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Venezuela money worth less than WoW money

mgilbrtsnmgilbrtsn Member EpicPosts: 3,430
I haven't played in years, but for those who say that WoW is 'over,' It's still worth more than a nations currency.  I'm not even talking some itty bitty country.  Amazing.



http://fortune.com/2017/08/01/venezuela-bolivar-world-of-warcraft-currency/

I self identify as a monkey.

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Comments

  • BitterClingerBitterClinger Member UncommonPosts: 439
    edited August 2017
    This is actually not all that uncommon. At the time I created my GW2 review back in Nov 2015, 1 gold in GW2 was worth 20 Mexican Pesos or 5 Japanese Yen.
  • DragnelusDragnelus Member EpicPosts: 3,503
    I wanna go back. But im soo behind with artifact that it make me feel cripple.
    Tsiya

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    Dragnelus said:
    I wanna go back. But im soo behind with artifact that it make me feel cripple.
    That's the thing about making a game too complicated.  Raise the learning or relearning curve too much and people won't want to come back because they feel they could never catch up with their friends.  

    Ideally returning to a game after not playing it for months or years even should feel like you played it last week.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    mgilbrtsn said:
    I haven't played in years, but for those who say that WoW is 'over,' It's still worth more than a nations currency.  I'm not even talking some itty bitty country.  Amazing.



    http://fortune.com/2017/08/01/venezuela-bolivar-world-of-warcraft-currency/
    I think having hundreds of crowded servers on multiple regions says a lot more than the currency value. 
    Octagon7711
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Venezuela's problem is not drug cartels.  You may be thinking of Colombia, though they've had a lot of success at fighting FARC in recent years.

    Venezuela's problem is the government of president-turned-dictator Hugo Chavez, and since his death, Nicolas Maduro.  Venezuela is oil-rich and was once wealthy by the standards of Latin America.  It used to be one of the four main oil exporters to the United States (along with Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia).  If you saw a Citgo gas station, that was Venezuela's oil company.

    But Chavez and then Maduro wanted to implement their vision of socialism.  Eventually they ran out of other people's money and needed to spend money that they didn't have and couldn't borrow.  Printing currency so that you can spend it is how you get hyperinflation.  And that's how your currency becomes a joke and you get articles like the above.

    Venezuela actually isn't the most extreme example of this.  1923 Germany and 2008 Zimbabwe are the famous extremes.  That leads to things like this:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe#/media/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg
    MrMelGibsonGorwePhry
  • KobiesanKobiesan Member CommonPosts: 1
    Gold is way less liquid than real currency though.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    This is actually not all that uncommon. At the time I created my GW2 review back in Nov 2015, 1 gold in GW2 was worth 20 Mexican Pesos or 5 Japanese Yen.
    The value of a single unit of currency is a nominal thing and not important.  If you valued US currency by using cents instead of dollars as your preferred unit, that wouldn't mean it was worth any more or any less.

    The real problem is when people view your currency as nearly worthless because it won't hold its value.  You might be happy to accept a dollar bill today because you figure that it will still be worth about as much by the time you spend it, even if it's a month or a year later.  If you think that that dollar bill will only be worth half as much in a month, you'll be a lot less happy to accept it as payment.

    There were stories during an Argentine hyperinflation about businesses paying their employees multiple times per day because if they held the payment for two weeks or whatever, what employees earned near the start of the pay period would be worth far less than would be fair by the end of it.  That leads to get your money and if you want to save any, exchange it for a foreign currency as quickly as you can.
  • kabitoshinkabitoshin Member UncommonPosts: 854
    Dragnelus said:
    I wanna go back. But im soo behind with artifact that it make me feel cripple.
    You're not as far behind as you may think, in 15 hours of being a fresh 110 with no help from other characters to catch up I've almost maxed out my artifact. You don't have to wait for artifact knowledge anymore it's instant as long as you have the resources. Even better in the next patch all fresh 110's will be given artifact knowledge +40 which will basically make it take only a few hours to max your weapon out.
  • flizzerflizzer Member RarePosts: 2,454
    Dragnelus said:
    I wanna go back. But im soo behind with artifact that it make me feel cripple.
    You're not as far behind as you may think, in 15 hours of being a fresh 110 with no help from other characters to catch up I've almost maxed out my artifact. You don't have to wait for artifact knowledge anymore it's instant as long as you have the resources. Even better in the next patch all fresh 110's will be given artifact knowledge +40 which will basically make it take only a few hours to max your weapon out.
     I don't play WoW but always thought of the game as mostly PvE.  What does it matter how far behind you are then? I can't see how this would ever be a disincentive for me to play a PvE game.  Of course, playing with friends or wanting to engage in PvP is different so maybe that is what you mean.  
  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    Dragnelus said:
    I wanna go back. But im soo behind with artifact that it make me feel cripple.
    That's the thing about making a game too complicated.  Raise the learning or relearning curve too much and people won't want to come back because they feel they could never catch up with their friends.  

