What is the ID or account card in Quan Zhi Gao Shou? In almost every episode of Quan Zhi Gao Shou, you see the players inserting what looks like an ID card into a card reader of some kind. However, it appears it's more of an account card than an ID card. As far as I can tell, it's a Smart Card of some kind. I'm guessing it's a physical token used for account security. I know this anime is based on a game, is it related to how the game is actually played?


What is this card?
Is it used for person/player identification, or just account authentication?
Are card readers like this commonplace in Asia and/or China?
Does this card control the account, or do you also have to use the account password?
Are these account cards easily accessible, for example at the Asia-equivalent of Walmart?  In episode 2 or 3, we see the store owner's friend specially request her to provide an account, possibly indicating that they are hard to come by.
It was common for games in arcades with some sort of progression to have cards to store your progress, like Initial D and Maximum Tune being examples. I also saw some shooter-style arcade games using this principle as well.

The usage in Quan Zhi Gao Shou is possibly a creative growth out of the same concept, but using a smart card to access an MMO is not a real-life thing.

I have seen smart cards used at LAN cafes for loading of credit/long-term memberships. It's also another place the idea may have come from.