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Project Entropia's Universe Solidifies

Psyiode writes "Swedish interactive entertainment developer MindArk today announced the virtual universe Project Entropia is going gold on January 30th 2003. If you'll recall, Project Entropia is a MMORPG where everything is purchased with real money and slowly degrades during use. Could this be the way most online games will be played (and paid for) in the future?"

29 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. Ok but why by jfmiller · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why would I want to do this on line. I have enough problems with spending money on things that decay in the real world?

    JFMILLER

    --
    Strive to make your client happy, not necessarly give them what they ask for
  2. Until.... by GoRK · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yep, they're purchased with real money until someone figures out how to steal them or counterfit them.

    Welcome to the world where you pay for the privilege to be cheated and robbed!

    Anyway, it better be a blast otherwise it's just going to suck ASS

  3. What about the laws? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will PK & loots be treated as real murder & robbery?

    1. Re:What about the laws? by machine+of+god · · Score: 3, Funny

      On the plus side you can still find the bastard who murdured you. That's harder to do in real life.

  4. WORST FIRST EVER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    seriously man, you really suck, I mean, if the YOU FAIL IT guy was here right now, you'd be toast

  5. Re:Sliding feet by tangledweb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember that the whole game funding model is based on selling you shoes that slowly degrade.

  6. I definitly agree with you by danny256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    There's no way I would put money into an MMORPG like that. They all get hacked or exploited some how eventually, and then what happens to the guys who put hundreds of dollars into the game? On the other hand, if i could be the first one to get a copy of the hack...

  7. Why would i want.... by RyoSaeba · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...to play this game when RealLife (tm) has been up to version 5.6 since a few million years already ?

    --
    Tsuyoikoto ha taisetsu da ne, dakedo namida mo hitsuyousa (Strength is an important thing, but tears too are necessary)
    1. Re:Why would i want.... by mgblst · · Score: 3, Funny

      5.6? damn, that is what i have been doing wrong.

    2. Re:Why would i want.... by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, just don't upgrade to RealLife 5.7 if you have ACoupleOfYearsLeft 2.1, GirlFriend 3.0 or Wife 1.0 installed. The first downright prohibits the upgrade, the second gives some kind of "nag exception" error message and the third gives me an "alimony syntax error in money.pocket".

      You have been warned.

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
  8. Re:Hyperbole? by MalcalypseTheYounger · · Score: 4, Funny

    Expect a virtual cup of coffee to cost 10 bucks real money!

    Wow, just like at Starbucks.

  9. Pfftt.... by are_bee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Real life has WAY better graphics

  10. Re:hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    But is it burning money to hand out free sanwiches?

  11. Pay and Decay? by SonOfFlubber · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pay real money for something that deteriorates over time? This sounds to much like my Windows PC setup....

  12. some sort of paradox... by deft · · Score: 5, Funny

    in the game can i buy a character that will go, buy a computer, with my real money in his virtual world, then play a stupid game he has to pay for in the game with his 'real' money... that he can pay for his damn self, because ill be dammed if some game character is going to bum a dime off me after i paid for him to exist.

    stupid leech characters.

    --

    There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
  13. Duplication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Business Plan:

    1) Find a duplication bug.
    (duplication bugs allow you to clone items, usually by manipulating how the game saves or moves items)
    2) Buy a 20 dollar item.
    3) Duplicate it 20 times, for 20*2^20 = 20 million items.
    4) Sell it back to the game.
    5) Cash out your 20 million and retire.

  14. Re:Hyperbole? by limekiller4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ratface writes:
    "They're saying that they've invested over 15 million USD in the game already and will continue to invest over 5 million USD/year! ... If their investment has been as large as they say it has, I would expect to have heard something about them. (I would also expect them to build a website that *doesn't* crash my browser (IE 6!) every time I visit the site!)."

    It took Microsoft a few billion to make a whole OS crash reliably. If these guys are making your browser crash with a lousy 5m/yr, I think they're doing a pretty good job.

    --
    My .02,
    Limekiller
  15. In Soviet Russia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We have no money, only degenerated goods

  16. Can we set up a Trust? by foniksonik · · Score: 5, Funny

    if they want this to work like the real world, as far as economy goes at least, tehn we should have financial protection as well.

    I want life insurance policies, FDIC insured bank accounts, credit fraud reimbursement, and a living trust, not to mention offshore accounts, holding companies and tax havens.

    If this was set in the middle ages or ancient babylonia i'd understand why you could only carry around your wealth to insure it's safety but that's why we developed all these other paradigms, to protect ourselves from bandits, outlaws and thieves. Just cause it's sci-fi doesn't mean it's post apocolyptic! Where's the civilization?

    Also how do these things degrade? Can we repair them? or can we just buy Good(TM) stuff that doesn't degrade? I know people who buy cheap stuff and yeah it's pretty much crap before it degrades but it also degrades much much more quickly than most of the stuff I buy, like furniture, clothing, electronics, appliances, etc. Any of the rest of you people out there still have something you bought even five years ago that is in mint condition? ten years..

    I do.

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  17. 15 million, eh? =) by Andorion · · Score: 4, Funny

    How much do you wanna bet when they say they're investing 15-million, they mean they're creating $15,000,000 worth of items in-game? =)

    $50,000 from Uber Swords of Slaying (500 @ $100 apiece)
    $5,000 from Moldy Muffins (5,000 @ $1 each)

    etc, etc.

    -Berj

  18. Re:Beta Testing by martingunnarsson · · Score: 3, Funny

    Newsflash! This is exactly why they beta test games!

    --
    Martin
  19. Re:Well, this isn't that bad really.. by Flounder · · Score: 5, Funny
    Would you like to play a D&D game where you get +3 swords just by slipping the DM a $20?

    Well, I always found that the DM could be bribed with Mt Dew and a pizza. And as he's in a grease and caffiene induced stupor, whisper in his ear "The ranger really could use a Vorpal Sword +4."

    Well, it worked for me. But the fact that I was nailing the DM's younger sister seemed to insure my untimely demise occured more often than any other players did. It was a fair trade. She was worth a few resurrection spells.

    --

    No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova

  20. Everyone's Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Franchise... by Derleth · · Score: 2, Funny

    So you're postulating it will look like a better version of this flick?

    "I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller!"
    -- Project Entropia's best player.

    --
    How can you use my intestines as a gift? -Actual Hong Kong subtitle.
  21. Re:hmmm by archeopterix · · Score: 2, Funny
    when you burn your money you will realise how stupid it is and stop doing it
    Realise how stupid it is? Perhaps. Stop doing it? Naah. Just look at what some people do with their money. Gambling, drugs, collecting strange items ( paying a gazillion bucks for a piece of toilet paper because Elvis wiped his ass with it some umpty years ago ). Money wants to be spent on stupid things. I could make up some statistics to prove it, but I'm busy picking the most expensive PC case for my 2000$ motherboard.
  22. So what you're saying ... by vrai · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... is that Entropy is basically "Libertarian Online". Should be popular with /.ers then.

  23. Re:The gaming rules I follow by fdiskne1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I bought Windows and I've been paying for it ever since.

    --
    But why is the rum gone?
  24. Slowly degrades by ch-chuck · · Score: 3, Funny

    just play anything with Windows 98 and you'll get the same effect.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  25. Oh! Er... by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is THAT what that game was about? I thought it was to torment those little guys until they died. Oops...

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  26. Re:Offices raided by MS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I have heard about them when their offices were raided by 70 officials of the Swedish court, acting on behalf of Microsoft and three other software companies.

    No doubt after the secrets to make IE crash with so little investment