Those who have too much money will get rid of it in MMORPGs. Now, a Ragnarok player has bought a mount for nearly $60,000.
Mounts in MMORPGs are often prestige objects. Many of them are rare drops from bosses, while others are available for real money in the shop. Some games allow players to bid for their mounts using in-game currency, such as in an auction house. Now, a mount has been sold for the equivalent of $60,000 (~€52,600).
What happened? In the mobile MMORPG “Ragnarok M: Eternal Love,” there are auctions with special offers. Here, you pay with a premium currency, the “Big Cat Coins” (BCC). 6 BCC are worth $1. Now, the auction for an item has been driven up to 360,000 BCC – that’s equivalent to $60,000! This item is the mount “Key of Heaven” – a white, glowing unicorn with wings.
Who is the buyer? The buyer of the mount is the player MambaaElChap from Indonesia. Only he and a Chinese player were bidding for the mount, doubling its value in the last five minutes of the auction.
More expensive auctions: If you think that such exorbitant prices are a rarity in Ragnarok M, you are mistaken. Items worth thousands of dollars are regularly sold in Ragnarok M. Here are some examples from the past weeks:
- Golden Thief Bug Card – 110,956 BCC (~$18,500)
- Moonlight Flower Card – 92,880 BCC (~$15,500)
- Eddga Card – 82,861 BCC (~$13,800)
- Kobold Leader Card – 69,896 BCC (~ $11,650)
Even the little reminder at the top of the screen saying “Play moderately and spend money wisely” doesn’t help.
Speculations about money laundering: These prices are hotly debated within the player community. There are ongoing suspicions that such high auctions are related to money laundering. Of course, there is no evidence for this – perhaps someone simply really, really wants this mount.
What do you think lies behind this? A very passionate player who simply has no money worries? Or does it sound like criminal activities in the background? Or is it simply utterly crazy to spend so much money on a game?
