My final paper is going to involve the idea of spending actual money on items in video games. Recently, in the computer game "World of Warcraft," the developers made an in-game item available for purchase on their online store for $25.
http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000942
This "Celestial Steed" is what's called a "mount," which is something that players' characters can ride to make traveling around the in-game world easier and faster. All other mounts in the game can be purchased with in-game currency (worth no real-world value) or by completing quests. There is a big debate between players over this item. Many think that it's absolutely stupid and pointless to spend real money on something that only exists in a computer game. Some have even said that it "is a perfect way to tell who NOT to invite into your groups, because anyone who bought the horse is utterly retarded." Others argue that since they're already paying real money to play the game (players must pay a subscription fee), there's nothing strange about paying a little more to buy another addition to the game, much like buying expansion packs that add more content to the game. Also, people who buy this mount get it sent (in-game) to all of their current characters and future characters they make, plus it counts as a ground and flying mount; essentially, they'll never have to spend time acquiring in-game mounts as long as they buy this one.
Who do you think is right? Do you think that it's stupid and pointless to spend real money on things that only exist in a video game? Or do you think that an argument can be made in support of spending real money on what amounts to just ideas?
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I think that it is neither pointless nor stupid to spend money on a virtual creature for a video game. People buy video games for different reasons, but the underlying motive is seemingly entertainment. As a society, we spend an exorbitant amount of money on entertainment, and in that sense it seems perfectly normal that video game makers would capitalize on such a robust market (especially for World of Warcraft).
ReplyDeleteMoreover, virtual objects exist (as electromagnetic images, which are themselves physical things) just as normal objects do. Their phyisical manifestations are different, but they're both physical objects. It's just a question of what a person wants to buy. It's no more foolish to buy an image of a diamond than it is to buy a diamond, it seems to me.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend plays WoW and I think he would have a problem with buying something that has no value in the real world. I would most likely agree that it has no real world value but I would be a hypocrite for claiming that it's not right for companies to sell in-game items. For instance, I by "credits" on Facebook sometimes (50 credits for $5 or something like that) and in exchange I purchase an e-card or something like that and send it to a friend. What I get out of it is the sensation that I maybe put a smile on my friend's face with the e-card I sent her. Besides, $5 to me doesn't seem like a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteWoW on the other hand does tend to make ridiculous charges to play their game...
When you think about it, aren't you ultimately paying for the experience? You're paying money not for the item or for the game, but to enjoy the game more; you're paying for fun, essentially. This is, in my opinion, no different from paying money to, say, see a movie or listen to music.
ReplyDeleteErica, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's had a WoW playing boyfriend...
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting problem, though. Because we're talking about WoW here, and it's so involved, I can understand a really serious player paying $25 for a mount. I mean, it's $15 just to play for a month, not to mention the initial cost of buying the game.
Another interesting question: Said WoW playing ex-boyfriend's account recently got hacked, and all of his gold, gear, etc. was stolen (don't worry, Blizzard gave it all back). Before he got it back, he was pretty pissed, and understandably so; acquiring all of that stuff took a considerable amount of time. Since this was just intangible stuff in a video game, though...was it actually stealing?