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Virtual Property Investor Recoups Investment
afaik_ianal writes "Remember that guy who bought a virtual island in "Project Entropia" for £13,700? Well BBC is reporting that that he has managed to make his money back in under a year. According to the article, 'He made money by selling land to build virtual homes as well as taxing other gamers to hunt or mine on the island.'"
Hmm...I can see it now. Yes Mr Bank Manager...I'd like a loan to buy an island. Where is it? Well...it's virtual...
that either this guy is incredibly smart and the people who bought into his virtual property are incredibly stupid, or that he's incredibly stupid and everyone who bought into his virtual property is... well, still incredibly stupid.
-barton
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132758&c id=11084873
/. story :)
One of the many similar comments on the older
Virtual Property, eh? Not at all like domain names, right?
Online "property" has as much value as people are willing to pay for it. This is why we spend thousands of dollars on shiny rocks and metals (to say nothing of the diamond cartel). This is also why we hold onto generally worthless items because of sentimental value. (I had my Chuck Taylor All-Stars for years after they were too worn out to wear).
So I'm not surprised that this guy is making money. He found something that he expected people would want, and snatched it up so he could be the one to sell it to 'em.
Spending big money does seem silly, but spending a few bucks here and there for a virtual subdivision is perhaps not (eg. a $20 gift to that game-nut pal). What this guy has done is create a service whereby he can onsell his asset at a low price point. Not really that stupid after all.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Now they can create another virtual island that's even sweeter and sell it for even more money.
copy virtual_island1 virtual_island2
print money
Not a bad deal for the island-buyer either, as long as they've determined the risks, ie. the game's subscriber base withering away.
And nobody better be touching my still out in back....
I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
Ahem, this first post land is currently owned by CmdrTaco
You must pay rent to use this space.
Forward funds to his account immediately or you will be evicted.
liqbase
Reboot yourself!
I'm trying, but I'm having a hard time getting the paperclip in the hole on my backside. Can you give me a hand?
Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
The scary part is that some percentage of people would actually put up with it and pay a subscription fee for the privilege.
Call it "stargate - in the beginning" and you would triple the players instantly.
liqbase
Project Entropia's fundamental idea is that everything in game has a real-world value. You begin the game with nothing; and must purchase in-game items with real money. Items you use to harvest resources, kill monsters, or any other activity which generates saleable objects in the system decay over time. You give Project Entropia money to buy objects in game, that money flows into MindArk. When you sell an object and withdraw real life cash, that money flows away from MindArk.
Given that, the Project Entropia system cannot generate rewards greater than the amount of money fed into the system, minus however much MindArk takes off the top.
You are using a virtual tool that decays, purchased with real money, attempting to generate a positive income in a system already rigged to prevent such a scenario on average. Your tool will break, and you will buy another one, in the hopes of getting that big payoff. It's a gambling system dressed in some livelier colors.
This got me to think a bit, how is this any different from buying an over priced pair of shoes? or a nice car that costs $250k USD? Or a diamond necklace that is not truly rare at all? It's an idea that is being sold, and idea that this particular exchange has value. Market value, someone is willing to pay.
I personally don't see the need or even want in this but it's not my money..
No. This guy understood the phenomenon of the pet rock and the wisdom of "There's a sucker born every minute."
I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
and you have "made your money back" instantaneously!
This guy may have beaten the interest rate on a CD, but a CD doesn't require hundreds of hours of micromanaging, either.
It would be interesting to find out how much time he spent selling his sub-divisions or enforcing his taxes. If this took the equivalent of a full time job or a lot of time, he hasn't necessarily made any money back, just earned a small wage as well as loosing part of his initial investment in the sales.
Everyone always told me to invest in land, because "they're not making any more of it!"
Little did everyone know....
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
So he managed to regain his investment, but what could he have made with his time and money if spent elsewhere. In a CD the money would have easily been earning 5% annually and could have potentially returned much more if put into more risky investments. More importantly what could he have earned if he spent his time working at some other occupation instead of hyping his real estate? You can easily earn over £13,700 working a real job in a year. Opportunity costs are the name to the game here.
From the "Project Entropia Conditions of Use":
As part of your interactions with the System, you may acquire, create, design, or modify Virtual items, but you agree that you will not gain any ownership interest whatsoever in any Virtual item, and you hereby assign to MindArk all of your rights, title and interest in any such Virtual item.
From the sound of it, the user doesn't own anything... I wish I could sell nothing for $100,000.
Many have scoffed that this individual paid good money for nothing tangible, and then sold it on to others who also got nothing tangible. This is neither innovative nor new. The currency or futures/options trading markets have been doing this for years. The stock exchange companies even make a cut of each trade---a profit from the intangible profits made from trading virtual or as-yet-non-existant goods.
Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button
Not so. The domain name space is stricly limited. But there is an unlimited supply of virtual reality. Therefore: It's just a pyramid scheme in disguise.
http://playmoney.blogs.com/blog/2005/11/informatio n_and.html
PowerLevel.com - A next generation marketplace for virtual items and services
Johnny: Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a virtual real estate tycoon and make lots of money!
Mom: Ok Johnny, but if you want to be successful you'll have to spend a lot of time playing your online games, and you might even need to skip some classes.
Johnny: I'm willing to make the sacrifices!
You have to wonder whether "Deathifier" is as intelligent as so many people on this website are suggesting, or whether he A) was one of the lucky ones or B)simply worked alot harder than the other people to sell his property. This second option makes alot of sense, and is supported by his commitment that was demonstrated by his willingness to make such a large investment. Could you imagine paying that much and NOT making it back?
However, if his goal was making money, then this probably was not a good (intelligent?) way to go. He worked for a year -in order to make his money back. Is there a guarantee he will see much more profit coming off of that? Not likely, given that he made his money by selling his land away. Overall, he could've done better flipping burgers for a few months.