"i'm a bit confused by this post, partly because you seem to be agreeing with me for the most part."
Sorry if my post was unclear. I _am_ agreeing with you. I was expanding on your comment, not taking issue with it.
There is no rebuttal to your point. The only difference between your examples and Jon's example of Ultima Online property is one of expected (and I would argue, actual) value.
No one questions a decision to buy minutes from a phone company. No one questions that you bought those minutes with a piece of plastic with numbers on it, or through a "virtual" transaction of some other kind.
The only thing interesting about the eBay purchases of UO "virtual" property is the fact that people are buying what I would consider to be crap.
Jon's brain has confused him again. He looks for meaning and trends which don't exist. He scrathes and claws for cultural subtext never thinking that the trend is just one more step in a road our culture has been on for thousands of years.
Re:virtual property (Score:1)
Sorry if my post was unclear. I _am_ agreeing with you. I was expanding on your comment, not taking issue with it.
There is no rebuttal to your point. The only difference between your examples and Jon's example of Ultima Online property is one of expected (and I would argue, actual) value.
No one questions a decision to buy minutes from a phone company. No one questions that you bought those minutes with a piece of plastic with numbers on it, or through a "virtual" transaction of some other kind.
The only thing interesting about the eBay purchases of UO "virtual" property is the fact that people are buying what I would consider to be crap.
Jon's brain has confused him again. He looks for meaning and trends which don't exist. He scrathes and claws for cultural subtext never thinking that the trend is just one more step in a road our culture has been on for thousands of years.