An Irrational Black Market? Boundary Work Perspective on the Stigma of In-Game Asset Transactions

This study examines the social stigma surrounding cash trades of in-game assets in Taiwan, a market in which players sell virtual currency and items for real money. Drawing on interviews with eleven participants, including six sellers and five buyers of Lineage, Lineage2, and Ragnarok Online, the authors argue that the stigma arises less from the virtual nature of the goods than from the way this market blurs boundaries between work and play, adulthood and adolescence, and real and virtual. The analysis frames participants' responses through the concept of boundary work, examining how they confront stigma and the ambiguity of their social status.

The authors cite a Bahamut forum survey in which 42.75 percent of respondents supported in-game asset transactions, with only 22.57 percent opposed, suggesting that Taiwanese gamers prioritize player interaction over strict adherence to game rules. Taiwan's roughly 1.9 million online gamers form a substantial base for this secondary market, which has grown from individual trades into commercial operations employing low-wage workers in China as "currency farmers."

The findings identify several strategies participants use to manage their identity. Some sellers distance themselves from buyers and align with social norms of adult earnings, though this works only for those with an accepted primary job. Others recast their marginal status as pioneering and progressive, comparing Taiwan unfavorably with South Korea, Japan, and Europe. Sellers also position their businesses as complementary to game companies, which benefit from the economic value that cash trades sustain, while frequent buyers distinguish themselves from occupational players. Finally, participants separate work and leisure through distinct temporal, spatial, and activity boundaries, and describe their businesses as "services" to fit existing job categories.

The authors conclude that these strategies allow participants to preserve a coherent sense of self, while their alternative self-positionings expose the inadequacy of current social classifications for emerging forms of digital labor and play. The study is limited by its small, purposively selected sample and its focus on a single national context and a particular period in the development of online gaming.