Gamer buys $26,500 virtual land

mewso

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4104731.stm

A new low in gaming sadness.

Andrew Fotzpatr

thats the saddest thing ive ever seen..

Mr E

That is mind boggling..... wow.
What a space cadet.

bizmark

Hey you never know he might be on to a winner seeming he can tax people for useing the island and sell plots of his land for real money with something like 200,000 people playing that game he could well make a profit.

mewso

Well hes relying on the fact that there people sad enough to pay taxes online.....hang on a minute could be a great earner.

I'll give you a fiver for DM3 in Quakeworld.

FX Meister

What a sucker ass fool!!!

Retr0gamer

This is a historic moment in gaming history, and this sale only goes to prove that massive multi-player online gaming has reached a new plateau

Yep, a new plateau of loner losers.

Capt'n Midnight

The Entopia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money.

me wonders can you launder money this way ..

monkeyfudge

"This type of investment will definitely become a trend in online gaming," said Deathifier.

haha... Deathifier...

I don't want to be late with my rent, or my land lord, Deathifier, will get angry...

Hobbes

There is money to be made. If I recall correctly some guy set up a banking business for online games and at its height he made close to US$1 million. Think he got nabbed by the IRS though.

Wertz

Of course the real pwnage for deathifier would be if Project Entropia (plc) declared bankruptcy before the guy got to make back his $$$

monument

Never realy got into MMORPGs - time is one factor - but what size is this 'island'?

Steven

There is money to be made. If I recall correctly some guy set up a banking business for online games and at its height he made close to US$1 million. Think he got nabbed by the IRS though.

There's a fair bit of money in it alright, but it creates huge gameplay problems like dozens of people camping out in front of the spawning points of monsters that carry valuable stuff 24/7 so they can sell it to these companies making it all but impossible for your average gamer to collect any kind of l337 itemage. It also means that rich gamers have much more success than skilled ones. Go to any MMORPG forum and you'll find a thread bitching about corporate whores clogging up the good spots all day every day. The whole point of games is escapism from this kind of crap.
*dies a little inside*

[edit] Also, "Deathifier"? Why is it only the idiots get in the news. Hmm, answer's in the question there.[/edit]

[edit2] While I was on the bbc site I found this story. That guy's argument is hugely flawed. The reason that male characters cost more is simple supply and demand. More males = (considerably) more demand for male characters. I wouldn't buy a female character if an equivalent male was available but then I wouldn't buy a character. Down with this sort of thing.[/edit 2]

segadreamcast

"It also means that rich gamers have much more success than skilled ones."

Keep the phrase, but replace 'gamers' with 'people' and you probably have a universal philosophy for life.

Ave

musician wrote:

Well hes relying on the fact that there people sad enough to pay taxes online.....hang on a minute could be a great earner.

I'll give you a fiver for DM3 in Quakeworld.

Should actually do some research, before posting idiotic replies like that.

Project Entropia has been running for years, solely on a real cash economy.

That person will without a doubt make his money back, and then some, within months.

rabbitinlights

monument wrote:

but what size is this 'island'?

About 4GB.......................

Kazujo

How did a 22 year old get $26,500

Karl Hungus

Kazujo wrote:

How did a 22 year old get $26,500

He might've made it from the game itself.

Christ, imagine being able to make a proper living off the game?? :eek:

Kazujo

And the virtual estate agent is born

Wertz

Karl Hungus wrote:

He might've made it from the game itself.

Christ, imagine being able to make a proper living off the game?? :eek:

Guy I know from another games forum has his own Diablo2 shop selling all the legendary/uber crap. He makes so much off it he has to pay taxes and be VAT registered...

http://www.d2lodshop.com/

Was telling me that PE has more money sinks than an Irish politicians pocket.
In order to grind/level up to a point where you can actually kill (let alone camp) the high paying mobs you need to spend an outrageous amount of RL cash. All your ammo costs a fortune and all the items you need to keep yourself from getting killed. He said even dieing is expensive.
So yeah there's cash to be made but only if you're willing to invest heavily and get good at the game. That appeals to certain types of players but not me...

weemcd

new form of gambling methinks, im sure las v. has nothing to worry about tho

Swifty

My god, thats ****ing crazy.

