EVE is a bit different as the RMT side of things isn't intentional and combatted by CCP. Taking part can and does get people banned from the game. The dollar t

EVE is a bit different as the RMT side of things isn't intentional and combatted by CCP. Taking part can and does get people banned from the game. The dollar to ISK conversion comes from the sale of PLEX (https://secure.eveonline.com/plex https://secure.eveonline.com/plex) which was initially just a way to let people buy ISK by selling game time vouchers to in-game wealthy people. Essentially people were buying money from time rich players who then didn't have to pay to play the game. Now it's a bit more complex and MTX based as CCP have tried a few things to reinvigorate the player base. But the key difference is that you can put real money in and get ISK but there is no legitimate way to take it back out again. So there is no capital gain and so on and the money you "lose" was already intentionally spent in that knowledge rather than being an investment it would be possible to recoup on and taking part in that eco-system is voluntary rather than mandatory. (Disclaimer: I worked on EVE for four years quite a while ago.)