It is largely understood that the prices for online game currencies such as World of Warcraft, WOW Gold, Final Fantasy XI Gil, and Lineage II Adena fluctuate wildly because of the fact that these economies are unregulated. As a result, rampant inflation spreads due to the constant creation of new money at a faster pace than the creation of different ways to spend this money, also known as money sinks. This was first noticed in early text based Multi-User Domains, or MUDs, which can be considered the predecessor to the MMORPGs of today. The term mudflation was coined to describe this phenomenon which is still rampant in today’s most popular online games.

There are several ways to track if mudflation exists in your game, including checking the in-game prices of staple items such as raw materials, foods, or potions that are required equally at all stages of the game. Another, more readily traceable method, involves tracking the exchange rate of a game’s currency with a real world currency, such as the US Dollar. Ignoring the moral, legal, and ethical issues surrounding buying and selling game money, known as the real money trade, or RMT, several 3rd party companies do offer such services to the players of these games 

Until recently, the RMT industry had been dominated by a single company with a near 100% market share. But with the growing popularity of massively multiplayer online role playing games, MMORPGs, many more legitimate companies have sprung up to fill the added demand. As more companies and websites enter the real money trade, supplies become more readily available and prices become more competitive, at least theoretically.

The problem however, is that, even with the emergence of many more websites, the industry is still a strong oligopoly, a market dominated by a few large and powerful companies. It is extremely hard for the little guys to get noticed and trusted, even when they have better prices and better service, in an industry dominated by a few and rampant with fraud and corruption. But things are changing.

In 2006, several websites were created to compare the prices of many of the leading WOW Gold sellers, the most popular MMORPG to date. Other games were also sometimes added, and gamers could easily compare prices for several games from many different websites. These were great services that helped to find the cheapest prices for items like WOW Gold. Unfortunately they were seriously lacking in determining whether or not the price was at fair market value or if the price was inflated drastically due to the oligopoly nature of the game gold selling industry.

 Enter mudflation.com, a site similar to previous websites that compare the prices for WOW Gold, FFXI Gil, Lineage 2 Adena, etc. However, they also have the added feature of listing the prices at which these companies are willing to buy WOW Gold, known as a bid, and other game currencies. This is extremely important and a powerful method to determine not only the liquidity of a currency, but also the fairness of its pricing.

This is the power of liquidity and the bid/ask exchange market system, the cornerstone for our capitalist society. The real money trade industry is still young and facing the growing pains of any new industry. But as it matures and irons out some wrinkles, we can clearly see the direction it is going. Perhaps one day even speculators and hedge funds may end up investing in game currencies as they do now for real currencies

 以下文章感谢www.item4u.com的Lee友情翻译

由于缺乏有效的监管，网络游戏中游戏币如《魔兽世界》中的Gold，《最终幻想》中的Gil，《天堂》中的Adena等等这些游戏币，其价格经常会发生剧烈的波动。结果，随着货币数量的不断增加，物价飞涨开始蔓延，速度远远大于消化这些货币的的速度，最终导致俗称的货币贬值现象。这种现象第一次出现的时候还是在很久以前的基于文字的多用户网络游戏中或MUD，MUD堪称当今MMORPG的鼻祖。于是我们就用术语mudflation来描述这种在今天的大多数网络游戏中依然存在的现象。

判断游戏是否存在mudflation的方法有好几种，检查游戏中主要商品的价格高低，如原材料，食品，或者其他游戏中的常用物品。另外，还有一种更加简单的判断方法，就是考察游戏币与现实货币（如美元）之间的兑换率。忽略出售和购买游戏币（RMT）道德，法律，伦理方面的问题，第三方开始面向玩家提供这种兑换服务。

到目前为止，RMT市场仍然被某公司以几乎100%的市场份额占据着。随着网络游戏的流行，许多合法的虚拟交易公司如雨后春笋般涌现出来以满足市场不断增加的需要。随着越来越多的公司和网站进入这个行业，供给与需求将趋于平衡，价格将变得更加具有竞争性，至少在理论上如此。

然而，目前的问题是，虽然有很多新的公司建立，但整个行业还是为少数大公司所垄断。在一个新兴的尚不成熟的市场环境中，作为小公司，即使价格再有优势，服务再好，也很难引起玩家的注意和信任。不过，这种情况正在发生改变。

在2006年，行业内出现了比较魔兽金币价格的网站，主要来自各大型金币供应商所提供的价格，至今，魔兽币的受关注度依然高居各游戏榜首。后来，其他的游戏也陆陆续续加入进来。通过比价网站，玩家很容易地就了解到了各大网站出售金币的价格。对玩家来说，他们的确提供了一项伟大的服务。但不幸的是，由于行业的垄断，这类网站往往无法正确判断金币价格合理程度。

进入mudflation.com，你会发现这是一个类似上面所说的比价网站，有《魔兽世界》的Gold，《最终幻想》的Gil，《天堂》的Adena等等。除了网站出售价格的比较之外，还有各大网站收购价格的比较功能。这非常重要，通过收购价格的比较，不但可以了解货币的兑换，还可以判断其定价的合理性。

这样的系统是一个强大的流动性买卖交易系统，是资本社会发展的基石。虚拟交易行业还很年轻，正在经历着其他新兴行业诞生所必需经历的痛苦阶段。但是随着行业的成熟和壮大，我们可以清楚地看到行业发展的方向。也许某天，现实经济中的投机商和对冲基金也会加入到我们虚拟经济中来。