The moment players such as Corne as well as Mobley from haoxiuyun's blog

Others like Corne, a 21-year-old software developer of RuneScape Gold Arnhem, Netherlands, who was not willing to divulge his name, but gambled on gold, and in turn, real currency on duels with other players. "I have a love for money. No matter where it is in real life or in RuneScape, money is nice to have," he said in a call.

He purchases the majority of his gold via middlemen, who purchase gold in bulk from gold farmers and then sell it to websites like El Dorado or Sythe. Horn believes he's spent anywhere between 4000 and 5,000 euros to fuel what he believes at one moment was a gambling addiction.

The moment players such as Corne as well as Mobley came back in RuneScape with the appetites and purses of adulthood, the game's black market grew. There was still a presence of Chinese gold-miners, but there were others profiting off RuneScape's revival: Venezuelans like Marinez.

On March 12 of 2020, Marinez set out to enroll in a police academy in Caracas the capital of Venezuela as well as pursue a career in law enforcement. The following day when the Venezuelan government released its initial two cases of COVID-19.

The government then shut down all schools, closed the border between Venezuela and other countries and put six states and Caracas on quarantine. Marinez was left stranded on the road and lodged at his uncle's home in a town that is more than 50 miles away from his capital.

After two months, Marinez came back to Maracaibo, "without any money in my pockets," he said. He tried to find a job but couldn't find any in an economy devastated by the epidemic, as well as Buy OSRS Account a lengthy economic downturn.