The value of money is only what you perceive it to be. For some cash is more important than having money in bank account. Whereas others believe that money invested in online environments is money well spent. For some reason people are becoming more willing to dish out the cash to fulfill their online needs. Large corporations are taking full advantage of this as described in the Castranova article. Sony’s Norrath was a tool used to feed the emotional needs of the users. This is similar to real life economy which is often reflective of people’s emotional wants and needs. The investment made into an avatar is what drives the decisions to surround the character with new virtual clothes, homes, and accessories. None of this necessary in life, but not many things are. Like real life many economic decisions are based on entertainment.” As it turns out, VWs seem to be able to offer entertainment that is attractive enough to many people that they sacrifice major portions of their time to it” (Castranova, 9). Those who are addicted to these virtual worlds are allowing themselves to be exploited much like the Chinese gold farmers.
The billion dollar virtual trading that facilitates WOW’s economy is proof that ecommerce has implications in both worlds. Not only is this a video game that is being utilized to make profits, but it is also sustaining people who gold farm for a living. The farmers are forced to slave at a computer for endless hours for basically nothing. This is the epitome of weisure gone wrong. But the real problem is that this economic system is able to work because these people have no other choice when other jobs pay the same. These gold farms also take advantage of the obsessive nature of virtual worlds and the demand for coins to upgrade armor and weaponry. It’s a vicious cycle that I don’t see ending any time soon. This situation is a bit different than the other side of the spectrum where players are willing to spend countless amounts for upgrades. Little do they know, the gears that help this mechanism run live on the other side of the world and make next to nothing.
The previous two economic systems weren’t healthy or balanced. The only system that had benefits was the system created by the IBM/ Second Life partnership. I actually felt that real productivity was present in the virtual conference. It was cost effective and easy to use for those who were trained prior to the event. I see this as a perfect use for this type of technology. Virtual worlds in my opinion should be used as communication channels that aim to replicate real life communication. The gold farmers on the other hand were not achieving anything of value, while the IBM employees were being productive both online and offline.
