"Ironically, if Ricdic had merely stolen the online money he could have stayed in the game. But exchanging the virtual cash for real dollars broke the rules and CCP banned Richard’s EBank accounts. “It unbalances the game,” Coker said."
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Gamer steals from virtual world to pay real debts by Reuters: Yahoo! Tech
Rafer sez:
Without efficient foreign exchange and floating currencies, game economies and the startups that operate them will run into large trouble. If you are investing in virtual currencies, have a plan for near-term openness using FirstMeta or whomever.