com 125 #11

The use of online virtual realities can be very deceiving to society today as technology continues to grow. As we watch the amount of innovation that technology has brought to our world, we can also observe that the amount of change that we have had to adapt to as well. Certain aspects from specific parts of people’s lives can sometimes be interfered by these online virtual realties. Within them, the realities each posses some sort of economy where funds are exchange, whether they be real or fake.

The use of these online realties does cost some sort of real fee to be access them to their full potential. For example, an “open” virtual economy that is very popular that I had recently been exposed can be “Second Life”. This is a 3-D world where you can travel to all sorts of places, purchase and by property, all for the cost of real money. They have something called linden dollars, which is translated into real money that you end up having to pay. Since this cost is coming directly from you and the actions that you take as a user who is actively involved with this virtual reality, it is considered an “open economy”. The reason for the start of this was that some professors had come together and decided that if people were interested enough in this and it became an actual reality for them then they would start to make a profit off the types of actions they could perform, and it would also benefit and profit the game itself. This is all regarding the use of open virtual economies.

The use of closed online virtual economies is a different story. An example of something like this is World of Warcraft, which has recently become one of the most, if not the most played user-to-user game on the internet. I personally think it is the most popular game out there, and I don’t even play it. The reason that World of Warcraft is not considered a open virtual economy is because users are not investing money in it to make money. Yes, there is a cost of something like 15$ for every months pay, but then that is it. There is not any money being exchanged between users or something, nor is there any sort of property or land that can be exchanged, or sold between users like you can do on Second Life.

The reason that World of Warcraft discourages this online virtual open economy is because it is there for the sheer interest and amusement of the users. I think that there is a much greater risk involving virtual open economies because it is affecting the user’s actual bank account, and their personal life. People can and will mistakenly get too involved with these online open virtual economies, and start to develop a sense that it is their “life”, when in reality, it is a game online. People start to “lose it” I think when they get caught up in these sorts of online realities. I’m not saying that these are a bad idea; I just think that people should probably be investing their money in something worth it.