Expert opinion on the influences of bots on the economy and gaming enjoyment in mmorpgs Version dated 29 th March 2012 Compiled by Prof. Dr rer nat. Wolfgang Broll on behalf of Bossland GmbH

The relationship between gaming economies and the real economy

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Expert opinion on the influences of bots

4.2. The relationship between gaming economies and the real economy
If the game provider either intentionally or rather unintentionally allows but at least does nothing to prevent trading in virtual currencies or goods with real currencies (RMT
– Real Money Trading, see Heeks 2009), the influence of the virtual economy actually crosses the divide into our real economy. In case no effective countermeasures are taken by the provider, this means that the following transactions in MMORPGs and their environment are possible in addition to the two already mentioned above:
• Bartering of real currency for virtual objects
• Bartering of real currency for virtual currency
Even if the transgressive bartering between the real and the virtual world is not planned by the provider, it can usually be assumed that players will nevertheless still perform such transactions. External platforms such as Ebay are then used for this. This is true for all MMORPGs with very few exceptions.
The phenomenon of gold farming – the professional generation of gaming currency for the purpose of selling it – is definitely still a worthwhile source of income for professional players in certain low-income parts of the world (above all in Asia). In many
MMORPGs this also leads to the personal financial situation having an enormous influence on the success of a player because they can then possess more virtual currency and better virtual objects than a player who has to acquire this themselves by playing the game.
This means that the affluence of players in the real economy influences affluence in the virtual economy. The game economy is thus generally influenced by external factors.
However, according to Kaminski, in 2006 both inflation and deflation could be observed depending on the virtual goods and the point in time, which fundamentally confirms the above observations. It is, however, noticeable that in times of high gold farming activities

Prof. Dr. W. Broll
Gutachten zum Einfluss von Bots auf Spielspaß und Ökonomie in MMORPGS
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inflation tended to decline. As Heeks pointed out in 2009, it therefore cannot inevitably be assumed that gold farming actually has any appreciable effect on the mudflation immanent in most MMORPGs.
From a technical point of view it would be relatively simple for a game provider to prohibit gold farming or to make it financially significantly less attractive than this is still currently the case. With most existing MMORPGs, as with WoW, such measures have to the greatest possible extent not been taken so far. A possible influence on the game’s economy is obviously consciously accepted or at least tolerated.

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