It’s as real as you make it

I need coffee.

I bought some yesterday and yet failed to bring it in to work. Apparently today I woke up on the fail side of the bed. Those of you that have been around for  a while know what this means.

I get random.

Bizarre tangents get explored, ridiculous posts get written, and I generally get e-mail telling me to go back on my meds. Well, such is life.

Today we will be exploring a tangent that came to mind after I read a news story about the Korean Supreme Court.

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The Korean Supreme Court recently decided that virtual currency is in fact real. The reasoning is that it is earned through “work” as opposed to through gambling.

Interesting.

If the government here in the United States were to decide to agree with them how would that effect me?

Would I have to pay taxes on my glyph business?

Could I write off the money I spend on flasks and buff food as a business expense?

Perhaps only on runs where one of my crafters gets a new pattern to drop?

How about paying government fees?

Could I cover the annual registration for my car with in-game gold? 

Could I pay my income taxes the same way?

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These are the kind of things that run through my head after I read a simple news story and put it together with whats going on in my life. It is all about the real world value of in-game currency. Let me assure you it has real value.

Here is an example.

My sons teachers cannot stop gushing about how his grades have improved over the last several weeks. He has gone from just scraping by to excellent across the board. They are truly impressed, and I am as well.

How does that have anything to do with the real value of virtual money?

If he makes honor roll I buy him the epic flight skill for his main.

Right now he is farming 5000 gold in a classroom.

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Yes the gold has real value.

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