Can people break into the place? If so I'd think about registering to this game and just sabotaging this losers land if it's possible. Poo on his grass etc.

mewso

Ave wrote:

Should actually do some research, before posting idiotic replies like that.

Project Entropia has been running for years, solely on a real cash economy.

That person will without a doubt make his money back, and then some, within months.

Should actually take the time to lighten up before posting arrogant replies like that.

Ave

musician wrote:

Should actually take the time to lighten up before posting arrogant replies like that.

How is it arrogant?

I actually know something about mmorpg's, specifically PE, which you quite clearly dont, by your downright retarded posts about it so far.

"OMGLOLO!L!O111 SMEONE SPENT REEL LIFE MONEY ON A GAEM SAD LOOSERSX!"


I know several people, in eve-online alone, who have made £10,000+ with an initial outlay of nothing but a monthly fee.

Here's a hint: dont judge what you dont understand, it just makes you look petty.

Karl Hungus

Wertz wrote:

Guy I know from another games forum has his own Diablo2 shop selling all the legendary/uber crap. He makes so much off it he has to pay taxes and be VAT registered...

http://www.d2lodshop.com/

...

Oh ****. If only I had kept D2 installed, I could've sold off so much of my unique stuff! I had so much high lvl armor and everything it was ****ing unreal! I could've made loads!

I used to have this fellow, and this here, and my shield was this. My armour. My helm.

Moriarty

People have been selling property in Ultima Online for years and years and making an actual (decent) living off it. This is just the next step up.

LegacyUser

The guy who actually bought it seems to have a plan. He doesn't seem like the uber nerd to me who does not have a clue what he is doing. Next Bill Gates anyone?...

There are people retarded *cough* i mean unique enough to buy bit of land to build virtual houses on it. Jesus that sounds so stupid. Anyway, Ye i can see him making a packet out of this in long run.

Steven

Moriarty wrote:

People have been selling property in Ultima Online for years and years and making an actual (decent) living off it. This is just the next step up.

That certainly doesn't make it a good thing. It's bad enough that we have to pay for the PC, the game, the subscription and the net connection without having to pay for equipment aswell, because that's the way it's headed.

Saruman

hmm.. on one hand im thinking he is a muppet but on the other im thinking its pretty cool.. a LOT of money but fair play to him.. hope he makes his money back! Its more fun than ebay!!

Ave

Steven wrote:

That certainly doesn't make it a good thing. It's bad enough that we have to pay for the PC, the game, the subscription and the net connection without having to pay for equipment aswell, because that's the way it's headed.

Most of the large buyers of online game content I have talked to, are older, succesful business types, who dont have the time to spend 8 hours a day levelling, acquiring money and items.

They are buying time, the sellers time.

Moriarty

Steven wrote:

That certainly doesn't make it a good thing. It's bad enough that we have to pay for the PC, the game, the subscription and the net connection without having to pay for equipment aswell, because that's the way it's headed.

I never said it was a good thing. As long as there are sought-after items in MMOs that can be traded this will continue though, there's no way around it.

Steven

Ave wrote:

Most of the large buyers of online game content I have talked to, are older, succesful business types, who dont have the time to spend 8 hours a day levelling, acquiring money and items.

They are buying time, the sellers time.

The buyers aren't the people I have the problem with. It's the people who acquire these items as a business. They camp out at these hot spawn points all day every day making it impossible for anyone without a vested financial interest to get the higher level items. It's done horrible things to the online FF game and, even though it's expressly forbidden in the license agreement, they've done bugger all about it.

My point is, you can buy all the equipment and characters you want to (even though it is a little cheap ), but when that starts to interfere with the normal running of the game, then you have a problem.

Oh, and sorry for singling you out Moriarty, your quote was just a good launching platform.

I never said it was a good thing. As long as there are sought-after items in MMOs that can be traded this will continue though, there's no way around it.

This is true, but the handful of people that do this for a couple of hours a day is nowhere near the disruption that these "career campers™" cause.

Imagine a soccer pitch that you can rent for ninety minutes to play a game on. Now imagine that there's always a queue of thirty people lined up for renting it just so they can sublet it to whoever will pay them the most. Not an entirely identical situation, but I'm tired and I'm sure you'll all see my point.

