MMORPG=>RMT

Real-Money Trading (or RMT, Real Money Transaction) is a phenomenon that occurred with the birth of online-gaming, especially in the genre of MMORPGs (see also Virtual economy).

The case works as follows:

1. A player advances in the MMORPG and obtains in-game currency.
2. The player will then sell the currency on online auction sites, such as eBay, or to companies such as wowmine.com or IGE.
3. Other players will purchase, or bid on, the currency through transactions (usually online).
4. The company, or player, will then hand over the virtual currency to the buyer.

This has caused a serious problem within many online games as it deals with real money, and not that of the virtual world. However, this action is technically not illegal (other than possibly breaking the terms and conditions of the contract with the game operator), but primarily goes against the wish of the producers of the game and is shunned by many avid fans.

Follow the money
For every reseller of gold, there's a wholesaler who supplies it to gamers with real money to burn.

Now, let's go into the field for a firsthand account of another part of the online underworld.

A virtual economy (or sometimes synthetic economy) is an emergent economy existing in a virtual persistent world, usually in the context of an Internet game. People enter these virtual economies recreationally rather than by necessity; however, some people do interact with them for "real" economic benefit.