So first I should probably explain what an MMORPG is. Pronounced by those in the know as ‘muh-more-puh-guh’, MMORPG stands for ‘Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

In case that doesn’t quite clear things up, MMORPGs are online games in which huge numbers of people participate at the same time, taking on the ‘role’ of a character, who they can usually design themselves, at least to a degree. Often a player can change their character’s hair colour, clothes, furniture (if you have a house), usually purchasing these items/services at various in-game stores.

 

Fantasy Fashion

 

A lot of MMORPGS revolve around fantastic worlds – the most popular (and most populated) is World of Warcraft, a game with over ten million subscribers. Players choose a race (such as dwarf or orc) and set off into the world.

 

Each character can be equipped with different clothing (technically called armour, but not necessarily consisting of a suit of mail). This is where the fashion element comes in – and the beginnings of a business. At the end of 2011, a new feature was added, called transmogrification. This is a process whereby you change the appearance of your ‘armour’, including various accessories such as necklaces, rings and cloaks, using other equipment.

 

One player, known as Keelhaul of Proudmoore, established a transmogrification monopoly by identifying ‘which armour sets had the potential to visually differentiate players from their peers’ prior to the feature being added, in his own words. As soon as the feature came into play he used his foreknowledge to sell this equipment for vast amounts of in-game currency. He now holds fashion shows, attended by hundreds of players – huge community events where players turn up to see who has the coolest accessories – the blingiest necklaces, the zaniest capes.

 

If all this sounds a bit fantastical for your tastes, though, there are more realistic MMORPGs out there, with more realistic fashion markets.

 

The Fashion of Second Life

 

Second Life is an MMORPG which more closely reflects the real world. Players’ characters are human, and can go through everything you could think of in your regular ‘first’ life. This includes starting a business – and the fashion business of Second Life is booming.

 

Players of Second Life can design anything, from hairstyles to shopping malls, from jewellery to clothing lines. Linden Research, Inc., the developers, decided to allow Residents (as players are known) to have complete Intellectual Property Rights over their creations, which has allowed some people to sell their virtual products for actual cash, even making enough to use it as a full time job.

 

This can be such a lucrative business that even real companies, such as Giorgio Armani, have set up shop. In 2007, Armani launched an in-game store which sold their top ten products both virtually (using the game’s currency, the Linden dollar, denoted L$) and in reality. The Linden dollar can even be converted into actual currency. Not surprising, then, that businesses are springing up left, right and centre.

 

The Second Life Marketplace website works like any other online fashion retailer. You can buy handbags ranging from L$0 for a travel tote bag, to L$2,399 for a Mesh Satchel bag/FatPack. Each item can be viewed from several angles, and has a full list of features. There’s a shopping basket and the option to buy something as a gift. You can purchase aviators, diamond engagement rings, tiaras, watches, even crowns. One crown is clearly inspired by the successful TV/book series Game of Thrones: A Targaryen king’s Three-Dragon Crown, selling for L$899. The features for this item include ‘Three Golden Dragons with ruby eyes and dark onyx horns’, ‘surrounded by cushion-cut diamonds set in gold’, ‘lined with dark ermine fur’. There are even listings online of blogs devoted exclusively to the fashion of Second Life.

 

One Final Note

 

So the world of virtual fashion is more expansive than you might have imagined. This is just the tip of the online iceberg. All you have to do to get involved is get playing – just remember though, when people tell you ‘it’s only a game’, they’re lying. It’s business.

 

This post was written by Simon form Higherclick.com in behalf of their client Macys.com. Macy’s does not yet sell virtual online handbags only regular ones.