Ave

Steven wrote:

The buyers aren't the people I have the problem with. It's the people who acquire these items as a business. They camp out at these hot spawn points all day every day making it impossible for anyone without a vested financial interest to get the higher level items. It's done horrible things to the online FF game and, even though it's expressly forbidden in the license agreement, they've done bugger all about it.

It's bad game design if that happens, hell - even if people werent camping to sell the items for real cash, they would be camping to sell them in-game.

Having choke points like that is stupid, and will cause problems irregardless of why they are being camped.

mewso

Ave wrote:

How is it arrogant?

I actually know something about mmorpg's, specifically PE, which you quite clearly dont, by your downright retarded posts about it so far.

"OMGLOLO!L!O111 SMEONE SPENT REEL LIFE MONEY ON A GAEM SAD LOOSERSX!"


I know several people, in eve-online alone, who have made £10,000+ with an initial outlay of nothing but a monthly fee.

Here's a hint: dont judge what you dont understand, it just makes you look petty.

I posted a link to a news story. I expressed an opinion on this. You decided that you didn't like this. Sorry but last time I looked people are allowed to express an opinion. I'm a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan. When I see people take the mickey of nerd SW/Trek fans I understand why they do and do not take umbrage at it and react like an arrogant idiot. I absolutely understand how people get heavily involved in any form of online gaming having been an online gamer for 6 years. Prickly responses are a standard reaction of someone who has some insecurity on the issue. Relax and congrats on your knowledge of mmorpgs. I'll take my retarded posts elsewhere now because I like to discuss things with people who can do so without abuse.

Peace

gg's, l8r

Moriarty

Steven wrote:

{stuff}

I fully agree that whoring of spawn points etc is shít but as ave has pointed out that's a flaw in the game design, not a problem with the (sub-)genre. In any case, I make a conscious decision to stay away from MMOs like EQ where this is most common.

Steven

Ave wrote:

It's bad game design if that happens, hell - even if people werent camping to sell the items for real cash, they would be camping to sell them in-game.

Having choke points like that is stupid, and will cause problems irregardless of why they are being camped.

I don't understand. Are trying to condone it? It's not a choke point if there are 6 or 7 of them on a server with twenty people at all of them all day. If people didn't rely on it as a source of income then there'd be drastically fewer doing it, removing the problem. Yes, I said removing, because if there aren't twenty people there you might actually stand a chance of picking up a "Legendary Mages Robe of Whatever +3" when whatever bugger's carrying it hits the dirt. The games are designed with a certain degree of spawn whoring in mind, but you can't account for 1% of the population sitting at them all day long. If you made 40 of these points on each server, that would eliminate the high prices on the items, but it would also mean that you can't have any rare items in the game and if that's the only solution short of banning anyone who tries to sell stuff then I don't see how it's a problem with the game design.

kinkstr

complete madness,
they'll have people walking on the moon next i predict

Ave

musician wrote:

I posted a link to a news story. I expressed an opinion on this. You decided that you didn't like this. Sorry but last time I looked people are allowed to express an opinion.

And where, pray tell, did I say you werent allowed to express an opinion?

I said it was idiotic and stupid, where did I say you werent allowed to have one, however ill-informed?

I'm a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan. When I see people take the mickey of nerd SW/Trek fans I understand why they do and do not take umbrage at it and react like an arrogant idiot.

You said the arrogant idiot bit earlier, I called you on it, and you still havent shown how it's arrogant, or idiotic, to point out that PE has an economy based entirely on real money, and this guy will make his investment back with a nice bonus?

I absolutely understand how people get heavily involved in any form of online gaming having been an online gamer for 6 years.

It shows :rolleyes:

Prickly responses are a standard reaction of someone who has some insecurity on the issue.

May I please see your psychiatry degree, or is this uninformed psycho-babbly from someone who cant figure out a better argument?

Relax and congrats on your knowledge of mmorpgs. I'll take my retarded posts elsewhere now because I like to discuss things with people who can do so without abuse.

So you didnt mean abuse by "A new low in gaming sadness" and "Well hes relying on the fact that there people sad enough to pay taxes online.....hang on a minute could be a great earner.

