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Whether you're AFK in Limsa Lominsa or preparing for your next raid, any FFXIV player will tell you that spam bots and real-money scams are inevitable. The scams come in different forms, too. Some crooks sell 'clears' or 'runs' of difficult content, and others claim to have weapons, cosmetic items, and even currency to sell.

Buying these virtual goods with actual money is known as 'real money trading' – or RMT. And if you've heard of RMT, it's probably because the practice is heavily frowned upon by players and developers alike.

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I'll take a look at RMT in this post, and figure out how it happens, who's paying for it, and why. So, let's dig in!

What is RMT?

The monetary exchange involved in RMT is totally different from a player buying in-game items with in-game currency. Slay a few boars or turn in a few quests, for example, and you'll probably earn yourself some virtual currency. You can spend this however you like; on potions, armor, mounts, or whatever else takes your fancy. This in-game currency can only be earned and spent in the game itself.

RMT, on the other hand, brings real-life finances into the mix. It's also a scam more often than not, and pretty prevalent across just about every MMO.

Some RMT tempts players by offering to 'power level' their characters

You'll see a lot of RMT involving the exchange of real-world funds for in-game currency. Some RMT tempts players by offering to 'power level' their characters, doing all the hard graft and grinding for them so they can jump into high-end content. Power leveling requires the player to hand over their login details, though, and dodgy scammers could very well seize the account for themselves. After all, plenty of RMT sees characters and accounts themselves being sold, pre-leveled and kitted out with armor and weapons, ready to go.

These accounts might've once belonged to victims, but a player can opt to sell their account via RMT, too, or use RMT to facilitate a sale to another player.

The folks behind these RMT scams will certainly hope that you make life easy for them and hand over your login credentials and financial information willingly. However, others resort to hacking accounts and stealing this information.

Killing the vibe

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Most folks condemn RMT because the thought of losing access to your MMO account is sometimes just as devastating as the prospect of financial fraud. Game developers also claim that RMT leads to some players gaining an unfair advantage… but I'm not sure that's true.

MMOs are not pay-to-win, meaning there's no one special, overpowered item you can buy to become stronger than other players… even if you pay with actual money! No, MMOs are about experience and skill. Some games, like FFXIV, allow you to purchase 'level skips', but even these cannot replicate familiarity or muscle-memory – just look at any freshly level-skipped player in a high-end raid if you want evidence!

Why does RMT happen?

Unfortunately, some people who resort to selling in-game currency do so because they are left with no alternative. If they own a console, conducting RMT could be a singular lifeline in an otherwise bleak time.

RMT is not lucrative for everyone, but it is consistent – MMOs don't sleep, and continue to be active even after you've logged off. The demand for items, money, and services is always going to be there.

An MMO player might be tempted to engage in RMT if they don't fancy doing the necessary grinding

Trading is another inevitability in MMOs. It might start with in-game items, like swapping crafting materials for in-game currency – natural supply and demand, but the value of these items is also affected by things like a player's time.

And time-wise, playing an MMO is a big investment! Hopefully, you'll be drawn into the story – you typically begin your adventure as a wayward hero starting from scratch with very few resources. It's up to you to level up and accrue wealth and power, and MMO players excel at figuring out the most effective way of achieving these goals.

RMT can offer a player more value for their time. A player might be tempted to engage in RMT if they don't fancy doing the necessary grinding in their MMO of choice, for example.

Why is that tempting? Well, if you only have a few hours a week to dedicate to your favorite MMO, you might not want to spend that time gathering crafting materials or endlessly grinding to level up – but these things might be necessary in order to reach the next part of the story or to catch up with friends. This grinding creates an unwanted obstacle and time-sink.

Grinding is rarely fun, particularly compared to what else an MMO has to offer, but most of us get on with it if the right incentives are there.

But there is another option. RMT would allow a player to pay to have someone else do the grinding for them – but they'll need to hand over their account login to make it happen, and there's no guarantee that they'll get the account back. For some players, however, the risk is worth the reward! They skip over the dull parts of the game and can enjoy all the good bits without having to slog through it manually like the rest of us.

How does RMT happen?

RMT shouldn't be confused with buying stuff from an official MMO store – buying a level skip from the FFXIV shop is not at all the same thing as handing over your account details to a stranger claiming to be a power leveler, after all. One transaction is legitimate and the other is a total gamble, but both do provide a virtual service with real-world value.

RMT is a big business, and it is now thought that there are hundreds of thousands of people employed to conduct RMT, worldwide. These gold sellers (who might sell items and services, too) purchase their goods from farming companies and sell it to players… for a profit, of course.

Gold sellers can work 12-hour shifts in brutal conditions

The farmers themselves are more interested in collecting accounts that can be co-opted and used to farm more gold or items. Often, farmers make use of stolen or hacked MMO accounts and characters, and can even utilize stolen credit cards to purchase stock to be sold on to gold sellers.

In truth, anyone could get tangled up in RMT, but those folks who click phishing links, willfully hand over their credentials, or have poorly secured accounts are the ones in danger – and these are the accounts that farmers target when looking to bolster their numbers.

If a gold farmer hacks an account, or otherwise gets access to one, they'll basically strip it of its resources and sell those on to other players or middlemen. Money and tradable items always fetch a decent price, and the account itself can be sold on if it is leveled and geared well enough.

As for who these gold farmers are, they're often vulnerable people in labor camps, forced to harvest these virtual goods under threat of physical violence. It is thought that up to 80% of the world's gold farmers are located in China, where the total number clocks in somewhere around 100,000 full-time RMT agents.

Is RMT allowed? Is it illegal?

The answer to this question depends on the MMO you're talking about,