Gaming gone too far?

[BishounenCookie]

Found this one on slashdot a few days ago.

Virtual island sells for $26,500

In case you aren't familiar with the game Project Entropia, it is an online MMORPG where the economy is based on the U.S. Dollar. You have to pay real-life money for your assets you own in the game. There is also the possibility of making a profit, though I suspect that people do not generally make a profit and not very much of one if they do.

He may be able to make a profit off of his purchase--he is allowed to make up to $3,500 in profit, to be exact. Slashdotters debated this issue thread after thread. While one individual may possibly benefit greatly from this, one premise still remains: This is ALOT of money being pumped into a virtual economy!

Post your thoughts.

[Azier the Swordsman]

$26,500 and the sap spent it on a virtual [FAKE] island?

I think it's a waste of money.

[Felix]

Wo'... 0.o
That's scary, I would never blow that much cash on just a bunch of pixels...never.
The world is full of wierdos...*sigh*

[Mr. SmartyPants]

people will actually use paypal for weapons for games such as diablo 2 and stuff. Scary isnt it

[BishounenCookie]

I know they do that in Thailand alot. I remember reading an article in Yahoo news about how the thai government made a gaming curfew for the whole country almost exclusively because of the game Ragnarok Online. Not only are kids deeply addicted to that game, but they also are heavily engaged in the buying and selling of game items for real money.

Thailand, obviously, is alot more extreme than our tamer western world. Here, it's not like every other kid is playing an MMORPG... it's mostly just the giddy fan-people. Even most real "gamers" in the 'States and Canada I know prefer games like CS or WC3 for their online hookups. (I like to make the distinction between "gamers" and "MMORPGers;" "MMORPGers" don't have time for any other games besides their current MMO.)

If this game, Project Entropia, was more mainstream... it kind of makes you wonder what wierd effects our economy would sustain to have all of this money being pumped into a virtual market.

Who's to say who owns what in the game? There are no laws to protect your virtual estate or investment. Technically it's all the intellectual property of the game's publisher, and they could decide at any moment, for whatever dastardly reason, to just delete the $26,500 island. I am always hearing people complain about how these games get "item wipes" or "rollbacks" or "resets," etc. for this reason or that. I'm not so sure I'd trust some no-name game company (or ANY company) with the key to make or break my $26,500. Thus, even if he does make a profit from it, I'd still say it was a stupid, stupid, STUPID thing to do!

[Kisa]

o my goodness... I never thought it would go this far.. well maybe those who are totally addicted... yipes ><

[Saint Kevin]

You could probably buy a real island for that much. Granted, it would be neither big, nor furnished, but at least it's better than some pixels.

[Savior_Sora]

obsess-much?

[Kenshin17]

Ok. That is just flat out crazy.

I mean come on! Its not even real!

[Kuro-Mizu]

Its crazy i feel bad for the people blowing that much cash on things that arent even ofthis world but of a world they can never really visit, tis is truly sad indeed