Why is a blue party hat worth so much money!?In Episode #468 of Mere Mortals 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: how virtual items can gain real-world value, why in-game economies mirror real-world behaviour of scarcity/market manipulation/speculative trading, the reason crypto gaming has largely fallen flat (but might have a future in games like Off The Grid), whether people will watch AI agents gaming in the future and why the crypto casino is already a game in itself.Huge thanks to Violet Mouse for the support this week, what a legend!Timeline:(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:29) Runescape's Rare Items(00:05:15) Human Behaviour in Virtual Economies(00:09:01) The Psychology of In-Game Purchases(00:17:00) Crypto Games: Hype vs Reality(00:29:29) The Future of Gaming and Crypto Integration(00:31:32) Boostagram Lounge(00:34:14) Out-of-Game Economies and Real-World Impact(00:44:02) Speculation and Game Dynamics(00:52:38) AI and the Future of Gaming(01:01:41) Crypto's Role in Gaming's Future Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspodsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastsValue 4 Value Support:Boostagram: https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/supportPaypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast