Making Money: Fun or Work

After reading the two chapters from the book, Play Money, I feel like making money using MMORPGs is easy. The question I have is it really worth it? These games are made for users to have fun and be entertained. When turning a game into a business, would playing these games be fun or work. Play Money addresses these questions with some expert opinion from psychologists, but there is still no distinct answer.

The nature of the human mind is hard to generalize even in small subcultures. Some people such as Troy Stolle, an example used in Play Money, can do repetitive processes just to better their virtual character in order to make more virtual money. Is this really fun? I have done this a little bit for video games and it is fun for some time, but it gets tiresome after three or four hours passes. To me this actually becomes work without much reward. Money can be made in video gaming not just in MMORPGs but the time investment compared to the payout does not seem worthwhile.

I feel like the main difference between fun and work is how the competitive spirit of a person is affected. Winning is always fun and losing is never as much fun as winning. Competition can occur between multiple people, a person versus a simulation or a person versus themselves. I can see how MMORPG games fun even if they are repetitive, since I do just about the same thing in real life by playing varsity basketball. Going to basketball practice everyday and often doing the same arduous drills gets repetitive but there is competition implicit in the drills. I am trying to better both myself and my teammates. Once making money in a game it no longer is a game unless there is still a lot of competition is involved. Making money as a side affect of a game keeps it fun and may make it even more entertaining.

I have not played an MMORPG, but I have played RPG games where one can gain items but running around, fighting and doing tasks. A business like Blacksnow Interactive that plays these games for income, takes the fun out of the game for their employees. How does one tell the difference between their leisure time and work? I would assume employees of this company are very much obsessed with MMORPGs and video games in general. So would Lee Caldwell, a partner in Blacksnow Interactive, play a different type video game or another MMORPG that he is not as good at for relaxation or fun?

Basketball players that make money and are the best of the best still have fun in the game. They have this ultimate goal of winning a championship every year. They have the opportunity to prove each year that they have the best team after all the repetitive practicing. Other video games have championships over their own in which many gamers compete, but in many of these MMORPGs there is no ultimate goal. Making money by playing the game and selling items is not worth it since it takes away from the fun you get from the game. When as a gamer you get to the best of the best and all that is left to do is try to find rare items to sell, you should move on to another game and have fun getting better at that game.