SOME of you are probably aware that a number of online games have a thriving underground economy of players selling virtual items and even their high-level characters.
But are you aware of just how much real money some people are willing to fork over in order to get a coveted weapon or acquire a high-level character from the start?
How about P50, 000 for a high-level game character? Or P75, 000 or even P100, 000?
Whew, just how much money do these people have anyway? And why are they willing to spend so much money on virtual characters and items?
They make the latte habit almost pale in comparison — our INQUIRER.net business editor Salve Duplito should tell these people to manage their finances more wisely, heh 
Check out her Money Smarts blog — you’ll love it.
Our mystery guest in hackenslash: the podcast, Episode 5: “An Afro to Remember” spills the beans on the kind of money some people are willing to spend while playing online games. Plus how some teens — including out-of-school youth — are making a living piloting the characters of other players. Not that our mystery guest is condoning this, but the fact is that it’s becoming an alternative source of income for young people.
Find out too who Master Cheese, Cortina, The Rock of Doom, Max Payne-in-the-Ass and Dark Vader are. A warning, though: Parental guidance is advised for this podcast, due to some profanity, just in case some kids are reading this.
Here’s behind-the-scenes footage from the Episode 5 podcast recording session to whet your appetite.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:01 am
I admit that I’m also a Seller of virtual items, the people that usually buy virtual items are the ones who doesn’t have time to hunt or time to train thier characters that’s why they rely on buying virtual items w/ real money
March 26th, 2007 at 1:53 am
The boundaries between Virtual and Real wealth are now kinda vague. In my blog, I made an article “Online Gaming Economies” which details how the IRS (USA) is seriously considering taxing orc-loot from games such as WoW and even Second Life.
Hope this info helps.
Peace!
GM T
March 14th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
hehe no prob salve
yup, you figured out my evil scheme haha soon you’ll be a gamer too 
cheers!
March 14th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
hey thanks for dropping by steven. i know what you mean, but some people aren’t aware of it — and not everyone’s a gamer
which games are you playing? let me know if you’re interested in being featured in hackenslash in one of our gamer profiles.
cheers!
March 13th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
hey joey, thanks for plugging my blog! i wonder… after you have turned me into a blog addict… if you are going to turn me into a gamer too hahaha.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
wow, this is nice but i think that the news is a bit late,the online selling thing has been around in the philippines for quite many years now. I know so because i’m a gamer. ^_~