Online gamer pays $26,500 for virtual real-estate

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This is crazy! Anyone have any comments on this or similar examples of people going a bit crazy over games?

Gamer buys $26,500 virtual land

A 22-year-old gamer has spent $26,500 (£13,700) on an island that exists only in a computer role-playing game (RPG).

The Australian gamer, known only by his gaming moniker Deathifier, bought the island in an online auction.

The land exists within the game Project Entropia, an RPG which allows thousands of players to interact with each other.

Entropia allows gamers to buy and sell virtual items using real cash, while fans of other titles often use auction site eBay to sell their virtual wares.

Earlier this year economists calculated that these massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have a gross economic impact equivalent to the GDP of the African nation of Namibia.

Investment prospects

"This is a historic moment in gaming history, and this sale only goes to prove that massive multi-player online gaming has reached a new plateau," said Marco Behrmann, director of community relations at Mindark, the game's developer.

The virtual island includes a gigantic abandoned castle and beautiful beaches which are described as ripe for developing beachfront property.
Deathifier will make money from his investment as he is able to tax other gamers who come to his virtual land to hunt or mine for gold.

He has also begun to sell plots to people who wish to build virtual homes.

"This type of investment will definitely become a trend in online gaming," said Deathifier.

The Entopia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money.

Ten PEDs are the equivalent to one US dollar and typical items sold include iron ingots ($5) and shogun armour ($1.70)

Gamers can theoretically earn money by accumulating PEDs through the acquisition of goods, buildings, and land in the Entropia universe.

MMORPGs have become enormously popular in the last 10 years with hundreds of thousands of gamers living out alternate lives in fantasy worlds.

Almost 200,000 people are registered players on Project Entropia.

Source - BBC

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Nuts. This topic was already posted on.

But, it's good to see you around GD.

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I remember reading about a business that hired third world cheap labor to make money this way.

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a friend of my kids recently sold a character of his virtual game for $450.00 - believe that - these people live the games they play in.

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He could have bought a real one in nicaragua for the same price.

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Re: Online gamer pays $26,500 for virtual real-estate

Grand Duke wrote:

This is crazy! Anyone have any comments on this or similar examples of people going a bit crazy over games?

Interestingly now - no-one had had during the last couple of days :wink:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41140&highlight=

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Cheers Walter. I've been away from the computer for a few weeks, just came back online tonight. It was a good story though.

Husker/Einherjar - I don't understand how someone can make money from something which doesn't even exist? It's not even like Intellectual Property which can be defined in a physical sense by words or pictures.

And hello LittleK. It's good to be around!

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Grand Duke wrote:

Cheers Walter. I've been away from the computer for a few weeks, just came back online tonight. It was a good story though.

Husker/Einherjar - I don't understand how someone can make money from something which doesn't even exist? It's not even like Intellectual Property which can be defined in a physical sense by words or pictures.

And hello LittleK. It's good to be around!

It's quite simple. Some people playing these games arte willing to pay real money for in game artifacts. These artifacts can be obtained in the game without paying for them. Thus if one plays the game without buying such artifacts, and sells some of the artifacts one obtains, one makes money.

Like the guy who bought that virtual Island. He will be able to sell bits and pieces of it to other players, and collect dividends on stuff mined on his Island or something, which people pay real money for, and in the end he may well profit from his investment.

Off course players combined spend more money than they earn, but individual players may well turn a profit.

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Thanks, Einherjar. So buying these artifacts on E-bay is really just a way of "getting ahead" in the game without needing to spend all the time and effort required to aquire them by other means? Cool. Kinda like paying for the best cheat codes.

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Grand Duke wrote:

Thanks, Einherjar. So buying these artifacts on E-bay is really just a way of "getting ahead" in the game without needing to spend all the time and effort required to aquire them by other means? Cool. Kinda like paying for the best cheat codes.

Yep, and the people who make these games can sometimes make money selling stuff in ingame shops, or auctioning off, say, a virtual island for realestate development.

And somewhere in one of the worlds poorest countries some company have set up a chain of internet cafes for the sole purpose of having people make money by playing internet games.

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Re: Online gamer pays $26,500 for virtual real-estate

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Grand Duke wrote:
This is crazy! Anyone have any comments on this or similar examples of people going a bit crazy over games?

Interestingly now - no-one had had during the last couple of days :wink:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41140&highlight=

guess I didn't see it Embarrassed

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Online gamer pays $26,500 for virtual real-estate

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