money on games, and you think anyone will buy stuff in the game?
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 15:59 Post subject: |
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Umm, have u read the first post? There stats, reports and estimates there. Still not convinced? That market is huge and growing.
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 16:01 Post subject: |
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im talking abotu HERE as in these forums. so umm have you read my post?
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 16:02 Post subject: |
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ah, here... right. sorry ) my bad
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 16:03 Post subject: |
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wow, thats a fate dude. They probably call him triple-chair-johnny.
Buying stuff in a game for real money Is beyond stupid.
Squirrely: Now come on y'all. We can't waste time arguing. There could still be survivors out there. We need to hunt them down, and kill them.
Beary: How about we kill them, and then rape their bodies so we can use their blood as lubricant.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 16:04 Post subject: |
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payin' for sex is stupid too but it's still the oldest 'industry'
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 16:46 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 17:57 Post subject: |
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you touch something when you're in the process of making sex
[url=http://www.tvcafe.ro/lg/1837 ]Bet you don't have the guts to click here!![/url]
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 18:04 Post subject: |
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| war3 wrote: | | you touch something when you're in the process of making sex |
rofl whats that have to do with him saying "dont buy something u cant touch" ??? |
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vurt
Posts: 13586
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 19:26 Post subject: |
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| |IcedFreon| wrote: | | lol people here dont even spend money on games, and you think anyone will buy stuff in the game? |
Im quite sure many ppl here spend money on games. People here have at least some companies or series they particularly like and are willing to buy because they're fans.
The warez for some is just to check the gfx out or to see what the hell the fuzz is all about (and so they can engage in useless, endless discussions about how much it sucks..)
Im also sure many people would buy items or gold for real money, most kids probably wouldnt (and yeah, there's probably a lot of them on this forum) but many grown ups with, perhaps, less time (work, family etc) and better economy, rather buy gold or items than grind for weeks if they like the game/community enough.
I think it's kinda sad how these gold farmers are destroying for the mmorpg communites, eg. by stealing accounts (has become very common now within WoW), grinding everywhere so it makes questing very hard, using bots etc.. Only natural though, everything you can earn some money on will be exploited and used somehow.
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crossmr
Posts: 2965
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 19:53 Post subject: |
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Its just spam guys, a quick google search reveals that. Delete and move on
Google
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 19:57 Post subject: |
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| crossmr wrote: | Its just spam guys, a quick google search reveals that. Delete and move on
Google |
In that case, somebody wake up the mods?
Blame! don't act!
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Bigperm
Posts: 1908
Location: Alberta,Canada
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 22:38 Post subject: |
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| |IcedFreon| wrote: | | lol people here dont even spend money on games, and you think anyone will buy stuff in the game? |
Well i disagree. Old schoolers like myself still beleve in "IF you like it, buy it, Quality developers deserve your support"
And i still beleve many involved (Not talking about having pre, or leech slots) still have theses ethics.
But as far as in game money. Fucking hell no, what a waste of time. I could see if i ran a Gold farming company in Asia; where you make money. But to spend it, nah..ill pass.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 23:34 Post subject: |
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How does playing and trying hundreds of good or crappy (95% is crappy) single player or multiplayer games for 5 or 10 hours every day is any different from playing a MMO for the same ammount of time? You still sit in front of your computer and for a normal person it doesnt matter what you do in front of a monitor, you still remain a nerdy nerd nerd in his eyes. So stop being in denial that you are better than MMO players.
Oh crap I forgot to stay on topic - yeah gold buying for real money is retarded.
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 23:44 Post subject: |
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yeah, from your selfish points of view it's retarded, but you should also think about disabled people - both physically and mentally. they don't have a social life, they can't prove themselves worth of anything and those games help them socialize, build some self-esteem even if it's fake and virtual. They pump their cash into the game instead of taking a girl to some restaurant and they feel cool 'coz they got that badass sword or that epic armor or whatever it's called. as long as they feel a bit happier while living without legs or with some irreparable facial damage it's good, bring it on.
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 23:53 Post subject: |
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This may/may not be spam but it is for real!
I saw this on the news last week and here in the U.S. it may be banned; for someone in Washington said it is the same thing as online gambling which is illegal here.
Live every day as if it were your last,
For you never know when that day may come!
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| Posted: Mon, 25th Sep 2006 23:54 Post subject: |
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who said it wasn't?
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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vurt
Posts: 13586
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue, 26th Sep 2006 00:44 Post subject: |
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| Vodka-Redbull wrote: | | yeah, from your selfish points of view it's retarded, but you should also think about disabled people - both physically and mentally. they don't have a social life, they can't prove themselves worth of anything and those games help them socialize, build some self-esteem even if it's fake and virtual. |
A game (a sport or a computergame) is not more fake than anything else, it's just your dedication, what you think is fun to do, that counts. You build your own reality.
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| Posted: Tue, 26th Sep 2006 01:10 Post subject: |
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most of the lamers who sell gold are fucking selfish arseholes who dont give a shit if there ruining a games economy as long as they can leech a living.
they should fuck off to entropia or some other stupid mmo that is intended to have a currency with real world value.
btw i seriously doubt the guys goes by the name rolala as he would get banned so fast as those kind of scum are hated by devs and players alike
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| Posted: Tue, 26th Sep 2006 01:34 Post subject: |
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they don't ruin anything IMHO. if it was the case, trading would've been banned instantly. that's what they still do when surprisingly large amounts of cash are moved from one char to another along with some rare items.
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
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vurt
Posts: 13586
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue, 26th Sep 2006 02:24 Post subject: |
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| Vodka-Redbull wrote: | | they don't ruin anything IMHO. if it was the case, trading would've been banned instantly. that's what they still do when surprisingly large amounts of cash are moved from one char to another along with some rare items. |
It's almost impossible to grind for some materials in WoW (certain essences for example) because you have to compete with 4-5 hunter bots at these places + other real players who also need these items. Some quests are almost impossible to do also because these places are filled with bots killing the mobs you need.
And i cant really say that their webpage spams is something i enjoy getting in my WoW-mail or seeing in IronForge..
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the market WILL be huge )))
