The nature of the virtual economy in a fantasy game world often resembles the real world, but there are some differences. Some variables, such as the need to buy food or pay utility bills, of course, may not be present in the virtual economy. Even the most fantasy worlds have a few things in common with the real world: people can own things and can usually sell them as well.

In more popular games, some people begin to crave virtual items as much as real ones. This very real demand is the main bridge between the virtual economy and the real one. Some players now, as we know, are ready to buy WoW gold, cards, keys, upgrades and other resources of the virtual world. It was not in vain that we mentioned World of Warcraft and its resources, because on March 29 the long-awaited update will take place thanks to which the Mage Tower will become available at any time, regardless of the additional event dedicated to time travel through Legion dungeons. In the Mage Tower, introduced in Legion, players could complete unique multi-class challenges designed for a single player. Now the doors of the Tower are open again, and you can once again show your perseverance and get new rewards.

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The main types of game currency
To understand everything in order, we will study the main types of games and currencies in them. Conventionally, there are two types of paid content.

Without the exchange of game values, the so-called free-to-play (FTP) games. The game and its main features are free. The gamer pays only for additional features and content. Therefore, the developer does not lose profit, since the user agreement prohibits the transfer of any elements (for example, an account) to third parties.

The system allows participants to exchange capital. This includes the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) genre. It is here that the economy is most developed, because it is possible to bypass the system and make transactions directly.

In order to control the financial flows, the creators resort to various methods, for example, they themselves create platforms for the sale of items that limit operations outside them. The more restrictions are placed, the more loopholes players find. After all, selling something directly can be much faster and more profitable.


Who and how earns on game currency
The mechanics of earning for participants in the market of virtual items and currency is different.

Farmers
Farmers are players who repeat the same actions in the game in order to accumulate items and upgrade characters, as well as look for rare artifacts and earn resources in order to sell them to other users or virtual value stores (RealMoney Trading - trading virtual goods for real money ).

Shops
Most often, stores are created by farmers or their team. They buy valuables from other farmers or smaller stores, sell accounts, artifacts and currency to users through sites on the Internet or spam in the game.


Prohibition of boosting organizations
Spoiler: regular gamers can still donate gold in exchange for favors.
The regulations for lawful boosting in World of Warcraft have been changed by Blizzard. Organizations that assist gamers in obtaining in-game cash are now prohibited. Previously, such transactions were permitted as long as they did not exceed game interactions.

In the WoW world, legal boosting is common: hundreds of offers for completing dungeons, raids, and missions can always be found, as well as improving your PvP rating, in numerous chats. Some gamers arranged Real Money Trading under the pretext of services that are allowed, while others accepted game gold as payment.

Blizzard has focused on account development services and cross-server deals performed without the owner's consent - both of which now breach the terms of use. Individual players and small organizations, local guilds, for example, may continue to provide services to other players; however, advertising must be done using in-game techniques such as trading conversations, auctions, and so on.

Is there a threat of default in the world of dragons and wizards in 2022?
Every economy has its ups and downs. If financial crises are familiar to many countries, can a virtual state face them? Yes. And this has already happened several times. One of these crises occurred quite recently, in October 2021 in the New World game.

There was a real deflation. By all the laws of the real world, the value of game money has increased dramatically, while the prices of goods, on the contrary, have fallen. Not wanting to part with "expensive" gold, people began to exchange goods with each other, and not spend hard-earned money in stores.

As a result, the barter method quickly became the norm. The users themselves note that the reason for everything is the high fee that the character must pay for repairing armor or making items. In other words, more money is being spent than can be earned, which has led to an increase in the value of gold.

Something similar happened with Diablo III in 2013. As a result of a technical error, it became possible to create an unlimited amount of gold. Of course, the company stabilized the situation, but by that time there was so much money that they lost their value. Hyperinflation has begun. The price of goods could rise several times a day, and the players tried to spend the funds as quickly as possible, because they instantly became literally nothing.

Similar situations occur in many games. In addition, farmers also make a negative contribution, who can first enrich everyone who wants it, but then leave the economy with nothing. Therefore, the dream of unlimited wealth can damage the entire system, just like in real life.

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Real Money Trading Control
The community of players as a whole is negative about any kind of farming activity that threatens the entire artificial system. Therefore, there is a trend to deliberately ignore the services of such dealers.

At the same time, companies actively regulate the flow of finance and come up with new ways to encourage participants not to conduct transactions with each other.

Anyways, compared to the total profit, the damage from farming is not big, and this only creates additional advertising for projects. This means that the project is provided with an influx of new participants who will also use official stores.