BBC News: Gamer buys $26,500 virtual land. This is absolutely blowing my mind. Some dude has spent an assload of money on an imaginary island that exists only in the imaginary world of an online RPG, Entropia. The article also contains this nugget:
“Earlier this year economists calculated that these massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have a gross economic impact equivalent to the GDP of the African nation of Namibia.”
Now, I’m not sure how big a country Namibia is, but fuck, doesn’t this all just seem a touch fucked up?
“The virtual island includes a gigantic abandoned castle and beautiful beaches which are described as ripe for developing beachfront property.
Deathifier will make money from his investment as he is able to tax other gamers who come to his virtual land to hunt or mine for gold.
He has also begun to sell plots to people who wish to build virtual homes.”
?!?!?!?! I have nothing else to say about this.