> the developers legitimized the exchange of real money for in-game money (through the buying and selling of game time) To those unfamiliar- EVE has the deepes

> the developers legitimized the exchange of real money for in-game money (through the buying and selling of game time) To those unfamiliar- EVE has the deepest player-driven economy of any game. All in-game items are crafted by players, out of materials mined by players. Money (ISK) is created in a small number of ways: NPC mission running results in ISK rewards, as does killing NPC ships among the systems, and insurance payouts. Items are destroyed when a ship is destroyed, and ISK is destroyed via trading taxes, insurance contracts, etc. CCP attempts to tweak knobs to keep the money supply at a reasonable rate so inflation doesn't get rampant, etc. CCP (the company behind EVE) sells an in-game item called a "Pilots License Extension" (PLEX) for cash on their web site. Your EVE subscription can either be paid for in cash, or by redeeming a PLEX in-game. Like everything else in the game, a PLEX can be traded in the game. So, many people will pay cash on CCP's site to get a PLEX item for their player, and list it on the in-game market for PLEX. Eventually, a player in the game will purchase a PLEX from the in-game market with ISK they earned while playing the game, and this don't pay CCP real money to pay for their subscription.