Inanimate Objects Making Money

So recently I have been playing the trading card game, Magic The Gathering (I know it is super nerdy, don't judge me!) And in order to complete my total badass deck of cards, I need to get 4 of a specific card to put in... however... inorder to buy this card I would need to spend 20 dollars on it... 20 dollars on each. individual. card. I'm not stupid and I am NOT about to do this, but it makes me wonder because I know someone who is not as economically savvy as I might spend that much on these tiny pieces of paper. That is all they are... tiny pieces of paper. How can these tiny pieces of paper with a picture and writing on them be worth 80 dollars? Some even go up to 50 dollars individually. It is stupid how they are so expensive.

This sort of reminds me of an online video game I used to play. On this game, the founders created a system of 'donations.' If you 'donated' to the game, you would in return gain a virtual item. (I think they only called it donations due to avoid taxes, but that is irrelevant!) So unlike buying the card, when you spent this money online, you would gain absolutely nothing in real life. Zero. The company was making absolutely 100% profit... off of nothing. And some people would spend a lot of money from these virtual 'donations.'

So I ask, is it really worth it to buy nothing in a physical form? I used to be a little bit more naive, and tell myself that this donation is the price of 'fun.' A price on fun sounds a little rediculous, I mean the game was free in the first place, yet in order to keep it free people need to 'donate'. I don't think some things like these games should be free, I feel that people should pay to operate them, because the company is paying to keep the server up in the first place. I do believe fun has a cost, and I don't believe that some people can pay their way to fun. I think the people who get the benefits from the bonus inanimate items should be the people who people vote are the most caring! Rather then the rich moguls gaining perks, the good people would! A just world phenomenon! Maybe I am still naive.


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