Is Diablo III turning virtual economies Into real ones? (Video)

Heath says:

The latest episode of PBS Digital Studios’ weekly Web series, Idea Channel, from producers Kornhaber Brown, questions whether games like Diablo III are creating actual value from their virtual economies.

For years now, people have traded virtual goods in online games like Second Life for real money. A black market has arisen for World of Warcraft and Everquest characters that have amassed incredible weaponry and powers. And now, Diablo III has taken this commerce a step further toward legitimization by creating a Diablo III Auction House – where axes, swords, and other awesome gear have taken on real world value and are traded with real people for real cash right inside the game platform. This all begins to redefine how we think about the value of the activity within these games. Philosophers Geog Hegel and John Locke maintained that when a person joins a certain amount of labor with an object or goods, a certain amount of ownership is transferred. Given the huge amount of time and effort that goes into procuring objects in some of these games, it’s not hard to see a correlation. And while our legal system is scrambling to keep up with these new developments, it’s becoming increasingly more common to see virtual goods transfer via real-world cash.

Is Diablo III turning virtual economies Into real ones?

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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andyhavens

These are not new thoughts. Check out http://terranova.blogs.com/. There are some very smart people there (not me) who have been discussing this topic very deeply for the last 10 years or so. If you’re interested, read what Nick et al have to say about virtual vs. real economies.
- DataShade
  
  Not new, but … it’s PBS. On YouTube. That’s almost mainstream.
politeruin

Nah, not new thoughts. Valve have got in on this as well with their very own in-house economist who’s tracking their burgeoning hat based economy. Interesting reading if you’re that way inclined…

http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/economics/
Emo Pinata

Didn’t Runescape have a RMAH type thing for years?
oldtaku

Probably not now that Torchlight II is out! I can’t see continuing to play Diablo III, which hates you, when you could be playing Torchlight II, which loves you, unless it’s your job.

Then again, some people love that masochism. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is still around for people who think that Everquest is just too goddamn wussy.
- http://www.openbuddha.com/ Al Billings
  
  Point me to Torchlight II for the Mac.
  - oldtaku
    
    It’s on the way! Hang in there!
    
    But fair enough, I guess it’s the farmers and the Mac users right now.
- dreamshade
  
  “…you could be playing Torchlight II, which loves you, unless it’s your job.”
  
  TL2 will love me more when someone makes a mod to allow for respecs. Until then, I’m saving myself for marriage.
  
  There’s got to be some minor internet law that states that as any comment thread about Diablo 3 or Torchlight continues, the probability approaches 1 that the former will be denigrated and the latter exalted.
  - oldtaku
    
    I believe you’re correct on the law – it’s some measure of the disappointment of waiting 12 years for Diablo III and getting… Diablo 3.
DataShade

Minor quibble: aren’t unauthorized markets like these more properly described as “grey markets”? I mean … it’s not illegal to sell your character or loot just because the company makes a 400-page EULA that says so and pretends that the EULA is a contract that you entered into freely even tho’ you can’t negotiate or amend it at any time and they can negate or alter it in any way at any time without warning.

I’m not crazy for thinking that’s “on-message” for BoingBoing, right?
- Jubilex
  
  Diablo 3 has a EULA approved and company hosted marketplace for you to sell your stuff – they take a fixed fee or % (if it would be higher than the fixed fee) off the top so it’s a way for the company to make a crapton of cash.
  - DataShade
    
    Sorry, should have quoted “A black market has arisen for World of Warcraft and Everquest characters that have amassed incredible weaponry and powers.”
SeattlePete

Diablo III turned the virtual reality of getting my personal information compromised by a shitty DRM scheme into a reality.