fotoman Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162315.html Ailin Graef--who is better known by the name Anshe Chung--works as a real estate developer. She buys property, develops it, resells it, and uses the profits to buy even more. Her business has rapidly snowballed, and she has just made her first million--although none of the "property" is real. All the houses are virtual houses in the online game Second Life--where players create an avatar and can buy, redecorate, and furnish property; run businesses; and interact with other players. Now Graef has become the first virtual-world millionaire. Graef started with an initial investment of just $9.95 and developed her fortune over 32 months. She worked along the same principles as real estate developers do--she began by buying small amounts of virtual real estate, which she then subdivided and developed with landscaping and "themed architectural rebuilds." She then resold or rented the property out for a profit. Second Life has had a lot of publicity recently--companies including Dell and Sun Microsystems have held press conferences in the virtual world, where Reuters has a reporter covering goings-on. All this publicity has meant more curious gamers opening accounts and needing somewhere to "live" in the game--which is great news for real estate agents such as Graef. The currency used in the game is called Linden dollars, and the exchange rate is around $1 to 275 Linden dollars. The average going rate for land parcels in Second Life is between $100 and $1,000 and players can also buy virtual clothes, furniture, and other accessories from a variety of in-game businesses. Graef was born and raised in Hubai, China, although she is currently a German citizen. She now runs Anshe Chung Studios with her partner Guntram Graef--the company has a real office in Wuhan, China, and is currently recruiting to expand its workforce from 25 to 50. She said she believed that the estimated valuation of her virtual assets was in fact somewhat "conservative" and that the actual value may be "significantly higher." She also owns virtual property in IMVU, There, and Entropia Universe. She will be holding a virtual press conference in Second Life on November 28 to discuss her success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted August 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/03/s...d-life-rea.html Second Life Real Estate Sold as Art for $100k At the Art Positions Fair in Miami last December, a piece of Second Life was sold for $100,000 by the artist Cao Fei to a collector. Fei is known for making short videos, including a mini-documentary about her Second Life as China Tracy called i.Mirror, but she's moved onto something more virtually tangible. RMB City is a compilation of real Chinese cities, fantasy elements, and various economic and cultural models. Investors (or collectors) can pay up to $120,000 for a building in RMB City that they will then have access to for two years. Afterwards they'll receive commemorative artwork and documentation of their virtual world activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratedzeus Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted August 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/22/bu...fi-secondlife22 Virtual bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchy Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Hey guys, crazy stuff. Feel free to merge the two threads together if you want Nice weekend all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfreeman420 Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 I don't get this. Why are people throwing so much moeny away to buy real estate and other things that don't exist? I tries second life when it first came out and it was quite annoying and boring. What do people see in this? Are that many peoples' lives so mundane that this is all the excitement they can get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dani Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 I don't get this. Why are people throwing so much moeny away to buy real estate and other things that don't exist? I tries second life when it first came out and it was quite annoying and boring. What do people see in this? Are that many peoples' lives so mundane that this is all the excitement they can get? If stupidity was punished by death then 80% the world would be gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchy Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 If stupidity was punished by death then 80% the world would be gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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