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Comment by daredevildave | Hacker News Reader

I don't think Zynga invented this. The big Korean games like Maple Story, Kart Rider, Sudden Attack had mixed game and real-life currency for quite a while before.

I remember going to a GDC (2007?) where western developers were heavily discussing the Korean model and whether it would work in the west.

Aside: IMO, Zynga is a bit of a cynical money making machine. The Korean model seems to be more about the game, while still making plenty of money.

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The Korean games remain fun to play. 9/10ths of things on sale are one-offs like a longer duration healing spell or a temporary strength booster. They generally didn't alter the gameplay hugely. Sure it meant a same-level player could pawn you, but it didn't guarantee it and in most cases the player using these specials wasn't a match for an actual hardcore gamer.

Then there was the marginal 1/10th of products that were like a level 15 armor but a level 12 could wear it. It didn't genuinely change much again, because when I played these games I frequently attacked well out of my level range for the huge XP you'd get because I was genuinely good at fighting in them.

I see Nexon cash cards in 7/11, Bestbuy, Zellers and even in pharmacies. I see Zynga getting sued for millions of dollars for ripping off competitors ideas (Mob Wars, etc).

Hell second life has been doing it for years.

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