Real cash for virtual goods

pr0digal jenius · Feb 8, 2005, 12:20 PM

As far as real estate transactions go, there was nothing obviously freaky about David Storey's December purchase.

A total of $26,500 for a piece of undeveloped land in an unpopulated but potentially prosperous new suburb--what's not to like? Except that the property exists solely on the servers of "Project Entropia," a computer game where players exchange real-world money for in-game goods, services and property.

Almost every major online game has an in-game economy, where players exchange in-games goods for in-game currency. Most also have a real-world economy, where in-game currency and goods trade hands for hard cash.

But most such offline trade is part of an underground economy discouraged by game publishers such as Sony Online Entertainment, which has blocked auctions of items for "EverQuest" and other popular games, claiming such trade infringes its intellectual property.
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Source/Read More: C|Net

mike2h · Feb 8, 2005, 12:26 PM

is that real $$ or game $$?

pr0digal jenius · Feb 8, 2005, 12:30 PM

real $$

I have seen people pay thousands in real cash for everquest characters, or UO characters, or UO real estate

mike2h · Feb 8, 2005, 12:37 PM

that is just sad & pathetic.

i have a problem having to pay a monthly fee just to play a game that i already paid $35-$50 for(which is why i do not play them). then to spend hundreds of $$, let alone $20,000+ is just ludicrous. basically they are cheating.
like i said, sad & pathetic.

Asmoday · Feb 8, 2005, 01:09 PM

Omg...

The_Neon_Cowboy · Feb 8, 2005, 01:18 PM

Thats freaking nutz, people like this should be instutionalized for life

md5 · Feb 8, 2005, 02:39 PM

ah this has been going on for many online games, e.g. Diablo 2

Ebay is full of such virtual items

Sandok · Feb 8, 2005, 02:45 PM

I'd not mind if people would buy stuff from me

But I don't play those kinda games... What a sad life to spend money for a game.... At that price....

pr0digal jenius · Feb 8, 2005, 03:12 PM

no phil, in diablo 2 people just dupe things

Dark Lord · Feb 8, 2005, 03:20 PM

when i got out of D2 about a year ago i sold off my account wich had a 99MF sorc, 93 bowazon with a 39ed/14ias jewel and a whole bunch of other ISA/ED jewels on her. a ton of mules filled with unided uniques. a charm mule with a ton of stuff. a complete tal rashes set, plues 3 other almost complete sets just missing the armor, 3 unided vamprie gazes, so on and so forth.

when the auction was done i raked in $201.00, and this was a month or 2 after the market started going to hell. had i sold a little bit sooner i could have probably made upwards of 600.

its amazing and stuipd how much people are willing to pay for this crap.

md5 · Feb 8, 2005, 03:28 PM

Quote:

no phil, in diablo 2 people just dupe things

Hahaha well said

Indeed, this game became so much infested with dupes and illegal items and many good players left because of that

Nice game, but it suffered from a lot of problems (which seem to be fixed now with the 1.10 patch). After a certain point, all people saw was COWS. And loads of 'em. Good God, this game has sublimal messages that turn people into bovine killers

Dark Lord · Feb 8, 2005, 03:30 PM

i still hear there voices in my head to this day.... ive killed soooooo many cows. hell, my chars were made for one thing and only one thing. kill cows.

my zon went through them so damn fast

Feb 8, 2005, 12:20 PM	#1
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,672 Rep Power: 0	Real cash for virtual goods As far as real estate transactions go, there was nothing obviously freaky about David Storey's December purchase. A total of $26,500 for a piece of undeveloped land in an unpopulated but potentially prosperous new suburb--what's not to like? Except that the property exists solely on the servers of "Project Entropia," a computer game where players exchange real-world money for in-game goods, services and property. Almost every major online game has an in-game economy, where players exchange in-games goods for in-game currency. Most also have a real-world economy, where in-game currency and goods trade hands for hard cash. But most such offline trade is part of an underground economy discouraged by game publishers such as Sony Online Entertainment, which has blocked auctions of items for "EverQuest" and other popular games, claiming such trade infringes its intellectual property. ___________________ Source/Read More: C\|Net

Feb 8, 2005, 12:26 PM	#2
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,489 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	is that real $$ or game $$? __________________

Feb 8, 2005, 12:37 PM	#4
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,489 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	that is just sad & pathetic. i have a problem having to pay a monthly fee just to play a game that i already paid $35-$50 for(which is why i do not play them). then to spend hundreds of $$, let alone $20,000+ is just ludicrous. basically they are cheating. like i said, sad & pathetic. __________________

Feb 8, 2005, 01:09 PM	#5
Asmoday Demonic Join Date: May 2002 Location: In the cold, dark north... Posts: 5,184 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	Omg... __________________ How You can help Driverheaven by using Digg

Feb 8, 2005, 01:18 PM	#6
The_Neon_Cowboy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,135 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	Thats freaking nutz, people like this should be instutionalized for life __________________

Feb 8, 2005, 12:30 PM	#3
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,672 Rep Power: 0	real $$ I have seen people pay thousands in real cash for everquest characters, or UO characters, or UO real estate

Feb 8, 2005, 02:39 PM	#7
md5 DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Inside DriverHeaven Posts: 856 Rep Power: 32	ah this has been going on for many online games, e.g. Diablo 2 Ebay is full of such virtual items __________________

Feb 8, 2005, 02:45 PM	#8
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,501 Rep Power: 53	I'd not mind if people would buy stuff from me But I don't play those kinda games... What a sad life to spend money for a game.... At that price....

Feb 8, 2005, 03:12 PM	#9
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,672 Rep Power: 0	no phil, in diablo 2 people just dupe things

Feb 8, 2005, 03:20 PM	#10
Dark Lord DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,584 Rep Power: 66 System Specs	when i got out of D2 about a year ago i sold off my account wich had a 99MF sorc, 93 bowazon with a 39ed/14ias jewel and a whole bunch of other ISA/ED jewels on her. a ton of mules filled with unided uniques. a charm mule with a ton of stuff. a complete tal rashes set, plues 3 other almost complete sets just missing the armor, 3 unided vamprie gazes, so on and so forth. when the auction was done i raked in $201.00, and this was a month or 2 after the market started going to hell. had i sold a little bit sooner i could have probably made upwards of 600. its amazing and stuipd how much people are willing to pay for this crap.

Feb 8, 2005, 03:30 PM	#12
Dark Lord DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,584 Rep Power: 66 System Specs	i still hear there voices in my head to this day.... ive killed soooooo many cows. hell, my chars were made for one thing and only one thing. kill cows. my zon went through them so damn fast