RSS feedFrom rags to online riches
I finally got my Noble’s Tunic. I was expecting to earn it from Kirin, but instead I’ve inherited it from a friend who’s just quit. As it happens, we killed Kirin last night so I think I can consider it earned anyway. (He was considerably easier this time around - NINs make better kiters and we had a much more solid strategy for dealing with the lessers). In short, this means my White Mage now has pretty much top-tier virtual bling. Think pure gold chains and a magnum of Cristal.
One thing non-players don’t know about MMORPGs is the complexity of their economies, which are vibrant and ever-changing. People make money by killing monsters for items, then making them into equipment: virtual weapons out of virtual metal. They hire themselves out as mercenaries to help with difficult missions, or as taxi services for less mobile characters. The priniciple remains, as in the real world, time = money.
We can analyse this virtual economy using many of the same metrics used in the real world. Inflation is notably rampant (50% or more a year); money enters the system but doesn’t leave it. There are also market trends, crashes, boom and bust, and all the regular rules of supply and demand. It’s free market capitalism at its most ruthless and predatory: no interventionism here. The GDP of MMORPGs is equivalent to that of Namibia.
One of the biggest issues MMOs face is Real Money Trade, or RMT. This is the practice of selling in-game currency for real cash - forbidden by the terms of service but in practice often ignored. RMT players generally ‘camp’ specific monsters 24/7, thus creating an artificial scarcity the items they drop. They then sell these items at a high price, accumulate a large reserve of gil, then sell it for real currency via eBay or a reseller website.
By the current exchange rate, my 40million gil of equipment would sell for roughly £300. Three. Hundred. Pounds. For a series of 1s and 0s on a database somewhere in Japan.
RMT are, of course, loathed. A lot of this is tinged by xenophobia: there is a common belief that RMT outfits are generally Chinese or Korean sweatshops. My experience tends to back this up. Accusations of cheating and ‘botting’ persist. Instances where RMT deliberately try to kill genuine characters are frequent, although both sides are guilty in this regard. It’s basically your classic player v griefer debate and, in the largely unpoliced world of an MMO, it tends to fall to the regular players to come up with a solution.
My server has had a big problem with RMT camping a particularly important monster, creating a bottleneck for many high-level players. There’s talk of a sit-in, creating so much lag and so many players that RMT can’t kill the monster effectively. I hope it happens - in its own little way it would be a proletarian protest against inequality. Power to the people!
See also:
- You play World of Warcraft? You’re hired!
- The future of credit cards
- Alone together in World of Warcraft
- Players who suit MUDs (an early form of MMORPG)
Admit it, you love it when I blog about Final Fantasy XI.
Categories: mmorpg, finalfantasyxi, ffxi, rmt, virtual, economics
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