Funny Games are starting to permeate society on a level never before achieved or imagined. Back then, online games were more of an alternate life hobby were players can invest the same kind of time and dedication to their real life to advance in a video game populated by other real people.
Like in real life, players of online video games want to get ahead of other people. The thing with that is not everyone has the patience, gumption and skills necessary to get that far, which is where a real money economy comes into the equation.
How it all began
Most online video games are addictive because of the massive amount of things a player can achieve. As the player gets closer to what is referred to as the “end game” players will have to invest more time and effort just for marginal gear or level progression.
Not everyone has the time or patience to get that far, but some people have a strong enough desire to pay someone who already has. Buying end game items or characters in online games is a popular practice ever since the earliest days of online gaming.
How the industry responded
There was a time when the gaming industry abhorred the notion of buying in game assets with real money. To them, the items and characters that players get is a result of the amount of time and effort they spent in playing the game. So in theory, allowing people to buy other characters or game items will make playing the game moot as people can simply buy fruits from the labors of others players.
Some developers responded to this situation by adding a system that should have basically eliminated this issue, which is the binding system. The most expensive gear to be found in World of Warcraft cannot be traded with other players and selling them to Non Playable Characters for gold was impractical.
Despite their efforts, an underground economy that traded in virtual items, currency, and characters persisted.
The situation today
The gaming industry’s stance on buying virtual goods is somewhat murky. One of Blizzard’s latest online games is Diablo 3 which has a real money based economy built around the game’s economy.
Blizzard essentially legitimized the purchase of buying in game items and currency by creating a real money auction house to facilitate transactions. The result is an industry where some people make a living through farming gold and items with a few making as much as $10,000 in one month.
There are only a handful of online games which can reach this kind of an economy and ever fewer that can surpass it.