How to make money with Everquest II
Everquest II is a very popular MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) wherein players acts as avatar in a massive virtual world and do various activities. Like in the real world, the avatars in the game earn money from their experience points and items that receive and sell-to the point that the game has an economy on its own like in a real country.
Some enterprising players want to translate the virtual money earned in the game into real world currency. This phenomenon of exchanging virtual money for real currency is not only a trend in Everquest II alone, but also many MMORPG games such as World of Warcraft. Some do this by selling in-game objects, currency or real estate in real auction websites such as e-Bay, eventually translating to real income. This practice has since become illegal in several auction websites, especially e-Bay.
Other players also resort to “gold farming” (constantly earning virtual money by battling, which would be sold to other games) and “power leveling” (hiring a professional gamer to play one’s avatar) just to earn money.
In reaction, Sony, the developer of the game, launched Station Exchange in 2005 for players to legally buy and sell in-game items for virtual profit. The site also assured players of secure transactions. Live Gamer online took over Station Exchange’s role as of March 31, 2007.
Money-making tips on Everquest II
There are various ways to generate a lot of “virtual income” in the game, as well as many MMORPGS, suggested in several websites. Specific to Everquest is “crafting” which is manufacturing in-game items for sale to other games. Players in “crafting” engage less in battling the game’s resident monsters.
Like in selling goods in the real offline world, money is also exchanged in the game. A good tip is to sell rare items as supply and demand might pull their prices and up again. Also, following supply and demand, the player can set prices depending on the whim of the other players, but a good idea is to haggle for the best price when buying, but giving the best high price when selling. Selling to the right NPCs (non-playable characters) with the highest faction also ensures the player that the items sold would translate into income. A player can also sell non-rare harvested items as some of them can sell in a much higher price.
It is also good to sell on broker and the player should distinguish saleable items on broker from “vendor trash” depending on the law of supply and demand, as these terms apply in real-world economics.
When it comes obtaining “tradeskills,” the most profitable is of the sage or jeweler, as these skills are famous making easy money. Players can also be provisioners that earn very steady incomes that add up easily.
For players wanting to sell items to other players, they can set up usually shop in Freeport, where merchants and artisans usually sell their wares. But it also good to do so in Neriak, where living there is cheaper and is equally accessible as Freeport. But players must set up shop as accumulating too many items can upset the broker.
Selling goods on IGE
For players who want to sell their in-game items for real money, some people turn to third party exchange sites, such as IGE.com for profit. Sites like IGE act as a middleman wherein it uses real money to buy virtual in-game goods from certain players and sells them to other players. But after such transactions were done, exchanges and hand-offs have to be physically done back in the game.
The conversion of in-game money into actual currency is problematic, however. Like real-world economics, the virtual prices in the game can change to inflation and deflation and because the game has no “central bank” to control the flow of money, the money in the game continues to flood its market. Even IGE.com admits that coming up with an accurate real cash-virtual money exchange rate can be tough.
If a player still wants to sell extra game currency on IGE.com, the player must contact the company through e-mail using the “$ell Extra Currency” link. In the e-mail to be sent, the player must fill out the name of the game, the server the player uses in the game, the amount of currency to be sold, and other additional information. The company will send a reply and further instructions, especially on the exchange rate to be used in the sale.
Whether done legally or illegally, selling virtual currency for actual money does make a profit for many players. But they must put into mind that sooner or later, when real-world governments take notice of the profitabilities of such MMORPG games such as Everquest II, the virtual currency they earn might also subject themselves to real-world taxation, as they are exchanged in fair market values.
Photo Credits: Gruntzooki