Some games, especially online multi-player games, allow the players to collect digital items which can be used within its respective game world, which can then be used to simply show off the players virtual item collecting 'skills', (hint: collecting items is often based on luck rather than skill). One of the most notable examples of a game with such a system is Team Fortress 2, available on Steam, which has a multitude of hats of the player to collect. This game is often jokingly referred to as a "War themed hat simulator".
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| The 'Towering Pillar of Hats' cosmetic item in Team Fortress 2. |
For some players, though, they may ask themselves "do I currently have enough hats". And usually the answer will be no, since the in-game item drop system seems to treat hats as EXTREMELY rare items. So to counteract this, these players will dabble in the inbuilt trading and economy system, exchanging hats for hats, or even hats for real life currency. The perceived value of these hats runs on a heavy supply and demand model, quite similar to the real life economy, and is decided by dedicated online communities based on how much people are paying for them, such as the fine folks at
backpack.tf and the greedy, money-snatching, scamming, delinquents at
tf2outpost.com.
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| I am very proud of my own collection of hats. |
Fun and games, right? WRONG! Some players literally make a living off trading digital goods to other players, just ask the user Mattie! He makes tens of thousands of dollars a year through his dedicated hat for hat exchanges, and his Team Fortress 2 inventory is currently at an estimated value of $46,630 USD! Mattie! owns the largest collection of the 'Team Captain' hat, which is one of the most valuable in the game.
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| Mattie! and his famous 'Team Captain with the burning unusual effect'. |
-Theo
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