Context is Everything
The most recent Twisted Nether shared topic asks what would happen if Blizzard allowed you to buy game time with in-game currency. One of the responses was from the upstanding gentleman over at Honor’s Code. What he was quoted as saying on the Twisted Nether page struck an uneasy chord with me.
“You really are spending something of tangible value (your money) for something without tangible value (1s and 0s in a computer server somewhere).” -Honorshammer
This issue of tangible value and the distinction between 1′s and 0′s vs. paper currency seemed off to me and called to mind a great post written by Matt Mihaly about this very thing.
He posted an article on his blog about value and virtual goods a few years back that I think is worth reading again in light of this shared topic. You should go read the whole article as its a quick and easy read but here are some selections. The emphasis is my own.
Ok, first, consider that money itself is completely virtual. The paper you hold has no inherent value and serves merely as a symbol of the value itself. That paper hasn’t been backed by anything physical (like gold) in the US since Bretton Woods fell apart in ‘71. Money is entirely virtual and exists only by consensus enforced by the threat of physical force. In no way does the physical object represent any appreciable amount of the value of a $100 bill. What would you use a $100 bill for if the pattern of ink on it wasn’t exactly the same? You’d burn it for fuel or throw it away. In either case, it has virtually no value on its own.
…
The context is the value. It’s not the item itself. The item only has value when reflected back from the context. Remove the context and you remove the value. Shut down World of Warcraft and your items have just as little value as your golf clubs would have if every culture on earth suddenly lost all interest in golf.
Really, go read the whole thing. In context its much better ;)
It would be interesting to hear more of your own personal experiences and perspectives on the idea.
[Reply]
Shayzani Reply:
July 26th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Matt’s post sums it up pretty good. My attention has moved back to finishing up the warlock spell post that I’ve been putting off so I’m likely not going to elaborate more on this topic for a bit. I could call you about it though!
That’s right folks, that’s how committed I am to my readers. I will call you at your home to respond to your comments. Seriously. Try me.
[Reply]
Jilly
26 Jul 09 at 9:32 pm
I like the idea that I spent such a large amount of time to switch some numbers around in a database. It keeps me on the straight and narrow about wow priorities.
To me its the same point about how large the universe is: There are billions of planets and such, then Earth is really just an insignificant back water planet. And as such we’re really not cosmically important. But as we’re so small there is an element of grit and determinism that means we’re better off trying our best to make our time significant, rather than just giving up on life. Our time on planet is so much more valuable because we get so little and it has such a small amount of impact.
Thus my time in wow is critical too, as its a small part of my overall life, so might as well be valuable, enjoyable, and is worth doing well. Which is why I don’t like non-RP names, idiots, and rude players. (sorry – becoming a rant)
cheers,
Andrew
[Reply]
Typhoonandrew
26 Jul 09 at 10:58 pm
bugger – my overall point was: Context is paramount, game value is in the eye of the beholder, and wow should be fun.
[Reply]
Shayzani Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Haha, agreed sir!
[Reply]
Typhoonandrew
26 Jul 09 at 11:00 pm