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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
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.
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.
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.
The same rules apply in the virtual world. You've got an area you call your own, the resources on said area are also your own. You could try to get a return on your investment by holding these resources until the time is right to sell, sell off portions of the resource or do nothing and be happy spending money.
Would you live on a farm that produced no product? If there were natural resources such as gems, petroleum or even attractions like waterfalls wouldn't you be at least thinking about ways to make money on them? Sure, there are some that would let people see the attraction for free, ignore the value of minerals that must be harvested in crude ways or refuse to let people shoot their animals and hook their fish for any reason, especially for money.
It's exactly like buying an island and turning a third into a resort, a third into destination spots (businesses, pristine land, room for activities) and leaving the remainder to your own enjoyment.
I mean, this guy does hunt on his own virtual island right?
Get your Unix fortune now!
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.
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.
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?
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.