[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] *Starting* Real Currency Based Worlds

[ghovs at plex.nl]

Nick Koranda wrote:
> I can see a real currency world existing pretty easily if all players 
> paid a fee, I think it just gets tougher when you allow players to 
> play for free as well and still let them earn money.
Project Entropia is theoretically playable without putting any money in 
at all. However, it's a very painful way of starting out, and the 
attrition to your funds while using armor and/or weapons is pretty 
steep, so you'll have to be a bit lucky to get anywhere without 
investing any money.

Conversely, it allows you to put in as much money as you want, limited 
only by how stupidly you waste your booze^Wrent money. You'd only really 
need one or two players with a six-figure income who like being rich in 
a virtual world too, and your bandwidth is covered.

Given that it's played by thousands, those few who insist on not putting 
in a single dime aren't that much of an impact and all of them could 
cave and pay a little bit at any time.

While I don't know their exact income figures, I do know that Project 
Entropia operates at a profit, and also has financial room to develop 
their game further.

Even in games which have an official policy of forbidding RMT, there are 
players who will sometimes spend in the range of 1000-2000USD to get 
themselves set up well. The temptation of not having to grind a million 
years is far too much for people with a lot of spending power. It's more 
baffling that there are developers who actually don't want that money, 
if you look at the financial picture.