Chapter 12 Pensions, Share Options, Leases, Taxation and Foreign Currency.
Theora R. Rice. Definition Economy Mechanics Currency Design Real Money Trading Some Problems...
-
Upload
austin-ellis -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of Theora R. Rice. Definition Economy Mechanics Currency Design Real Money Trading Some Problems...
Virtual EconomicsTheora R. Rice
Outline• Definition• Economy Mechanics• Currency Design• Real Money Trading• Some Problems• Taxation• Interesting Stories
A Virtual Economy
“An emergent economy… observed in Multi-User Domains, Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing
Games, life simulators, and also browser-based games”
Economy Mechanics
• Sources• Do a job/quest• Shake a tree• Kill/loot something!
• Sinks• Traveling• Permanent housing• New items
• EVE faucet• Bounty prizes
• EVE Sink• In-game taxes
Economy Mechanics• Player-to-player trading• Takes place in auction houses, or bazaars
• “Freemium”• Game is provided free of charge• Money provides advanced features
Currency Design• BAD money or
“Efficiency is not fun”• Challenge!• Social interaction!
• Currency:• Not divisible• Not fungible• Misrecognizable• Troublesome• Can be stolen• Costly to store
• Perishable • Not private (flaunt it!)• Must be valuable• Must be reliable
VS
Real Money Trading• MMORPGS• RuneScape, WoW, Guild Wars, Warhammer Online, LoTR
online and Final Fantasy XI prohibit• Undermines game play• Subject to real laws?• Responsibility for financial loss
Real Money Trading• 2007 – eBay no longer sells virtual goods• EVE• Established authorized site• Blizzard – Diablo III• March 18, 2014 will be closed down
• Many other games allow, such as Second Life
Real Money Trading• Gold Farming• Approx. 30 cents/hour• 12 hours a day, 7 days a week• Grinding – Selling• Can sell to final customer for as much as $20 for same
amount
Some Problems…• Mafias• Gold or other valuables for protection
• Cyber brothel• Pay for so many minutes of cyber sex
Taxation• “Work in the fantasy world to pay rent in reality”• Taxation for real world value?• China taxes certain categories of virtual economies• 2007 Linden Labs (Second Life) collects value-added tax
on European Union users
• Many economists leaning towards “open-flow” system taxation• Would tax Second Life, but not WoW or LoL
Interesting Stories• Diablo II - Gold became worthless• "Stone of Jordan“ ring became more valuable and was
chosen by players
• Eve Online 2013• Revenant carrier was damaged beyond repair, worth
$8000
• July 2013 Animal Crossing Economic crash• Bug - allowed players to duplicate items and money
Works Cited• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_economy• http://virtualeconomyresearchnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/
designing-virtual-currency-by-breaking-almost-every-rule-in-the-economics-textbook/
• http://www.psmag.com/navigation/business-economics/the-real-value-of-virtual-economies-eve-world-of-warcraft-64593/
• http://animalcrossing.quora.com/The-Collapse-of-the-Animal-Crossing-Economy-and-the-Rise-of-Villager-Trading
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium• http://games.slashdot.org/story/07/01/26/2026257/ebay-delisting-all-
auctions-for-virtual-property• http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10974978/diablo%C2%AE-iii-auction-
house-update-9-17-2013• http://jvwr-ojs-utexas.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/7088/6333• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magazine/17lootfarmers-t.html?
pagewanted=all&_r=0