We may soon be adding an extra line to this classic song, something like: "If you play a game, I'll tax your keyboard." That is... if the government has anything to say about it.

It's a well-known fact that the Massive Multiplayer Online genre is plagued by the ubiquitous "gold farmer" and the illicit "farming" industry that has sprung up to harvest millions of real world dollars off virtual assets. Many of today's current MMOs subsist around virtual economies created by their players. They exist because of the many unique artifacts, as well as in-game currency, which is hard to collect and/or generate. Thus, "farming" of these rare items has evolved into a secondary market that's raking in millions of not-so-virtual dollars. The term "farming" is a derogatory one in the gaming industry. It got this moniker because these "business men" will go out and hire people, usually for a pittance, in order to "play" a game 24/7 for the sole purpose of "farming" its uncommon objects. They do this by going to locations within the game world known to drop rare loot and continuously "harvest" it before a true and loyal player to that game has a chance to find it. They're also not above spam-begging for currency handouts.

Hop onto eBay and you'll be able to purchase, with bona fide cash - any number of virtual objects. Don't feel like spending months leveling up your 'toon to level 50 in City of Heroes? For a price you can have someone do it for you in days. Short on Influence (CoH in-game currency), Clink ("money" in Auto Assault, or Gold (the currency for World of Warcraft)? It's there in whatever amount your little wallet desires - for a price. Same with unique weapons, armor, mounts... you name it. IGE, according to their website, is "The Leading MMORPG Services Company," where you can sell, buy and trade these items for over a dozen different MMOs.

If you Google the world "power leveling" you'll be inundated by page after page of these so-called "service" companies that will quite literally power level your character from zero to the max level possible without even actually playing a single minute of the game yourself. Now, I can see where someone might be in a pickle and need some extra gold in a hurry, or have serious time constraints wherein they either need or want to circumvent some of the insanely tedious and boring aspects of grinding. I've been there and done that - once... just for the experience. But as with most of humanity, once you find an easy way out your opt to use it again because 1) it's the easy way out, and 2) it becomes an addiction. Now, if they were doing this without any negative side effects - eh. But there are several, not the least of which is that they're ruining the very experience of the genre itself.

Because of this, there's been major backlash from not just gaming publishers, but the gaming community in general. Case in point: PC Gamer, led by Editor-in-Chief Greg Vederman, recently made a bold, public stand against these types of companies. "Lately, 'gold farming' companies such as IGE and Power Leveling - companies whose business is the accumulation and (potentially illicit) real-world sale of virtual MMO property, including gold, in-game items, and characters - have begun running ads in magazines like ours. For the record, PC Gamer's official stance on these types of companies is that they are despicable: not only do they brazenly break many MMOs' End-User License Agreements, but they all-too-often ruin legitimate players' fun."

The selling of virtual assets has become so big that Sony Online Entertainment recently became the first major publisher of MMOs to create and operate its own "secondary market." The Station Exchange allows players of Everquest 2 to buy and sell the game's goods in a controlled environment. Other publishers are taking notice.

Back in 2001, then Indiana University economist, Edward Castronova figured that EverQuest's annual Gross Domestic Product - the total wealth in goods and services an economy creates - was around $135 million. In other words, it was approximately half the GDP of the real world Caribbean island nation of Dominica. That was five years ago, before the MMO boon occurred. Can you imagine what that number might be today? Virtually every development and publishing company in the gaming industry is working on a massive multiplayer game of their own, mainly because of the success from the likes of World of Warcraft and the host of games from NCsoft (City of Heroes, Guild Wars, etc.).

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