In this special edition on virtual-world goods and trade, we are pleased to present articles from a global cohort of contributors covering a wide range of issues. Some of our writers, such Edward Castronova, Julian Dibbell or KZero’s Nic Mitham will be well known to you as distinguished leaders in the field, but it is equally our pleasure to introduce exciting new voices. Here you will find pieces written by academics, practitioners, journalists, a documentary filmmaker and perhaps the youngest contributor to JVWR yet, Eli Kosminksy, who attends high school in upstate New York. We would also point out that this issue extends its format to include Anthony Gilmore’s pictorial story, Julian Dibbell’s audio interview, and Lori Landay’s machinima. In real life, most contributors live in the US, the UK and Europe, and we, the editors, are based in Australia and France.
Table of Contents
Issue Editors' Corner
| Why Virtual-World Economies Matter | |
| Mandy Salomon, Serge Soudoplatoff |
Interactive Online Exhibits and Demonstrations
| Rethinking Virtual Commodification, or The Virtual Kitchen Sink | |
| Lori Landay |
Invited Articles
| On Money and Magic | |
| Edward Castronova |
| Characteristics of the Virtual Economy (after ‘State of Play VI’ Conference , 2009) | |
| Julian Dibbel |
| China’s New Gold Farm | |
| Anthony Gilmore |
| Virtual Goods: Good for Business? | |
| Nic Mitham |
Peer Reviewed Research Papers
| "We Will Always Be One Step Ahead of Them" A Case Study on the Economy of Cheating in MMORPGs | |
| Stefano de Paoli, Aphra Kerr |
| An Exploration of Entrepreneurship in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: Second Life and Entropia Universe | |
| Stéphane Kieger |
| Born Virtuals and Avapreneurship: A case study of achieving successful outcomes in Peace Train – a Second Life organization | |
| Robin Teigland |
| Virtual Commerce (V-Commerce) in Second Life: The Roles of Physical Presence and Brand-Self Connection | |
| Seung-A Annie Jin, Justin Bolebruch |
Research Papers
| Understanding "Gold Farming" and Real-Money Trading as the Intersection of Real and Virtual Economies | |
| Richard Heeks |
| World of Warcraft: The Viability of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as Platforms for Modeling and Evaluating Perfect Competition | |
| Eli Kosminsky |
“Think Pieces”
| Currencies and Capitalisms on the Internet | |
| Minna Ruckenstein |
| Licensing Considerations for OpenSim-Based Virtual Worlds | |
| Shenlei E. Winkler |
Monographs
| Teens and Virtual Goods: The Fun, Useful and Affordable Luxuries that are Driving the Virtual Economy | |
| Maura Welch |
Managing Editor Corner
| Topping from the Viewfinder: The Visual Language of Virtual BDSM Photographs in Second Life | |
| Shaowen Bardzell |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
The full website for the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research can be found at: http://jvwresearch.org
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research