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Full Time Job Trading In Virtual Video Game Goods
from the sounds-risky dept
Just as we were talking about the virtual auctions at There.com comes the news that some guy is trying to make a living buying and selling virtual goods in Ultima Online, the popular online game. That's right, his full time job is now hanging out in the game (and on eBay and other sites) and trying to buy and sell things for real cash. This seems to have at least a slightly larger chance of succeeding compared to There.com. In Ultima Online, at least characters increase their "value" by doing stuff. In There.com, it's entirely about consumption of virtual goods. Still, I wonder how sustainable this is. In a test, the guy said he made $1,000 in three weeks - though, they don't indicate how much time he put towards the test. Of course, $1,000 in three weeks is not a lot to support a wife and a kid while living in San Francisco. He's also worried that if his account gets hacked into and he loses everything, the police really aren't going to care. Well, with so much going virtual these days, maybe he should buy himself a "virtual" insurance policy. Now, there's a business opportunity.
Reader Comments
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Julian Dibell
Heh. I have been following his travails for a while now. He blogs - par for the course - and can be read here - http://www.juliandibbell.com/playmoney/
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No Subject Given
there was an article in wired last year with a similar story... -DPG
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busted!
since maz busted me for a one-line comment with not so much as a link, here is a link to the story, along with the subhead to pique your interest: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/gaming.html
The 79th Richest Nation on Earth doesn't exist. The population is 225,000, the hourly wage $3.42. Welcome to virtual paradise, where a carpenter can live in the castle of his dreams - if he doesn't mind an 80-hour workweek double-clicking pig iron and hoarding digital dung.
It's a pretty interesting story about people making a legit living selling cyber realestate and goods. It makes you wonder why the game makers don't develop their own exchanges and cash in on the deal. Is it possible that ebay is so enchrenched that everyone has given up on creating their own niche auction/sales sites?
DPG
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Re: busted!
Heh. Can I bust you a second time for not including the relevant Techdirt links?
Techdirt had the story about the size of the virtual gaming economy (actually before the Wired article...).
We also had an even earlier story about a game that was setting up their own auction system.
;)
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