Investing in MindArk and Project Entropia

[Svetlana]

Very well said Semdog- I couldn't agree more.

Going public would mean that we, the consumer, get to see exactly how our money is spent (well, to a point ). It would also enable us, the players, to invest in this game if we wished rather than just a few chaps who have the cash to put down 10k as a bridge investor.

 

[The Mighty]

They're using my idea... and I want a cut.
Well they hinted at it in there, stating that with the release of the new playstations and xbox, that PE will reach even more players in the future....

I said a few months back that it would be cool if we could get PE onto PS2 or something...

 

[The Mighty]

Another note...

The reason companies go public is not necessarily only to get more money to invest in the game, but rather to get their own money out, and start using other people's money for the investment instead. It's essentially SELLING the business... or at least a part of it, to free up their personal money for whatever reasons..... These reasons could be that they have other things they want to invest in, they want to buy a new house, they want to be able to keep their own money safe if they think its in a currently risky situation. Obviously we don't know which of these reason's MA has... but I hope its so they can invest more in the game themselves.

 

[Darkscorp]

So how does one become a Bridge investor? Outside of plunking down 10.5K USD.

Do you get invited? Does someone in darkglasses wearing a black Biz suit appear at your backdoor with an empty breifcase?

And whats with this "Roadshow"? Sounds like the old days when peeps sold Snake oil out of the back of a Covered Wagon..

Seriously...I'd Invest..if I saw MAs prospectus first. And I believe MAs greatest investors would be the Players themselves.

 

[Svetlana]

So how does one become a Bridge investor? Outside of plunking down 10.5K USD.

Do you get invited? Does someone in darkglasses wearing a black Biz suit appear at your backdoor with an empty breifcase?

Some1 posted a link (I believe Dash) to the website for the bridge investing of MA. I believe you simply become a member of the investment "club" and then invest the minimum... but it did appear from the reading that the minimum was 10k

 

[Darkscorp]

Some1 posted a link (I believe Dash) to the website for the bridge investing of MA. I believe you simply become a member of the investment "club" and then invest the minimum... but it did appear from the reading that the minimum was 10k

I used that link. Apparently tho there is a redirect that caused a warning stating that the sites certs weren't valid.

Hmmmmm.

Whats also odd is that MA is their first customer? Wazzup with that?

 

[Devil Doll]

I used that link. Apparently tho there is a redirect that caused a warning stating that the sites certs weren't valid.

Hmmmmm.

Whats also odd is that MA is their first customer? Wazzup with that?

http://www.mybridgeportal.com/info.asp

DD

 

[Darkscorp]

I tried that Link DD and when I try to sign up as a pre-member it states "Missing Enrolling Sponsor Information"

What??? They dont want my money?

lol

 

[Devil Doll]

I tried that Link DD and when I try to sign up as a pre-member it states "Missing Enrolling Sponsor Information"

What??? They dont want my money?

lol

Why don't you send them an email.

DD

 

[Darkaner]

I tried that Link DD and when I try to sign up as a pre-member it states "Missing Enrolling Sponsor Information"

What??? They dont want my money?

lol

You need to be invited by a member who gives you a certain link to the Bridge site. I'll see if I can fix one.

 

[Darkscorp]

You need to be invited by a member who gives you a certain link to the Bridge site. I'll see if I can fix one.

Thx Dark..I'd really appreciate that..

So...on another note: Who here would put their money where their mouth is?

No..this isnt a challenge. If something like this would happen,wouldn't the players be the most...hmmm....., knowladgeable about the ROI on PE?

MA may control the market to some extent ingame(and I use this very loosely),but in reality its the players that make or break the system.

Again,this really depends on MAs prospectus. I am very curious to know what MA has up their sleeves as far as an incentive is concerned.

 

[Devil Doll]

So...on another note: Who here would put their money where their mouth is?

No..this isnt a challenge. If something like this would happen,wouldn't the players be the most...hmmm....., knowladgeable about the ROI on PE?

I would consider buying stock in MindArk the same as I do for any other corporation. I have a few simple rules:

1) The company has to have a product I believe is great.
2) I can have no moral dilemma with helping finance their endeavors.
3) And, this is the big one, I have to have solid intuition that the stock price is going to rise at an above average rate.

As for me being more knowledgabe about the ROI of MindArk and the potential for their stock being a good investment for me, I don't beleive a player has any advantage over a serious stock conisuer. To the contrary, they may be at a disadvantage because they are holding stocks to close to their heart.

