Someone just sold property in a video game for $600k real dollarz.

Tokyo Slim · Nov 13, 2010

... and you thought real estate in NYC was high priced. At least you actually have a physical square footage. http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/160...-game-property

Think the rent is, in fact, too damn high? Then stay as far away from online world Entropia Universe as possible, because its real estate prices will drive you insane. Take, for instance, what just went down on Planet Calypso, where one of Entropia's wealthier players has sold off his interests in a "resort asteroid" for an eye-popping $635,000.

NorCal · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

... and you thought real estate in NYC was high priced. At least you actually have a physical square footage.

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/160...-game-property

I don't get it. Mining rights? Why would you even care? And who is First Planet Company AB anyway? Does anybody get to develop worlds in the Entropia Universe or only some? Why not just program up another Calypso? How are the banks regulated? Will these virtual worlds be subject to real world economic treaties and the like?

It's a strange world we live in and this is only the beginning.

Tokyo Slim · Nov 13, 2010

Could someone more familiar with this game and from NYC please let us know what part of New York this is analogous to?

I'm thinking this neighborhood = Times Square, but I could be wrong.

Warren G. · Nov 13, 2010

I never heard of this game before..wtf.

Tokyo Slim · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by Warren G.

I never heard of this game before..wtf.

Obviously you aren't a big enough baller to play.

NaTionS · Nov 13, 2010

Read an article a while ago about a guy who became a millionaire selling "properties" in that Second Life game. Crazy people.

Don Carlos · Nov 13, 2010

I will never understand this ****. Can you generate real income from these properties? If so, and if that cash flow is worth $600k, accounting for all risks, then who knows? Maybe it's worth it. But I assume these virtual properties do not actually earn cash flow, in which case, this is mindboggling to me. In such a market, people would basically be buying for the sole prospect of flipping, divorced from any real fundamental value in the underlying asset. Seems like a dangerous game to play, no pun intended.

Edit: Just read the actual article.

Seems as if game dollars here are freely convertible to real dollars, thus making income from in-game activity real. "Real" in a very fuzzy sense, though, given that nobody actually owns anything tangible. What happens when a server goes down? Or when the developers nerf some aspect of your business? Or when they add a lot more land, thereby reducing the value of your parcel? Or when the game gets old, and people abandon it? Quite a lot of unmitigatable risk there.

Infrasonic · Nov 13, 2010

Effectively a virtual Ponzi scheme then..

imageWIS · Nov 13, 2010

This reminds me of the quote from Wall Street:

This painting here? I bought it ten years ago for sixty thousand dollars, I could sell it today for six hundred. The illusion has become real, and the more real it becomes, the more desperately they want it. Capitalism at it's finest.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2010

I sold things from EQ on ebay. Never sold a toon, but I had a toon that could make jewelry and I had an FBSS drop three times in a row. Gold selling in WoW is rampant and I can remember reading all kinds of things old in Second Life, like interior designs, clothing, etc. Apparently those Linden dollars were convertible to cash too.

imageWIS · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by Piobaire

I sold things from EQ on ebay. Never sold a toon, but I had a toon that could make jewelry and I had an FBSS drop three times in a row. Gold selling in WoW is rampant and I can remember reading all kinds of things old in Second Life, like interior designs, clothing, etc. Apparently those Linden dollars were convertible to cash too.

Please translate to English, thanks!

unjung · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by Piobaire

I sold things from EQ on ebay. Never sold a toon, but I had a toon that could make jewelry and I had an FBSS drop three times in a row. Gold selling in WoW is rampant and I can remember reading all kinds of things old in Second Life, like interior designs, clothing, etc. Apparently those Linden dollars were convertible to cash too.

I think there's a bit of a difference though between selling something that helps people achieve some end, even if it's virtual, like a magical sword, and selling something in a world where there is literally no objective. As far as I know, there's no point to Second Life. It's not a game, it's just visual chat. The idea of there being demand for anything in that game is ridiculous, because not only is there technically infinite supply, but there's no use for anything either. It reminds me of when I was a kid on IRC and becoming a channel operator was a big deal. Who the **** cares? It had literally no impact on my life.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by unjung

I think there's a bit of a difference though between selling something that helps people achieve some end, even if it's virtual, like a magical sword, and selling something in a world where there is literally no objective. As far as I know, there's no point to Second Life. It's not a game, it's just visual chat. The idea of there being demand for anything in that game is ridiculous, because not only is there technically infinite supply, but there's no use for anything either. It reminds me of when I was a kid on IRC and becoming a channel operator was a big deal. Who the **** cares? It had literally no impact on my life.

Unless it was a cuseeme channel.

Don Carlos · Nov 13, 2010

Originally Posted by unjung

I think there's a bit of a difference though between selling something that helps people achieve some end, even if it's virtual, like a magical sword, and selling something in a world where there is literally no objective. As far as I know, there's no point to Second Life. It's not a game, it's just visual chat. The idea of there being demand for anything in that game is ridiculous, because not only is there technically infinite supply, but there's no use for anything either. It reminds me of when I was a kid on IRC and becoming a channel operator was a big deal. Who the **** cares? It had literally no impact on my life.

Exactly. In EQ, or WoW, or games like them, items actually provide utility to you in the form of increased power or status. And their rarity, in many instances, fuels enough demand to create thriving black and grey markets on eBay and elsewhere.

Games like Second Life have no progression or differentiation among characters based on skill or time invested. It boggles my mind that anyone even plays them, let alone drops megabucks on "real estate" and such.

Pantisocrat · Nov 13, 2010

Someone just sold property in a video game for $600k real dollarz.

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