When Games Mimic the Real World: 3 Ways The Virtual World Of Finance Eerily Models The Real World

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.

They say art imitates real life, and that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, then, online digital video gaming is the sincerest form of “monetary flattery” possible. In the fantasy world of online gaming, in-game economies imitate the financing activities of the real world. And there’s no better example of “flattery” at the highest levels than the in-game economy of blockbuster online game Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV). 

Virtually Everything You Need

Work for a living. Buy and sell property. Earn bonuses for jobs well-done. Take on a side-gig to earn more money. Trade things with others. As imitation goes, that virtual-world economy has it all:

• Residential districts and Subdivisions 
• Real estate that you can purchase
• Fashion and accessories
• The ability to buy, sell and own plots
• Housing plans, relinquishing land, relocation, and demolition of properties
• Trades and crafts – fighters, physicians, carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, miners, fishers…and more
• Jobs, Job descriptions and “promotions” – but only after you “master” a trait that clears a path to more jobs and activities
• You even have “recruitment agents” (Duty Finder and Party Finder), which is a matchmaking system for the platform, that assembles “parties” (much like project teams) together for a “duty” (like roles or positions)  

How about travel and destination activities? Well, FFXIV has those too. However, you may have to use a “travel agency” (the Home World Transfer Service), and pay a real-world fee (currently set at around $18 per trip). 

Earning Your Keep

Here in the real world, everyone must earn their keep. The economics of work is: You don’t work – you don’t earn a paycheck! It’s that simple (mostly). The FFXIV digital work-world enforces a similar financial regimen on its players.  

The model to financial success in the realm of fantasy is eerily like the real world – Risk-takers, entrepreneurs, adventurers, and hard workers get rewarded. Slackers get nothing! And like our real world, those living in the world of FFXIV have options to mimic real-world financial success.  

• ROULETTES

In our world, we are paid for jobs, tasks, gigs, and errands. Out there, in cyberspace, however, your daily activities (tasks, chores) are Duty Roulettes. Players undertake them to earn daily “rewards”, which come in the form of the in-game currency called FFXIV Gil – among others, including Allagan Tomestones, and Grand Company Seals. 

Many players (like some work slackers in the real world) ignore their Roulettes. However, those that fully earn their keep, by completing all their tasks, can easily net 70K-plus Gil. Doing your “dailies” is a great source of income, especially if you are skilled at the heavy-hitting jobs – like a real-world stockbroker or hedge fund manager earns.

• FIRMAMENT AND THE FETES

And then, there’s a plethora of opportunities to earn rewards, that you can turn to Gil. Like participants in real-world work, you can earn rewards like Skybuilders scripts, which you may then exchange for other goodies that you can use in your digital world – like minions, hairstyles, rare dyes, and mounts. And, as we often do with gifts we don’t want – sell them on eBay or Amazon – you can also sell your digital goodies and earn a decent amount of Gil in return.

And how about Air Miles or Rewards Points? Well, participating in FFXIV world quests earns you rewards like tokens and Fete presents. Players then exchange these digital rewards for additional goodies, or may sell them. But you’ll only earn them if you participate in, and complete, special events in the gaming economy.   

• HUNTS THAT REWARD

Want to earn some quick bucks? Why not hunt online for a side-hustle that’ll give you some spending money? Well, in the FFXIV world, Clan Hunts can net you some great rewards, and EXP (experience) that you can cash later (like prior job experience here on earth!). The process to financial gain is pretty much the same too – you go to the Hunt Board (online job site), accept the tier of bounties you wish – called Mark Bills (or pay/salary/fee), and then just complete the hunt. And, just as many recruiting pay “head hunting bonuses”, you may even earn some in-game virtual brownie points for recruiting a friend to join you!

Of course, in the real world, you’ll need to be properly outfitted for the job – laptops, steel-toed shoes, gloves, hard hats, a winter coat if it’s cold. Well, it’s the same in the cyberspace work world, except there, to land a job, you use Sacks of Nuts to buy Vendor items, like Diabolo's Wings cosmetics, and Striking Dummy. And how would you get Sacks of Nuts currency? You work on other projects (Hunts) to earn them!

Enterprising Approach - Taking a Short Cut

Here in the real world, cash is king. Out there in cyber gaming, FFXIV Gil is Gold. It’s as precious as fiat currency is to us in the real world. Many, in the real world, aren’t thrilled with their “regular” jobs, and often find ingenious ways to improve their finances. The same holds true in the gaming world. 

While players may get rich through in-game activity, like roulettes, fetes, and hunts, they're also compelled to spend some of those riches through in-game activities - just like we earn income, and spend it on necessities of life (and luxuries) in the real world. But going the "traditional" route of earning Gil can be tedious and cumbersome - just like slogging at a 9-to-5 job is. 

However, enterprising players now have a quick way of getting Gil – by trading - much like Day traders and online FX currency traders do in the real world. A host of 3rd-party vendors have set up trading mechanisms and parallel economies to help players get FFXIV Gil quickly. The flexible approaches used by these traders, to finance players’ in-game activity, include making those trades using “virtual” Face-to-Face methods, through the Market Board, or using FFXIV’s Free Company Chest.

The world of online gaming finance has come a long way since we earned “secret bonuses” when we played E-Motion (on the Amiga) back in the 1990s. Today’s gaming rewards are remarkably like those we find in the real world’s financial system – complete with currency fluctuations and gyrations. So far this year, the real-world value of a Gil has gone as high as $79.95, and $33.68. Welcome to the “real” fantasy world of financing!

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.