Comment by post_from_work

>>>As a high school kid in 2001 or 2002 (well before the Second Life example the author cites in 2005), he made money selling Diablo II accounts he had beefed up in his spare time.

One of my fraternity brothers paid for a vacation in Europe and a digital camcorder from selling Diablo characters, leveled up via macros, on Ebay. This was also in ~2001-2003.