Online Game Character Sells For $10K
It turns out that filming yourself going buck-wild on a homemade 'Star Wars' lightsaber is no longer the nerdiest thing you could ever do (see: 'Star Wars' kid). Nope. That honor now goes to the 'World of Warcraft' player who just spent close to $10,000 (7,000 Euros) to purchase the online account of a fellow player.
In 'World of Warcraft,' as in many popular online games, characters are built up with new skills, weapons, magic and other abilities as you play, and play well. Though strictly forbidden by the game's terms of use, characters are often sold and transferred offline for cash -- usually only for a couple of hundred dollars at the most.
So, how good was this character that sold for 10 large? Without getting too geeky, let's just say that this Night Elf Rogue named Zeuzo was one of only two players in the world who'd managed to get a hold of the two legendary swords dropped by Illidan Stormrage. He also had four out of the five parts needed to make up a Tier 6 armor set.
Didn't catch any of that? Basically it means this guy was considered one of the most -- if not the most -- built-up characters in the entire game. And, that's out of 9 million players.
eBay was once a giant marketplace for 'World of Warcraft' accounts as well as for characters and virtual items from other online games. But, eBay recently banned the sale of any in-game characters or items (with very few exceptions), stating that such auctions violated the games' rules. That's too bad for eBay, since in Korea the market for virtual in-game goods is estimated to be worth $1 billion a year.
From Joystiq
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tickets @ Jan 31st 2008 9:21PM
There are too many World Of Warcraft fans. I used to have an undead priest(ese) and played until level 16. That's when I got bored and cancel my payment.
Johanan @ Apr 10th 2008 4:50PM
Game characters are not the only things sold for 10.000$. I was reading earlier today about a man who has payed 10k for two Westlife tickets for some concert. I bet he could have bought cheaper ones at the gate of the place where the concert is being held.
Joe @ Apr 15th 2008 11:15AM
The longest I've ever played a video game in one sitting was 5 hours of the Twilight Princess. http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/twilightprincess/ I probably got up once to go to the bathroom but I don't remember doing so. Of course it helps when you're all drugged up from getting all four wisdom teeth pulled the previous day. But 5 hours on a summer morning after graduating college playing a fun game and not having to do anything else...It was a great morning...