Real cash for virtual goods

As far as real estate transactions go, there was nothing obviously freaky about David Storey's December purchase.

A total of $26,500 for a piece of undeveloped land in an unpopulated but potentially prosperous new suburb--what's not to like? Except that the property exists solely on the servers of "Project Entropia," a computer game where players exchange real-world money for in-game goods, services and property.

Almost every major online game has an in-game economy, where players exchange in-games goods for in-game currency. Most also have a real-world economy, where in-game currency and goods trade hands for hard cash.

News.context

What's new:
While most game publishers don't want players netting green for online goods, some titles are allowing the practice--and seeing the profits.

Bottom line:
Games such as "Project Entropia" and "Second Life" have spawned pulsatingly creative communities that embody a fascinating blend of standard game dynamics and free-market vigor.

But most such offline trade is part of an underground economy discouraged by game publishers such as Sony Online Entertainment, which has blocked auctions of items for "EverQuest" and other popular games, claiming such trade infringes its intellectual property.

A few online game publishers, however, have decided to embrace the intersection of virtual and real-world economies, providing approved outlets in which players can convert in-game assets into real-world wealth. The result has been an intriguing blend of typical game dynamics and the free market.

"What it does is put a value on the time you spend playing...instead of stealing that value from you or taking you to court and saying that value isn't yours," said Jon Jacobs, U.S. "ambassador" for "Project Entropia," published by Sweden's MindArk. "It's kind of like the difference between buying real estate and playing Monopoly."

For players such as Storey, an Australian "Entropia" veteran known in the game as "Deathifier," that difference provides powerful incentives to stay active in the "Entropia" universe.

Storey said he'd been playing the game for about two years, long enough to identify economic and housing trends. He saw housing demand pointing toward an undeveloped plot now named "Treasure Island," and put in the winning bid when game publisher MindArk auctioned off the land.

Storey said he's making a modest income from the property now, collecting small payments for hunting rights and other fees. But he expects his investment to really pay off once MindArk releases a housing update for the game and his virtual bulldozers start digging out prime home sites fellow players will pay to occupy.

"Taxation has provided a small but steady income...and we have a very cool bar where people like to hang out," he said. "The housing estates are due with the next update, which is probably going to be sometime in February or March. When the houses start rolling out is when the dollars start rolling in."

"Project Entropia" was the first major online game to convert what publishers have traditionally viewed as a burden into an asset.

"EverQuest" publisher Sony Online Entertainment has sued sites specializing in the barter of in-game goods and convinced auction giant eBay to reject auctions of "EverQuest" items. Yet game trade remains a brisk underground business, giving "EverQuest" a more vigorous economy than several European nations, according to one economic study.

Jacobs said MindArk saw from such experiences that economic activity was inevitable in multiplayer games with fixed virtual resources. Their challenge was to make it work within the context of massively

[Prndll]

Real cash for virtual goods....

This is what it is actually about with ANYTHING regarding the internet.
>MP3 is a virtual good
>mpeg and avi are virtual goods
>porn is a virtual good
>just having an OS or having net access is a virtual good

so....what's new?

[wonky27]

Hmm

it's actually very similar in my opinion--for reasons similar to those that shut napster down, publishers don't want gamers freely trading their assets.

[Prndll]

Real cash for virtual goods....

This is what it is actually about with ANYTHING regarding the internet.
>MP3 is a virtual good
>mpeg and avi are virtual goods
>porn is a virtual good
>just having an OS or having net access is a virtual good

so....what's new?

[wonky27]

Hmm

it's actually very similar in my opinion--for reasons similar to those that shut napster down, publishers don't want gamers freely trading their assets.