The trend of buying and selling online video gaming currency and virtual assets has been plaguing the MMORPG industry, (Massively Multiuser Online Role Playing Game, or MMO for short), for years now. In most any MMO played today, the most common complaint surrounds this bizarre phenomenon from players and game developers alike. The methods of collecting and distributing virtual assets have become nearly as creative as the games themselves as game developers struggle to fight this piracy of their products. What are virtual assets? What makes them so valuable? Are the effects of selling virtual assets really a problem?

In a video game, particularly in an MMO, virtual assets are any item in the game world that can be bought, sold, or traded by the players in the game. These assets might include in-game currency, armor, weapons, property, or any other item in the game that is dependent on supply and demand. Many of these assets can be very difficult to acquire in the normal course of playing the game. This is, of course, by design and equates to part of the challenge of life in the virtual world.

There are various reasons people play video games. For many, it is a form of relaxation and for others a way to satisfy a need to standout in the crowd. Either way, acquiring virtual assets is crucial to advancing ones status in the game. As such, just like in the real world, the demand for such items makes them a valuable commodity. As players with entrepreneurial vision began to realize the real world value of virtual assets, we began to see them going up for sale on websites and auction houses. In time, entire companies developed with employees being dedicated to the acquisition of these assets for the purpose of reselling them to other players for real world cash. This trend has now become a multi-million dollar industry operating as a virtual public black market which is in many ways illegal since it violates EULAs (End User License Agreements) and even borders on copyright infringement. In essence a new form of software piracy.

This growing trend is responsible for untold problems for players and game developers. Activities by sellers suck up valuable resources on game servers causing slow performance for players or even eventual crashes. Chat channels in many MMOs are rampant with spam from advertising gold or items for sale which most players find extremely annoying thus reducing their enjoyment of the game and limiting the entertainment value of the product.