    Ideally returning to a game after not playing it for months or years even should feel like you played it last week.
    Gear curve and learning curve are not the same thing. WoW keeps raising the gear curve and lowering the learning curve.

    If they had raised the learning curve and that was his issue he wouldn't be coming back because the game would be too difficult to re-learn / comprehend. 

    His issue is that he is too far behind in the gear grind now. That's a gear curve issue.
  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    All countries that have oil as their main export have lost a lot of money on the low oil prices. Venezuela also made some not so great financial decisions and that does help either but even rich countries with oil as their main export feel the burn.
  • ArglebargleArglebargle Member EpicPosts: 3,381
    Quizzical said:
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Venezuela's problem is not drug cartels.  You may be thinking of Colombia, though they've had a lot of success at fighting FARC in recent years.

    ....
    Columbia successfully framed the FARC as the sole narco kingpins of Columbia.   This despite a huge amount of the drug trade being run by large plantation owners and the right wing paramilitaries.  But those groups supported the government (mostly), and thus were not brought into the conversation.

    Venezuela made a ton of poor economic decisions, and the country is paying the price as it spirals down the tubes.  Charismatic demagogues often don't have good plans for running things.  And the guy in charge there now doesn't have near the charisma of Chavez.

    It is weird to think of investing in WoW currencies as useful hedges against your country's destabilization though.

    If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.

  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    Quizzical said:
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Venezuela's problem is not drug cartels.  You may be thinking of Colombia, though they've had a lot of success at fighting FARC in recent years.

    ....
    Columbia successfully framed the FARC as the sole narco kingpins of Columbia.   This despite a huge amount of the drug trade being run by large plantation owners and the right wing paramilitaries.  But those groups supported the government (mostly), and thus were not brought into the conversation.

    Venezuela made a ton of poor economic decisions, and the country is paying the price as it spirals down the tubes.  Charismatic demagogues often don't have good plans for running things.  And the guy in charge there now doesn't have near the charisma of Chavez.

    It is weird to think of investing in WoW currencies as useful hedges against your country's destabilization though.
    Weird and impractical. If you get discovered selling currency in WoW you will get banned. I wouldn't suggest hedging money into any game as a protection of your assets. I would do foreign currencies and stocks / precious metals. But if you do want game currencies as part of your investment portfolio, make sure it's games you won't get banned when you go to sell.
  • MrTugglesMrTuggles Member UncommonPosts: 188
    edited August 2017
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    I am pretty sure Venezuela was a cause of socialism at its finest, not a product of drug cartels. Drug cartels know how to run a business. Socialism is just a failed concept.

  • MaxBaconMaxBacon Member LegendaryPosts: 7,765
    The currencies are so meh to even compare, they are worth differently because it depends on the grind-bar and in-game valuation that indeed varies a lot.


  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Loke666 said:
    All countries that have oil as their main export have lost a lot of money on the low oil prices. Venezuela also made some not so great financial decisions and that does help either but even rich countries with oil as their main export feel the burn.
    Declining oil prices alone is not the difference between being relatively wealthy and being unable to find essential medicines at any price.  Canada produces a lot more oil per capita than Venezuela, and has not seen their economy wrecked by the decline of oil prices.  For that matter, Saudi Arabia is far more dependent on oil than Venezuela, but they haven't seen a large fraction of their population lose a lot of weight in the last year because they can't get enough food to eat like Venezuela has.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Eldurian said:
    Quizzical said:
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Venezuela's problem is not drug cartels.  You may be thinking of Colombia, though they've had a lot of success at fighting FARC in recent years.

