There's an interesting interview with multi-national virtual trader IGE president Steve Sayler over on Okratas.com. The company, which buys and sells virtual items to players on Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to save them time acquiring them through the regular processes of playing the game, has been accused of undermining the enjoyment many dedicated participants experience through the virtual hard slog. By arguably importing offline economic disparities into a virtual world, the company, and others like it, are importing power structures beyond the designer's wildest dreams. Perhaps they're also responsible for the "depraved" activity that occurs in some of the games.
Check out the interview and read more from Terra Nova.
Update: I forgot to mention that Memory Card has a post on how publishers are getting back at folks who monopolise regions of the game, ostensibly in order to make themselves a pretty penny through organisations such as IGE. Apparently 800 accounts were permanently banned by Square Enix for camping out on lucrative spots in their MMOG, Final Fantasy XI.
