Some people just have far too much money...

[der_kluge]

Wow, it's like a virtual housing subdivision. It even says in the article that he'll make money. My guess is if you've got $26k lying around for such a thing, you're probably smart enough to know how to invest it wisely. Either that, he's just filthy rich, and it's his dad's money. Who knows.

I paid $100 for an Everquest character. Was it money well spent? Hard to say. It was on the test server, and eventually all the gear got axed. I didn't even want the character, but his gear instead. I even gave the guy his character back once I was done, since I had no interest in playing him. Such a thing would probably have sold for a lot more on a real server. EQ characters regularly sold for $1000+ on eBay.

 

[DaveMage]

A quote from P.T. Barnum comes to mind... (Something about one born every minute.)

...But then you have to hand it to the companies that have created these virtual worlds.

Amazing.

 

[Henrix]

Hey, that's project Entropia. Their office is just around the corner from here, and I even applied for a job there.

Strange idea for MMRPG, but it seems to work out fine. (For the company, that is, I don't know how it works for the players.)

 

[CarlZog]

I don't play any of these games, but the real life economic markets they're creating are pretty wild.

I don't think this guy's nuts at all. In fact, I'd predict that you'll see a lot more of this in the coming years. As long as people put value on their in-game experience, they're going to be willing to support that experience with real-world dollars. It started with buying magic items and money exchanges, now it's up to real estate.

Obviously, this guy's considered this an investment and is now going to piecemeal the property, just like a real-life developer would. How successful this guy turns out to be is going to be in the hands of the game companies though. Since the supply and demand is controlled by them, they could pull the rug out from under him by simply creating another dozen private islands to put up for auction.

If the game company treats the existing "real estate" as just that -- something you can't make more of -- then this kid's investment in only going to increase as long as there are people in this particular game who want a piece of what he's got. Of course, that also means he's now relying on the company to continue to successfully market the game and maintain a player base, creating a demand for his land.

This really changes the relationship between the player and the game company. They're more like business partners now. Likewise, I'm certain that legal disputes over virtual property will be spilling into real-life courts soon -- if they haven't already.

It's going to be pretty amazing to see how these trends unfold in the next couple years.

Carl

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

This sort of thing is quite common in South Korea, which probably has the highest number of MMORPG players per capita (if not outright) of anywhere in the world. Why do people in SK spend their money on this sort of thing? If you live in a little apartment in a massive city on an overpopulated peninsula, there ain't much you have to spend your disposable income on, other than travel or computer games (see also Japan).

I'm guessing that if full-immersion VR and direct neural interfacing becomes commonplace, this will seem like the most typical thing in the world...

 

[loki44]

He either has way too much money on his hands or he is a very canny investor

Are these the only two options here?

Instead of bashing a seemingly poor investment, I think I'd like to give some props to the guy who sold it to him.

Caveat emptor...

 

[TheAuldGrump]

A quote from P.T. Barnum comes to mind... (Something about one born every minute.)

...But then you have to hand it to the companies that have created these virtual worlds.

Amazing.

And two to take him.

This way to the egress...

The Auld Grump

 

[woodelf]

I wonder if anyone on ENWorld has spent that much on D&D books. And if so would you say the same about them?

Two comments: i know for a fact that i've spent at least 2/3rds that amount on RPG books (keep track for insurance purposes), and i am *not* a wealthy person. It's just the primary beneficiary of what disposable income i *do* have.

Secondly, i'm not all that surprised. A coworker bought his new computer by selling stuff in the Star Wars online game--he was earning a couple hundred dollars a month by selling in-game stuff he'd earned through copious expert playing.