MMOG coins were first introduced from the popular EverQuest (EQ) game with its “platinum” coin, also known as “plat”. Since the first pioneers in selling dishes on Ebay, many have argued and disapproved of those who have ever bought dishes online. I remember many players harassing others with rude names like “newb” and “ebayer”. It’s been more than 5 years that everyone has been discussing whether the MMOG money trading secondary market would ever be accepted.
Since the introduction of EverQuest platinum, probably more than 70% of gamers would not even consider buying dishes and discriminated against those who did. As of today, the numbers have dropped dramatically. About 40% of players now buy currencies, 30% still don’t like the idea, and 30% of the other players probably don’t care too much and may buy some for themselves in the near future.
Although online gaming currency is still a new trend for the online gaming community, it is becoming popular at a very fast pace. By the end of 2010, I think that even the publishers themselves will support the secondary market base. Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has started their own EverQuest 2 gold auction system and plans to start a new MMORPG in which they intend to sell coins and items themselves. With your support, I am confident that the secondary market will be accepted for a period of time.
The secondary market is as successful as the primary market. With the launch of World of Warcraft (WoW), there are now over 4.5 million subscribers. The vast majority of those players are probably new to the world of MMORPGs. A huge increase in subscribers means a lot more potential for the secondary market. So far, WoW gold has been the best seller of the year and perhaps a few more years to come.
With the high demand, many players have even started a career where they collect money, items, and other virtual assets and sell them to players or stores who can buy them at wholesale price and resell them to individuals.
The secondary market may one day even be larger than the primary market. Many players today probably spend more to buy currency, items and equipment than their subscription fee. The publishers themselves cannot even deny the fact that there is a lot of money to be made in the secondary market that, for a vast period of time, I am sure they will sell their virtual assets themselves. As for whether the players will support it or not, I think it is only a matter of time before acceptance, of course there will always be some who will not like the idea.