Player pays $330,000 for Virtual Space Station... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

DonnieBoy · 01-05-2010, 07:04 PM

Player pays $330,000 for virtual space station - Plugged In - Yahoo! Games

Player pays $330,000 for virtual space station

by Mike Smith

Buzz up!

January 2 3:51 P.M.
Crystal Palace

The interior of one of Crystal Palace's biodomes

The US property market took quite a hammering over the last couple of years, but there's at least one place it's still breaking records.

But don't call your realtor just yet.

A buyer named "Buzz Erik Lightyear" just paid $330,000 for a fully-equipped space station, boasting multiple biodomes packed with exciting hunting opportunities, a thriving bar, and extensive shopping and reincarnation facilities. Sounds like a bargain, but there's one drawback: it's not real.

Instead, the "space station" is a location in the game world of Project Entropia, an online game released in 2003 which encourages players to exchange real money for in-game currency and objects. Crystal Palace, as it's called, was sold to Lightyear after a competitive auction, for $330,000 in honest-to-goodness real money.

Erik will be able to make money on his investment by taxing players who visit it, shop there, or use its extensive hunting facilities. Er, in theory. We'd probably have stuck with a mutual fund, but that's just us -- and we should note that past Project Entropia enterprises have enjoyed some surprising successes.

01-05-2010, 07:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
DonnieBoy Insane	Player pays $330,000 for Virtual Space Station... Player pays $330,000 for virtual space station - Plugged In - Yahoo! Games Player pays $330,000 for virtual space station by Mike Smith Buzz up! January 2 3:51 P.M. Crystal Palace The interior of one of Crystal Palace's biodomes The US property market took quite a hammering over the last couple of years, but there's at least one place it's still breaking records. But don't call your realtor just yet. A buyer named "Buzz Erik Lightyear" just paid $330,000 for a fully-equipped space station, boasting multiple biodomes packed with exciting hunting opportunities, a thriving bar, and extensive shopping and reincarnation facilities. Sounds like a bargain, but there's one drawback: it's not real. Instead, the "space station" is a location in the game world of Project Entropia, an online game released in 2003 which encourages players to exchange real money for in-game currency and objects. Crystal Palace, as it's called, was sold to Lightyear after a competitive auction, for $330,000 in honest-to-goodness real money. Erik will be able to make money on his investment by taxing players who visit it, shop there, or use its extensive hunting facilities. Er, in theory. We'd probably have stuck with a mutual fund, but that's just us -- and we should note that past Project Entropia enterprises have enjoyed some surprising successes.