Game character, or avatar, acts as the nexus of virtual assets that the player collects and produces while exploring online game worlds. What is the value of this virtual identity in the online game community? Furthermore, what are the components of play that provide added-value to the players?...

Selling virtual goods for real money is an increasingly popular revenue model for massively-multiplayer online games (MMOs), social networking sites (SNSs) and other online hangouts. In this paper, we argue that the marketing of virtual goods currently falls short of what it could be. Game...

Millions of people are spending time and money on virtual goods: clothes for their characters in online hangouts, weapons for their fighters in massively-multiplayer games, and presents for their friends in social networking platforms. In this dissertation, I locate virtual goods as the latest...