Welcome to the New World, and that world is Virtual
By MadOvid
@MadOvid (67)
Canada
March 3, 2007 11:19pm CST
We are living in a new world, where increasingly our lives are spent in virtual worlds of ones and zero's. I know a few people who spend a large part of their lives on online communities called MMORPG's, virtual worlds that exist totally on-line.
In one game called Second Life, you can buy and sell products that can only be used in this virtual world, you can then exchange money that you make in this world, currency that exists only in this world, into 'real' money. The IRS has even looked into taxing these online economies. People spend hours on these games making friends, acquiring goods, and making money.
This raises a few questions: Do online experiences have the same or equal value to our real life experiences? Is their a difference between the two?
What does this imply about the value we put on money? That it has no value? Or something else?
1 response
@Shadenfrauder (355)
• Philippines
4 Mar 07
Hmm.. I used to do the things you have described in the 2 years I had been hooked up to MMORPG..^^
We would acquire rare items in-game, then sell them for the in-game currency. But some in-game items are ultra-rare, and so we would sell them - illegally - with real life currency as payment.
A friend of a friend both a secondhand PC and a brand new cellphone by selling an in-game Muramasa in Ragnarok Online back when the weapon first appeared.
Now about your questions:
1. Do online experiences have the same or equal value to our real life experiences?
I find that hard to answer, though back then I would scoff at the idea of online experiences having even a value at all. I have met a lot of friends online - friends from other countries I wouldn't have known existed otherwise. The times we have spent chatting and playing together are priceless, because we built friendships through that - some of which are bound to last a lifetime.
Heck, I'm even planning to fly over to their countries someday soon! ^_^
2. Is there a difference between the two?
From my experience, the only difference I saw was that it's easier - for me - to let my personality show through. In RL (real life), I have a cool exterior, which my friends online find hard to believe. It's the anonymity buffer offered by the Net - either people will be more dishonest or more honest - and it's always easier to tell the truth than to lie.
3. What does this imply about the value we put on money?
Hmm.. One of the things I like in MMORPG is that you learn about the economy of the game - which can translate into learning for real life. We would do everything we can - fight every monster and sell and sell - just to have enough currency to acquire a specific treasure. Some learn how to be thrifty; some learn how to be streetwise; some learn to hoard; and still some learn to borrow. XD
So what am I trying to say? Others put too much value on in-game currency they forgot to value real-life currency. It can mean that they don't really realize the value of money, the way they spend it on gaming. But others, like me, realized in time that money IS valuable - that without it, I won't be able to purchase any thing that I need. So I learned to cut back, until now, 2 years later, I'm not playing anymore.
Well, maybe just the free games now.^^
I sure hope I made sense. -_-"
