I’m not a fan of the secondary market. In fact, that’s putting it lightly; I’d feel comfortable saying that, could I change any single aspect of the MMO world, I’d flush IGE down the toilet in a matter of seconds. Thus I could not resist attending the panel on secondary markets: “I’m Bid Four Quatloos for the One Ring; Do I Hear Five?”

The panel consisted of four members: Edward Castronova, Associated Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University; Daniel James, Designer & CEO, Three Rings; Steve Salyer, President, IGE; and Jeff Anderson, President & CEO, Turbine. Castronova was vehemently against the secondary market and Salyer, as one might expect, was entirely pro-secondary market. James and Anderson were somewhere in the middle.

The panel first discussed the pros and cons of the secondary market, and how it affected both gamers and developers. Daniel James went first, pointing out that the people behind the games make no money from an outside secondary market like IGE. James has actually solved this problem in his game Puzzle Pirates by adding two “Doubloon” Oceans (servers). On these servers players trade in two different types of currency: Doubloons and Pieces of Eight. Doubloons can be purchased on the Puzzle Pirates site, and players can trade with other players to exchange Pieces of Eight.Salyer went next. “A healthy secondary market improves the experience of the majority of gamers.” Salyer also claimed that the secondary market helps lengthen the life of the game by preventing players to quit of frustration. “Players don’t like obtaining wealth, they like the other aspects of the game.”