    ....
    Columbia successfully framed the FARC as the sole narco kingpins of Columbia.   This despite a huge amount of the drug trade being run by large plantation owners and the right wing paramilitaries.  But those groups supported the government (mostly), and thus were not brought into the conversation.

    Venezuela made a ton of poor economic decisions, and the country is paying the price as it spirals down the tubes.  Charismatic demagogues often don't have good plans for running things.  And the guy in charge there now doesn't have near the charisma of Chavez.

    It is weird to think of investing in WoW currencies as useful hedges against your country's destabilization though.
    Weird and impractical. If you get discovered selling currency in WoW you will get banned. I wouldn't suggest hedging money into any game as a protection of your assets. I would do foreign currencies and stocks / precious metals. But if you do want game currencies as part of your investment portfolio, make sure it's games you won't get banned when you go to sell.
    Obviously, MMO gold is not an ideal asset.  I'm not sure what options are available to investors in Venezuela who want to save money, as their government is probably trying to block a lot of things.  Keeping assets denominated in the Venezuelan Bolivar is not a sound investment strategy, though.
  • SomethingUnusualSomethingUnusual Member UncommonPosts: 546
    "All trade must be valued in money!" All I see in this thread here...

    The value of anything is determined by the receiver. What is one willing to give up for what one is willing to have.

     Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Should remain? If someone finds something of currency or barter value, would be absurd to think that one could not trade it. 

    In the end -- I'll repeat myself here -- What is one willing to give up for what one is willing to have. There isn't some big book of values out there, it's all belief. Without the belief in currency or anything it is worth nothing but the paper it's printed on. 
  • EldurianEldurian Member EpicPosts: 2,736
    Quizzical said:

    Obviously, MMO gold is not an ideal asset.  I'm not sure what options are available to investors in Venezuela who want to save money, as their government is probably trying to block a lot of things.  Keeping assets denominated in the Venezuelan Bolivar is not a sound investment strategy, though.
    Yeah. That's true. I would bet a lot more heavily on Project Entropia Dollars, Wurm Silver, or Shroud of the Avatar gold than I would Venezuela
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Gorwe said:
    Quizzical said:
    Wizardry said:
    It shows several problems,currency in games should remain in games and no become a part of the real world.
    The other is similar to Mexico,drug cartels run these countries/government and ruin every essence of what a country should be.
    Venezuela's problem is not drug cartels.  You may be thinking of Colombia, though they've had a lot of success at fighting FARC in recent years.

    Venezuela's problem is the government of president-turned-dictator Hugo Chavez, and since his death, Nicolas Maduro.  Venezuela is oil-rich and was once wealthy by the standards of Latin America.  It used to be one of the four main oil exporters to the United States (along with Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia).  If you saw a Citgo gas station, that was Venezuela's oil company.

    But Chavez and then Maduro wanted to implement their vision of socialism.  Eventually they ran out of other people's money and needed to spend money that they didn't have and couldn't borrow.  Printing currency so that you can spend it is how you get hyperinflation.  And that's how your currency becomes a joke and you get articles like the above.

    Venezuela actually isn't the most extreme example of this.  1923 Germany and 2008 Zimbabwe are the famous extremes.  That leads to things like this:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe#/media/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg

    Also, don't forget pre Balkan Wars Croatian Dinar.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_dinar
    That's more a run-of-the-mill hyperinflation.  That didn't give you the $100 trillion notes that Zimbabwe did.
  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,056
    It's called socialism.
    Eldurian
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • ArglebargleArglebargle Member EpicPosts: 3,381
    Viper482 said:
    It's called socialism.
    Mismanagement knows no 'ism'.
    laseritCrazKanuk

    If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.

  • ThebeastttThebeasttt Member RarePosts: 1,130
    Well you can't buy Venezuelan hookers with WoW gold so I'd say this article is BS.
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Viper482 said:
    It's called socialism.
    Mismanagement knows no 'ism'.
    On the contrary, when it comes to Mismanagement, Socialism is probably near if not at the top of the list. ;)
    Eldurian
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