I'll give you a fiver for DM3 in Quakeworld."

Ok, sure.
(Should really think out these superior responses before you post them, they arent so superior when disseminated.)


Also, if you wanted to "discuss" it, why did you just post a link and add "a new low in gaming sadness"(note, no question)?

I don't understand. Are trying to condone it?

Condone it to who & why?

It's not a choke point if there are 6 or 7 of them on a server with twenty people at all of them all day.

I dont think you understand what a choke point is.

If there's 20 people at a place, all day every day, and their is no alternative to this place, it is by definition, a choke point?

If people didn't rely on it as a source of income then there'd be drastically fewer doing it, removing the problem.

Which is why, even in games that dont feature people playing only to make real money(games like neocron), you still encounter frequent choke points?

Yes, I said removing, because if there aren't twenty people there you might actually stand a chance of picking up a "Legendary Mages Robe of Whatever +3" when whatever bugger's carrying it hits the dirt.

You are overstating the problem.
Could you please list the multitude of games you imply are having this problem?

The games are designed with a certain degree of spawn whoring in mind, but you can't account for 1% of the population sitting at them all day long.

So, only ebay'ers etc, want high level loot?

Strange.

If you made 40 of these points on each server, that would eliminate the high prices on the items

But surely the high prices must be eliminated already, since their are hordes upon hordes of players camping these places 24/7/365 for the opportunity to sell the results on ebay? :rolleyes:

but it would also mean that you can't have any rare items in the game and if that's the only solution short of banning anyone who tries to sell stuff then I don't see how it's a problem with the game design.

People want the best equipment/money/levelling, in the easiest way possible.

Regardless of ebay'ers, almost all players will still clamour to get these.

Not having enough variety, and different options, results in choke points and frustration, regardless of whether or not people can sell the results for real cash.

Loobz

Take it easy ffs. Fair play to the guy who bought the land - he obviously has a plan.

mewso

Ave wrote:

And where, pray tell, did I say you werent allowed to express an opinion?

I said it was idiotic and stupid, where did I say you werent allowed to have one, however ill-informed?

Yes you are correct. An over reaction on my part there due to your kind posts.

Ave wrote:

You said the arrogant idiot bit earlier, I called you on it, and you still havent shown how it's arrogant, or idiotic, to point out that PE has an economy based entirely on real money, and this guy will make his investment back with a nice bonus?

You said "Should actually do some research, before posting idiotic replies like that." I consider that part arrogant for your superior attitude and stupid because the reply in question that you quoted was obviously a joke. I welcome being educated on the matter but not in that manner. In hindsight, I agree with you, I should not have made the "sad" comment in the very first post because as you so politely point out I was un-researched in the matter. If I had you could have targeted the other replys that showed such disregard for the mmorpg entertainment industry.

Ave wrote:

May I please see your psychiatry degree, or is this uninformed psycho-babbly from someone who cant figure out a better argument?

This is uninformed psycho-babbly guessing. I'm just mystified at the politeness of your posts. You took the time as I am doing now to repsond to various quotes of mine which would lead me to assume you like to discuss things. Do you normally get a good discussion going with people by referring to their comments as idiotic and retarded?

Ave wrote:

So you didnt mean abuse by "A new low in gaming sadness" and "Well hes relying on the fact that there people sad enough to pay taxes online.....hang on a minute could be a great earner.

I'll give you a fiver for DM3 in Quakeworld."

The first one was an illadvised comment on my part but my first impression was amusement at the article. I was wrong about that. The second was a joke and if it offended the mmorpg fraternity then I apologise.

Ave wrote:

Also, if you wanted to "discuss" it, why did you just post a link and add "a new low in gaming sadness"(note, no question)?

Very bizarre. I made no request to the moderator to lock the post so I would expect the benefit of the doubt on that one that I might have expected some discussion to ensue. It is a discussion forum and I would probably still have been here talking about this now only I know I am deffinately still here
because my posts were called idiotic and retarded. Thats one way to get someone angry and responsive (of some form).

Anyway I accept the arguement that this guy will make money on his investment. I'm still a bit dubious about this being a good thing or that it bodes well for online gaming but I'm, amazingly, open to discussion on it.