| Although many would argue that Second Life is | | | | freely in the Second Life economics. |
| not a game, but a social phenomenon, I believe it's | | | | It easy to convert virtual money to real money in |
| a bit of both. You're still creating a virtual avatar, | | | | the world of Second Life and you have various |
| going around virtual environments and doing virtual | | | | options to do so. First, you could go from Linden |
| stuff, although you're not alone, but rather part of | | | | to Real dollars by using the Linden Lab currency |
| a social phenomenon with thousand of other | | | | brokerage, which is closely monitored by the |
| people. So how is it possible that something | | | | creators of Second Life. Or you could try out the |
| virtual, something from a "game", such as the | | | | LindeX Currency Exchange, which many residents |
| Linden Dollars used in Second Life, be converted | | | | prefer over the old currency exchange offered |
| to real life dollars to spend? The game's economy | | | | by Linden Labs. Last but not least, if you want |
| allows this and the fact that you're playing up | | | | better management of your transactions, you |
| against other people that are willing to spend a | | | | could use a third-party currency exchange |
| few bucks in this virtual environment, answers | | | | program, but be advised that you're using them |
| your question. But in order to use the Second Life | | | | on your own risk. |
| economy, we need to understand it. | | | | As you can see, it's not very difficult to go from |
| Second Life - Virtual Economy | | | | Linden to Real dollars and you have several |
| The entire Second Life economy is based on the | | | | options at hand. However, changing the money is |
| game's currency, called the Linden Dollar, or simply | | | | not the hard part, but making them is! It's not |
| L$. Around 270 Linden Dollars make one US dollar, | | | | easy to make money as a starter in Second Life, |
| and you can easily perform a transaction from | | | | but if you work your way up and become "rich" |
| Linden Dollars to US Dollars (or several other | | | | in the virtual world, you can easily start cashing in |
| currencies) by using Second Life's currency | | | | on real dollars and actually make a living off it. |
| exchanges. | | | | Many skilled residents have built successful |
| With millions of Second Life residents buying and | | | | businesses inside Second Life that earn them real |
| selling items, land and properties, it's not hard to | | | | cash. As in real life, Second Life has its giants, |
| understand how this economy comes to life. | | | | with several real estate owners or venue owners |
| Actually, virtual economy analysts from the | | | | generating thousands of real dollars each month, |
| Metastat Statistics Bureau estimated that Second | | | | as they can basically live off their profit made in |
| Life will have a GDP of over $550 million in 2007. | | | | the virtual world of Second Life. |
| $550 times 270 = Loads of Linden Dollars flowing | | | | |