But I digress, I am not here to teach anyone about investing principals or ethics. I just like the game.

DD

 

[Dash Smashing]

for all those having linking troubles, try this one

http://www.bridgeltd.com/index.php?sub=23&p=6&page=pressroom.html

hrmm.. anyone find out where/who bridge is based?(with)

when you goto the 'contact us' page, their's a buncha INPUT's for a form that gets sent to bridge.. when you select your country, there are a couple options that have been bumped to the top, instead of in alphabetical order.

(in the order found on the page)

Belize (?!!)
Germany
Malaysia
Netherlands
Sweden
United Kingdom

.. then they start into alphabetical with afghanistan, albania, algeria, andorra, angola, etc.

so im thinking these are the countries where there largest investors are..

so.. Belize?! from the CIA's little black book of countries. (url)

a country who's largest assets to the world are its convenient location in being a major transshipment point for cocaine, as well as an off-shore money laundering haven for white collar crooks..


so .. bridge is being supplied with money from belize.
belize is involved in making dirty money become clean.

^^ says the little demon sitting on my shoulder. this is not truth.

of course, that could be construed as slanderous rumour.. so i feel i should note that this is only speculation.. I dont know where bridge gets its money from..

but if it has so many requests for info from belize.. a country where only 10% of the population can afford an internet connection.. it dOES make me wonder. (10% sourced from the cia page located at the top of the document. 30,000 from a population of 297,000)

[edit: dash has been up way too long, on way too many stimulants, not limited too, but not excluding harry potter and the half blood prince, so his conspiracy theorist side is going a little crazy. further investigation reveals that bridge is a perfectly normal multi-national setting up shop in a scandinavian theatre. so why is belize the first choice in the drop down box? i mean really!]

[double edit: belize is a perfectly acceptable tax haven. it seems only natural that big money industrialists would have their investment 'mad money' capital there. http://belizetaxhaven.com/ ]

[triple edit: if things got really bad, and they needed an 'exit'. it would be easy for MA to put the money into an anonymous offshore account and disappear forever. but now im really just getting crazy. you should have stopped reading at the first edit.]

 

[hooters]

So, i've been following this thread for quite some time and i am not very good with all this money talk and investing. But, if someone could answer this quickly: Should we be alarmed as PLAYERS that all of a sudden, a burst of information about stocks, share, investors or whatever has come up? It all came so quick. Is MA in some kind of financial difficulty or are they just making sure that they don't end up in any financial difficulties?

Anyways, personally, i would never invest in an MA stock or whatever. 2 years ago, i would have definitely said yes(110%!).

Oh well, thanks for answering.

 

[The Beast]

Well, lets be honest, we can speculate as much as we want but no-one but the peeps at MA know.
The only reason I could possibly think, is that MA don't hold assets as such and therefore, it is difficult for them to secure a loan in a conventional fashion.
Lets also not forget that the game has already changed hands once due to financial difficulty and this would also cause MA to have problems with funding from Banks and high street lenders. Banks etc would normally require some form of collateral to secure thier investment.

So possibly MA need to go the Bridge route. No big deal, as I have said before, we dont really know, but I imagine Marco may shed a little light when he gets back off his jollies

***We're talkin big bucks here btw, not small potatoes. So if MA do secure the bridge, its biggo dosho for development****

 

[Cade]

I tried that Link DD and when I try to sign up as a pre-member it states "Missing Enrolling Sponsor Information"
What??? They dont want my money?

same here rofl darkaner, get oneathem fer me, neh?

Should we be alarmed as PLAYERS that all of a sudden, a burst of information about stocks, share, investors or whatever has come up? It all came so quick. Is MA in some kind of financial difficulty or are they just making sure that they don't end up in any financial difficulties?

Hooters, PE is the highest corporate grossing in existance today... the turnover is humongous. i have no reason to believe its going under within the next few years... i consider my money quite safe with Mindark AB PE.

dash.. ive BEEN to belize, and i noted the list but was refraining from comment. the demon on MY shoulder, however, told me that you probably arent far from the truth.
p.s. HARRY POTTER!?!?!

/edit beast, now that i see your post, i realize that it took at least 8 minutes to type this post... */me gllances at the nearly-empty bottle of vodka in his left hand...* maybe im a tad more intoxicated than i thought i normally type pretty fast...
but yes, youre right, we dont get anywhere by SPECULATING... but thats about all we can do ;p same with the inner workings of pe... almost all the mining, hunting, and crafting threads are built on speculation. so at least have fun doing it.

