The idea of video game economies

So, to a lot of gamers this is probably something that either makes you cringe or giggle with joy. And the reason for that is simple, we play video games to empower ourselves (a lot of the time at least) and no fantasy is more prevalent in anyone's mind than the fantasy of being rich. And in a video game there's no real fear, it's not real money you're trading with, so it's fine.

Now, the non gamers might need some explanation as to what a "video game economy" is. The most basic explanation is a multiplayer game with a currency built in, like Diablo 2/3 with gold, and world of Warcraft with the same currency. But other games have an economy based entirely on items. A good example is team fortress 2, where your main source of wealth is determined by how many costume pieces you have, and where some of the most valuable items are burning hats and apple Earplugs. TF2 is weird.........

The funny thing is that this virtual economy is actually something I've been getting into recently. I've started trading on TF2 (with some pretty good success) and it's actually very enjoyable.

However, the downside of this kind of economy is that the hat that was worth half a billion Unusuals when it first came out, might only be worth 2 refined metal the next day.

We saw this happen in Diablo 2. Hackers and dupers became so common that gold became virtually worthless, and the only item that people would accept as currency was the Stone of Jordan. So now Diablo 2's economy is themed around rocks, and gold is worthless. What a strange strange world........

Thats all I've got, a brief look into the weird world of video game economies.

See you all next time.

-Nova