02-14-2007, 11:25 PM
Quote:Why does second life get so much press? Its just an mmo version of the sims, and only has ~65k subscribers. This puts it well behind at least a dozen other MMOs that never get any press, with the exception of WoW.
As for the taxing gold. Good luck with that. It has no value and can be created at will by people in game and by Blizzard. Its in game value is about 1/10th what it was 2 months ago, try explaining why to someone at the IRS trying to maintain an exchange rate who has never played an MMO.
I blame second life and its real money <-> game money conversion. If it wasn't for the IRS would leave the rest of the gaming world alone with our piles of imaginary money.
Well, Second Life certainly made the problem worse by not officially disallowing the exchange, but games like WoW probably would have been enough to get this started. Even though it's against the terms of use to sell in-game stuff for real money, it happens, and lots. So, the IRS gets interested.
The comment about the fluctuating value of in-game gold is interesting: Suppose the exchange-rate to real moeny is dropping (in-game gold is worth fewer $$), under what scenarios can I claim a capital loss and actually deduct something from my taxes? I'm not a tax-law expert, but it seems to me that if I purchase 1000 gold for $40 today, then sell it next month for $20, that I've taken a kind of investment loss. Can I put this down on my schedule D?:)
This is all stupid. I hope congress and the IRS get a freaking clue and leave gaming worlds out of real-world tax laws.
<span style="color:red">Terenas (PvE)
Xarhud: Lvl 80 Undead Priest
Meltok: Lvl 70 Undead Mage
Ishila: Lvl 31 Tauren Druid
Tynaria: Lvl 66 Blood Elf Rogue
Xarhud: Lvl 80 Undead Priest
Meltok: Lvl 70 Undead Mage
Ishila: Lvl 31 Tauren Druid
Tynaria: Lvl 66 Blood Elf Rogue