Virtual Goods: Why they exist

From mafiawars.wikia.com

My close brush

My senior year in high school I got extremely addicted to an embarrassing Zynga Facebook game. No, not Farmville. Mafia Wars.

Why was I into a game that killed people, harvested cocaine or ran illegal auto part shops? I have no idea. I claim temporary mental instability.

When I got to college, though, it became full-blown.

1. I had wifi instead of dial-up (like at home)
2. It was an easy way to kill “free time”
3. I developed a very strange sleeping habit, so I consequently had more time to play

Some of those days, I’ll admit, as I was barraged with offer after offer of Mafia money in exchange for real money, I considered it. But thank goodness, common sense rang as victor.

“I’m in college, where do I come off thinking I have money to waste?”

I don’t.

So, what brought on my craving to buy something that doesn’t exist?

From Felixonline.co.uk

Rapture


You know that feeling you experience when you’re on Pinterest or Twitter and you realize over 30 minutes (let’s be realistic, an hour) has passed. That’s why social media games are so alluring.

We get distracted, we get involved and we get procrastination done. Online social games allow for an escape. To some, it may be a bit of an escape from their real life, but for those like me, it’s just an easy escape from what real-life begs of us to do.

So, when you’re on the game, seeing your friends go higher and higher, and you’re still slowly crawling up the ladder chasing your friends, those offers of upgrades in exchange for money might sound like an almost plausible idea.

It’s kind of like when you watch an infomercial in the middle of the night and you have the brilliant idea to buy the product that just looks too insanely good to resist.

You regret it in the morning, but you still have to pay for it.

Some digitally advanced people already live in the cyber world. They thrive in it and buying products inside that digital life doesn’t seem like an insane idea.

The business of virtual goods is able to thrive because of these types of thinking.

Do I still stand by my decision years ago not to purchase Mafia money? Yes.

I’m not fully engrossed in cyberspace yet. I still want to spend money on things I can use, hold and see right in front of me - not something that is hidden behind a screen floating through the universe. But, as more and more people work, live and play online, the more real the digital world becomes.

So, soon the question will be: You pay for things in real life, why not in your the digital one?

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