 

[Devil Doll]

Should we be alarmed as PLAYERS that all of a sudden, a burst of information about stocks, share, investors or whatever has come up?

Two things here. Lets just put in perspective what has really happened here. NOTHING. Seriously, no burst of information or anything. All we know is what I linked to in the first post of this thread. Even that I was carefull to state I do not know if the source is reliable.

So, stepping back a minute. All we know is that, according to this paper, MindArk is supposedly offering investment to "Bridge" owners and will be looking to get listed on a registered exchange at some point.

As for should the players be alarmed? ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is a natural progression for any growing healthy company. It would be much more alarming if MindArk never strived to move forward. What is happening is MindArk is making money and wants to take the next logical step and become a real "player" if you will. Again, this is all speculation at this point as NONE OF US KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON.

If anything, you and I as players should be very excited about what extra capital for MindArk can mean for us. Things like better support, better servers, worldwide advertising, anything you can dream of.

Is MA in some kind of financial difficulty or are they just making sure that they don't end up in any financial difficulties?

My guess is that neither of these staements would be the case. Would you want to buy shares of a company that was having financial difficulties? These "Investors" are being offered advance shares of a company that claims it is doing VERY WELL financially before the company "goes public". That means they get a chance to give MindArk money to help their business grow before you and I could buy their stock.

Again, we don't really know anything at this point and may not know anymore for a long time.

My hope in posting this was to show that MindArk as a business seems to be on the move and that they are trying to make the jump to the next level as a company. All to often the only thing we hear about are PE related accomplishments. It leaves one wondering if MindArk as a company is two guys in a garage sometimes. This news to me is a great sign of MindArk's strength and desire to succeed.

But who the hell knows. I could be COMPLETELY wrong.

Consider this; if an investor is going to put down hundreds of thousands of dollars, what does the average depositer REALLY have to worry about?

DD

 

[Phobia]

A little speculation from my side.

Can bridge investors be considered as silent investors? I don't want to see other companies invest in MA, and then have any say as to how the game is run and whatnot. Alot of games have gone downhill that way, don't want that happening with PE!

 

[Devil Doll]

I felt I had to respond here as I think information can be a dangerous thing if not presented in full light. So here goes....

when you goto the 'contact us' page, their's a buncha INPUT's for a form that gets sent to bridge.. when you select your country, there are a couple options that have been bumped to the top, instead of in alphabetical order.

(in the order found on the page)

Belize (?!!)
Germany
Malaysia
Netherlands
Sweden
United Kingdom

.. then they start into alphabetical with afghanistan, albania, algeria, andorra, angola, etc.

so im thinking these are the countries where there largest investors are..

You may very well be correct that Belize is where the largest investors are but I suspect that is has more to do with A) the fact that the company was formed in Belize and B) the fact that Belize comes first in the alphabet of the six countries listed out of order.

a country who's largest assets to the world are its convenient location in being a major transshipment point for cocaine, as well as an off-shore money laundering haven for white collar crooks..

More specifically the CIA Website says :

major transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and offshore sector

Let me just show a few more statements from countries on this "CIA Black Book" just to put things in context.

1) illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and export to US; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; transit point for heroin and cocaine entering the US market; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering because of its mature financial services sector

2) source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs; major financial center

3) makes strenuous law enforcement efforts, but faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people

4) transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs; minor transshipment point for heroin and cocaine destined for Western Europe; despite recent legislation, narcotics-related money laundering using bureaux de change, trusts, and shell companies involving the offshore financial community remains a concern

5) important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling

6) transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe to Western Europe and Scandinavia; limited production of methamphetamine and ecstasy; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation

7) a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore entities and various intermediaries; transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin

8) producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center

9) consumer of cocaine shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean; consumer of heroin, marijuana, and increasingly methamphetamine from Mexico; consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center

Wow. Those are some REALLY BAD countries listed there. Who are they? Well they are:







1) CANADA
2) GERMANY
3) HONG KONG
4) IRELAND
5) ITALY
6) LITHUANIA
7) SWITZERLAND
8) UNITED KINGDOM
9) UNITED STATES

the rest of Dash Smashing's post....

The rest of the post can be summed up with my answers above.

In short, financial matters in business are not something to be messed with. People can say what they want about PE but shouldn't attempt that when it comes to finances and the real world of business.

