[ad_1]
Virtual economies exist in online multiplayer games and have virtual currencies. They mirror real economies but lack mundane restrictions. Avatars can own and trade items, and some players pay real money for virtual resources. Virtual economies existed before the internet in card and role-playing games.
A virtual economy is one that exists within a fantasy world, usually a game world. These economies are mostly found online in real-time and multiplayer virtual worlds. Virtual economies have virtual currencies. While these currencies typically cannot be exchanged for real-world currencies at a bank or bureau de change, such trading does happen.
The nature of a virtual economy often mirrors that of a real economy, although some differences exist. Because people interact in these virtual worlds as a fun escape from everyday life, factors such as needing to buy food, paying an electricity bill, or being robbed on the street might be absent in a virtual economy. way home from work. People who play online games are usually represented by a character called an avatar. Avatars aren’t usually burdened with the same mundane restrictions as their controllers.
The resources available to avatars are often distinct from those possessed by their human counterparts. The property and services involved in a virtual economy could be, depending on the realism of the game, more or less similar to those found in a real-world economy. In one game, a player might buy a quiet country cottage resembling one that might be bought in the real world, and in another game, a magical floating castle. There are a couple of characteristics that even the most fantasy-based worlds tend to share with the real world: people can exclusively own things and can usually sell or trade them as well; something’s market value is usually based on what it can do or how many people want it.
In the more popular games, some people find that they start craving virtual items as much as they want real ones. This very real question is the main bridge between a virtual economy and a real economy. While many games have tried to ban such transactions, some players are now paying real money to buy virtual world currency or resources.
Virtual economies existed before the Internet, although not to the same extent. Card and live role-playing games also often involve economic transactions, providing players with points or other forms of virtual currency. In card games, many players have placed great value on certain useful or rare cards; this could be seen as a predecessor of the current and growing phenomena of real money being spent and earned on virtual resources.
[ad_2]