THE MAGICK KINGDOM OF 'MONEY'
There is a country called Norrath which, despite having a population of mere thousands, has an economy worth more than that of Bulgaria. You've probably never heard of it, and that wouldn't be surprising - because it isn't real. It's location is not in the Caribbean, but on a bunch of computers. Norrath exists purely in a game - to be precise, the online fantasy role-playing game Everquest. This does not however prevent it having the 77th biggest economy on the globe.
I swear I am not making this up - and no, it's not an April Fools either. (I was suspicious myself, I did the background checks and I've linked the evidence.) Ania Lichtarowicz, BBC Science reporter, wrote: "Online gaming has attracted millions of players and their [sic] rise in popularity in recent years is mainly down to improved graphics and more players to interact with. Research carried out in the United States shows that virtual internal markets, combined with illegal online trading on auction websites, mean that Norrath has a gross national product per capita of $2,266, bigger than China and India."
Illegal in the sense that this trading is contrary to the rules - and spirit - of the game, that is. It's not that the trading of imaginary contraband is contrary to US law. Yet. People are trading the skills, spells and sacred objects they gather in the game. Imaginary goods, for real money. This is being touted as some new sort of 'virtual trading.' According to Robin Dews of Games Workshop, an international fantasy game supplier:
"You go onto one of the websites, basically give credit card details over the internet and then arrange to meet them in game. You'll log onto the game world and meet them in a tavern or in a town ... you will meet the virtual other player who will hand over the gold to you or they'll hand over the sword to you and the whole transaction actually occurs in virtual space."
In other words, you're getting conversations like: 'Meet me at sundown in the Tavern of the Seventh Moon. I shall bear the Sword of the King of Night. I accept Visa and Amex.' Isn't this, you know, sort of spoiling the whole fantasy aspect?
Skills and objects can be exchanged in other ways, such as on auction sites like Ebay, and it's from the prices raised here that a Professor Edward Castronova from California State University at Fullerton calculated: "In terms of the monetary input and the hours input the things that people are creating are very valuable, and that's how I got to this figure that the production of value per capita in these economies is somewhere between Bulgaria's and Russia's."
Or put it another way: He's stark raving mad. He's extrapolating the value of the skills from what certain people have paid for them in isolated cases. After all, a thing is worth what someone will pay for it, right? Even if it doesn't actually exist.
So, how much will you give me for this invisible dragon? A dollar? I've got a million invisible dragons like this, so if I can get one person to give me a dollar for this one, then ... I'm a millionaire!
Economics is the fantasy role-playing game.