DD

 

[Numa]

This is an interesting thread going on here. Ok, some of these comments may be slightly wrong, untrue etc, so any changes or additions, please let me know.

A few thoughts though.

First off, there is no mention on the Mindark website about any of this going on at the moment, so until Mindark have any comments on whether this is true or not, I would wait until we see what they say. We all know how easy it is to get money out of people with just a simple email stating that we need a deposit to get such and such from this account and we will return your deposit plus 50% on top. Just look at all those scams from Nigeria and Canada, regarding Lotteries, or Seized Bank Accounts etc, that people are requesting money, to enable you to get a bigger return??

It's also a relatively new company(Bridge), and with little in the way of a financial background, they appear to have created a lot of offices around the world, that could all be ficticious, and to be honest, who out there, is willing to go and check on all these companies head offices to make sure they are real. In my eyes, there isn't enough info on this company, and the fact that you have to agree to a statement before you can enter the website, smells very bad to me. I don't have to do that with any other website i want to check on, unless I am signing up to something??

The fact that they are asking for so much money up front, $10,000 or so, on a company(MA) that we have no idea what there current financial situation is like, is a bad move in my opinion. We have no idea on current players, deposits, financial turnover, other than a few pieces here and there. It's all secret because it's private. I don't dispute that, but if it is true, I need facts before i would even invest.

As someone that deals with Finance and Stock market shares on a daily basis, whenever an IPO is issued, or any stocks you wish to deal in, you have all the facts of the companies turnover, sales, staff, company locations, mission statements etc etc, before anyone goes ahead and invests any of there hard earned money. Also, for the fact that the price is so high, I'm reluctant to even invest any money in this fashion, especially through a company that has no background, no history, no matter who is said to be the CEO's etc. I don't know anything about those guys. I don't know anything really about MA, but I don't have to invest to play.
Any Capital Investors would have all this information before even dealing in Mindark. Capital Investors are in it to make a profit on there investments. They don't care about the end users, they are in it for them. If they don't have the right info, or no info, they won't invest a penny, no matter the process for the investments.

The stockmarkets and companies are financially regulated in countries around the world, and you have protection and backup if things go wrong with companies. It doesn't always work, but you know it's there. Where is the protection, if they run off with your money??
There is no mention of whether this company is Financially Regulated.

Anyway, that is just a few thoughts on what I think of this at the moment.

 

[Darkaner]

Ok, for those of you that want to become pre-members (or full members) at Bridge, here's a link for you :

http://www.mybridgeportal.com/ap

If you have any questions about Bridge, ask the person who's name and E-mail is to the top right of the site (that's the one who's inviting you). I don't know anything about Bridge, so don't ask me.

Personally, I'll not buy any shares. Mostly because of that MA seem to value secrecy more than customer relations.

 

[Epictetus]

Whether the .PDF is accurate or fake, this is really interesting.

 

[Hugo]

indeed interesting

from the the pdf ".. and soon you will be able to invest in Entropia's own virtual stock market..."

oh my does this mean we can buy omegatron stocks soon also ?

 

[ViagraFalls]

oh my does this mean we can buy omegatron stocks soon also ?

There's a reason the stock exchange terminals ae in place, ya know?

 

[Milkey]

www.mybridgeportal.com/sp

Thats my disciples site, he's been telling me about this for awhile, hes going the one going to speak with MA about all this (posted a thread not knowing this one was up )

 

[Envictus]

so why is belize the first choice in the drop down box? i mean really!

The bottom of every page of their site holds the secrets you desire...

"Copyright © 2005 Bridge Group International Ltd, Belize"

 

[Epictetus]

Something about the PDF makes me think it's fake - the mention of PE being ported to consoles. Though I would really like it, I just see no way to do this, even on Xbox 360. They would have to work something out with users paying for the Live service yet them continuing to host the servers and the business relationship can't be amicable at this point.

 

[Devilmaster]

If it were last year i would if i had the money but no chans today. MA is developing in a direction not even close to customer related. When gas goes upp ppl say "hell no", when PE goes up it's "for the good of the game".

 

[Nozzy]

I'll be sure to buy me some of these....

 

[Dash Smashing]

The bottom of every page of their site holds the secrets you desire...

"Copyright © 2005 Bridge Group International Ltd, Belize"

yes, but my point was, why is an investment capital corporation headquartered in a country known for money laundering.

obviously, for the off-shore tax benefits. sure, its a good financial move..

but a financial move used more often by shady white collar crime types. =/