[MUD-Dev] Pay for Item MMOG : Entropia article on Slashdot

[Justice Ocker]

From: "Matt Mihaly" <the_logos at achaea.com>

> While Project Entropia is a joke, and has been doomed to fail
> (assuming it keeps its current model in which people can turn
> in-game currency back into physical world money) since it was
> announced years ago, you do it a disservice by comparing it to
> Pokemon, which is a wonderfully brilliant game and product
> both. It may be aimed at kids, but from what I know of it (which
> isn't all that much, granted, but a girlfriend's little sister is
> very very into it, and I picked things up that way) it's extremely
> creative, well-designed, and simply a fun concept for kids and
> many adults.

> As for the model itself, what's wrong with buying things in a
> world?  Sounds like the physical world to me. If it's the
> integrity of the game you're worried about, consider that golf is
> a game in which you can spend thousands of dollars on clubs and
> still have no hope of ever beating a stick-wielding Tiger
> Woods. Consider that professional sports are a game in which the
> primary assets (the players you are using to win) are for sale, at
> enormous prices. Not only do people play hundreds of millions of
> dollars to play that game (by buying a team), but hundreds of
> millions of people spend lots of money watching it, talking about
> it, consuming products based on it, playing in virtual leagues,
> and generally obsessing over it.

  http://entropia.stratics.com/content/economy/model.shtml

I think this goes far beyond just purchasing items for the game.
Mindark seems to think that people will have no problem using this
format to interface with the Internet in general.  They are shooting
for a mass market approach, even comparing themselves to Netscape!
Has this been attempted before or is it just all of the sci-fi
novels I have read ;)?  This just doesn't seem to viable.

Justice


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