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10
Virtual Goods and Design for
Virtual Shopping Environments
Great things are not done by impulse, but a series of small things brought together.
—Vincent Van Gogh
10.1 WHY DO PEOPLE BUY VIRTUAL GOODS?
As game developers and virtual worlds designers work to build even more detailed immersive environ-
ments, and the resident population seeks to embellish their virtual surroundings, the need for virtual goods,
clothing, furnishings, etc. keeps increasing. A virtual economy with its virtual marketplace has been part
of virtual worlds and online games for many years now, and the phenomenon of how it works and why real
people buy virtual goods has ...