Published 2011

Virtual economies are found on the Internet, and most commonly in MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role playing game). Some of the most popular MMORPG platforms/games that feature a virtual economy are listed below,

• Entropia Universe (currency = PED)
• Eve Online (currency = ISK)
• Final Fantasy XI
• Guild Wars
• RuneScape
• Second Life (currency = Linden dollar)
• Warhammer Online
• World of Warcraft

Virtual economies are usually based upon a virtual currency, such as the Linden dollar in Second Life. However, a currency is not always required for the exchange of virtual goods, a player to player exchange of goods for goods, instead of currency for goods can comprise a virtual economy.

Some virtual currencies, such as PED in the Entropia Universe, are tied to a real world currency, such as the US dollar (USD). The virtual currency (PED) is bought and withdrawn with USD via the games developer (Mindark). However, this virtual real cash economy is not typical of most virtual economies.

Most virtual economies, such as those found in Eve Online or World of Warcraft, are based upon a player subscription method. Players will pay in the region of $15 a month to gain unlimited access to the game, and an increased chance of generating wealth in a virtual economy, in comparison to those platforms based on a real cash economy.

While you cannot exchange real world currency for virtual currency in MMORPGs such as Eve Online, players do circumvent this limitation by exchanging real world currency for virtual goods via payment services such as Paypal.