We've heard of universities and researchers studying various aspects of MMOs in the past, but a recent story by MSNBC suggests there's still more to be learned from the virtual economies in games like WoW and EverQuest. According to the report, Professor Edward Castronova of Indiana University is one of the researchers of a team studying the in-game economy of EverQuest II in an effort to better understand behavioral aspects of consumers.

"With the global recession impacting consumer spending—and the sales of video games," MSNBC reports, "a research group is using Sony Online Entertainment's 'EverQuest II' as a case study to explore how virtual economies mirror real-world economies." Castronova told MSNBC that unlike the real world, studies and experiments in the virtual worlds of MMOs can be "observed and tweaked" to yield better results.

The case study revolved around a sample of EverQuest II's player base. After Castronova and researchers were able to successfully analyze the statistical aspects of that population, they observed its economy and the behavior of consumers. Real-world economic events like recession and inflation were observed, helping researchers to better understand cause and effect. You can check out the full story here, which includes details about the study and comments from SoE's president, John Smedley.