Darkaner
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- Joined
- Feb 27, 2005
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- Sweden
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- Silly Underground Family
- Avatar Name
- Keiser Darkaner Söze
Here's an interesting article I found.
http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/..._Realtid488/20050719210148_Realtid488.dbp.asp
My attempt at translating :
A real american construction company wants to build and decorate estates - in the online game Project Entropia, which is developed by Mindark. "The differences between real life and the virtual life is becoming less and less clear. Soon venture capitalists will be making business in the virtual worlds that will have a huge turnover", says Jan Welter Timkrans, CEO at Mindark which will become a public company this fall.
Project Entropia is the only online game where virtual money is the same as real money, and the currency, PED, is tied to the US dollar. Gameplay with real money has made Mindark subject of controversy and initially it was hard for them to find investors. But according to Jan Welter Timkrans, who owns 40% of the company, it now seems to have changed.
- "This fall we are planning a new share issue that would make the company public, and our plans are to introduce MA to the stock market within two to three years", he says.
In 2004 Mindark had a turnover of 18 million SEK, which means twice as much as in 2003. In 2005, the turnover is estimated to 35 millions.
- "We assume that these numbers will increase fivefold in a not to distant future", says Jan Welter Timkrans.
Project Entropia has around 270,000 users all over the world, according to MA. But instead of users you might call them residents. PE is frightingly similar to the real world and perhaps in the future NCC (Swedish construction company) will build houses, Lena Philipsson (pop singer) will go on tour and virtual models will dipslay the creations of various designers - all inside the game.
- "We have just opened negotiations with an american constsruction company that wants to let their own architects and decoration specialists build houses and decorate them inside Project Entropia. If everything goes as planned these houses will be sold both ingame and in the real world. There are also fashion and design companies that have shown interest in arranging fashion shows in the game using virtual models."
And whoever wants to be a model, but lacks the good looks in real life, might still become one in Entropia.
-"You can buy services from another user who is specialized in cosmetic surgery and become much more handsome. You can also become an estate broker or a miner who looks for gold and oil. It may become profitable, the prices for raw materials are high right now." (Darkaner comment : Excuse me?!?!?)
Q : "Could online gaming be a serious alternative for those who are unemployed or lives in a country where hourly wages are low?"
A : "Absolutely. It takes no initial investment, all it takes is a computer and an internet connection. There are users who spend their entire days gaming in Entropia, and they are making a decent yearly wage on it. It has become their job. We have also seen how people speculate in what will happen in the game, for example estate prices going up."
Q : "Do you think venture capitalists will begin to conduct business inside the virtual world?"
A : "That might already be happening. It would be a natural step as the market grows. Our calculations show that ingame we will have a turnover of a quarter of a billion US dollar during 2005."
Article posted on July 20:th 2005.
http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/..._Realtid488/20050719210148_Realtid488.dbp.asp
My attempt at translating :
A real american construction company wants to build and decorate estates - in the online game Project Entropia, which is developed by Mindark. "The differences between real life and the virtual life is becoming less and less clear. Soon venture capitalists will be making business in the virtual worlds that will have a huge turnover", says Jan Welter Timkrans, CEO at Mindark which will become a public company this fall.
Project Entropia is the only online game where virtual money is the same as real money, and the currency, PED, is tied to the US dollar. Gameplay with real money has made Mindark subject of controversy and initially it was hard for them to find investors. But according to Jan Welter Timkrans, who owns 40% of the company, it now seems to have changed.
- "This fall we are planning a new share issue that would make the company public, and our plans are to introduce MA to the stock market within two to three years", he says.
In 2004 Mindark had a turnover of 18 million SEK, which means twice as much as in 2003. In 2005, the turnover is estimated to 35 millions.
- "We assume that these numbers will increase fivefold in a not to distant future", says Jan Welter Timkrans.
Project Entropia has around 270,000 users all over the world, according to MA. But instead of users you might call them residents. PE is frightingly similar to the real world and perhaps in the future NCC (Swedish construction company) will build houses, Lena Philipsson (pop singer) will go on tour and virtual models will dipslay the creations of various designers - all inside the game.
- "We have just opened negotiations with an american constsruction company that wants to let their own architects and decoration specialists build houses and decorate them inside Project Entropia. If everything goes as planned these houses will be sold both ingame and in the real world. There are also fashion and design companies that have shown interest in arranging fashion shows in the game using virtual models."
And whoever wants to be a model, but lacks the good looks in real life, might still become one in Entropia.
-"You can buy services from another user who is specialized in cosmetic surgery and become much more handsome. You can also become an estate broker or a miner who looks for gold and oil. It may become profitable, the prices for raw materials are high right now." (Darkaner comment : Excuse me?!?!?)
Q : "Could online gaming be a serious alternative for those who are unemployed or lives in a country where hourly wages are low?"
A : "Absolutely. It takes no initial investment, all it takes is a computer and an internet connection. There are users who spend their entire days gaming in Entropia, and they are making a decent yearly wage on it. It has become their job. We have also seen how people speculate in what will happen in the game, for example estate prices going up."
Q : "Do you think venture capitalists will begin to conduct business inside the virtual world?"
A : "That might already be happening. It would be a natural step as the market grows. Our calculations show that ingame we will have a turnover of a quarter of a billion US dollar during 2005."
Article posted on July 20:th 2005.
