by Jason Van Horn

Imagine if you could leave this world behind and start a new life on a foreign planet. MMOs give players the chance to explore new worlds and lands all the time, but rarely will the virtual wealth accumulated in-game ever amount to actual monetary wealth in the real world. Entropia Universe, however, is one game changing that aspect of MMOs, allowing players the opportunity to exchange in-game currency for the real deal. I talked with John K. Bates – Business Development and Strategic Marketing with Mindark/Entropia Universe – at this year's ION game conference to learn more about the game and how players are turning virtual businesses into real life profits.

Jason Van Horn: Can you talk a little about the amount of skill needed in the game in order to advance and make some money?

John K. Bates: You've got to have a certain level of skill to take on an animal and to go after the bigger loot. We actually have the concept of scarcity and value in our virtual world, which a lot of other people don't. So as you play…a lot of people play for fun, but a lot of people really, really pay attention and they won't take on an animal that will be a waste of bullets.

Jason: Is it possible to play the game with very little money – if any at all – and do well in the game?

John: You can come in and do pretty well. There are people who will put twenty-bucks towards subscription and give themselves an allowance of twenty-bucks every month to spend it on whatever they want. There's a guy who is one of the top three international players in the world - very, very high up - and he doesn't have as much time, so he spends his money to buy what he wants and needs. I met through email a guy who started early, was very smart, never ever put a penny into the game, and now his goods in Entropia Universe are probably worth about $25,000 and all he ever did was pick up guns and sell them.

Jason: What are some of the ways players are making a living in Entropia Universe? Is every player following the same path to wealth?

John: The way we are set up, it wouldn't work if everyone was doing what everyone else is doing. So you see people come in and they're hunting, as it isn't too hard to figure out. Other people are mining. I hunt while I mine or mine while I hunt, but I'm probably more skilled at hunting because I've done that a lot more. I want to do something else while I'm running around. And then there are people who just come in and buy stuff up, so instead of playing the stock market they play the Entropia Universe market. Then you've got players who don't want to put any money in, but they want to profit. So they'll be decoys for hunters, go in and [anger] the animal, run away from it, and while they are running away from it the hunter kills the animal. They may die, but they don't really lose much since they are a newbie and they don't have much armor or anything.

Jason: Is there a line between players who put a lot of money into the game and those who don't? Perhaps a sort of discrimination between the two different mindsets?

John: It's not the same as it is in many other games, where the game is setup to not really work right if people buy their way in. The players aren't going to hold it against a guy who bought and paid for his stuff with fifty-grand, as he is putting his money into the economy. People understand that does some good and it doesn't ruin the gameplay to have someone do that. I wouldn't say there is discrimination, but I would say there is a high amount of aspiration desire, so people see someone in a coat that they know cost $5,000 US dollars, and they go, "Ooh, aah, wow, holy smokes that's cool," and they want one of those coats. They want a nice house near NeverDie. They want an apartment on the asteroid that's close to NeverDie's apartment. So there is a lot of aspiration and not really so much discrimination.

Jason: Is NeverDie an extreme player or are there several players of that caliber? Is he a singular thing or are there multiple people like him?

John: At his level…he certainly stands on his own as a character and a promoter and that kind of stuff, but that was the second time that we got into the Guinness Book of World Records. The first time was for Treasure Island, which we put onto the auction, and a guy in Australia bought for almost $25,000 US dollars. So there are a lot of people with a really high net worth like that and NeverDie is probably the pinnacle. He bought an asteroid through our auction system for almost $10,000 starting bid. It's a customizable (to a degree) asteroid. It's got shopping centers and a nightclub and those sorts of things. He outbid everybody and bought it for $100,000 US dollars. He mortgaged his house in Florida, paid $100,000 for the asteroid, and then made his money back in 8-months. He gets offers of a million dollars regularly and he won't sell."

Jason: Can you talk a little of the expansion plans that will transform Entropia into an actual universe?

John: Right now we only have one planet and other people are working on more – that's why we call it Entropia Universe. The platform is the universe. We basically did the proof of concept in a really big way and now we are letting other people build onto the platform. Right now the value of basic landing pads that are scattered throughout the world…you can already imagine the value has gone up tremendously. When they first came out there was nothing to do with them, but people went, "Well okay, something is going to happen sooner or later." So players bought the space and put up landing pads, and then the asteroid happened, so now there are guys making money ferrying passengers back and forth. The pads went up in value. When we announced we had new partners then of course the landing pads went up a lot. You can imagine people are starting to look toward the vehicles and the spaceships, and there are lots of materials that will be needed and parts you'll need to make a spaceship.

Jason: What about the CryENGINE 2 you are adding to Entropia Universe?

John: We're in the process. I don't have a release date, but I think we are coming close to saying when that will be completed. It's not in the distant future.

Jason: Will it be one of those things where everybody has to upgrade to start using it or can people playing it now keep playing the game when the engine is added?

John: That's a good question and I'm not entirely sure. I know the CryENGINE takes something to run, but it is scaleable…you can scale it down. It may not look as good on my computer as it isn't all that ultra great, but it will work better for someone who has a better computer. I did see in Wired recently the specs for how to make a computer to run the CryENGINE for under $1000. You can put together a computer that can run the CryENGINE really well for under $1000 if you spend the money for the parts.

Jason: Is there that possibility though that a player could amass wealth in the game and then they suddenly can't play the game because of the CryENGINE change?

John: Until they get a new computer or upgrade their computer – that's a possible scenario. I don't think that anyone with a decent net worth in there is going to go away. It's not going to go anywhere if they don't login for a few months. I think that most of the people who have a net worth have an interest and joy in playing the game, and instead of seeing more resistance we're going to get a lot of people who are going to go out there and get a new computer, get that Alienware laptop they always wanted but couldn't justify until now.

Jason: Since the economy is player driven and you can put money into it, do you find a certain demographic or income ranking that plays the game mostly?

John: I think we skew a little bit older than the average MMO. So I think we skew to a higher IQ too. You get all kinds when you get that many people in any game, but overall I think the people in Entropia Universe are a really great community, and I think somewhat smarter than average community as it takes so much thought to get into the game. If you want to really, really be good at it you have to figure some things out. So I think it has attracted a higher intelligence level in general, so that's really cool.

Jason: Do you find Entropia Universe being used as a training tool also for real life business?

John: Absolutely. Absolutely. The other thing we have in Entropia Universe more than any other place is entrepreneurs. Since it's real money, and even if you aren't providing all your income, it's a worthwhile hobby. So we get a lot of entrepreneurs. I think it's phenomenal real life training – as I've seen this in the forums also – but it made me start thinking about budgeting my money in the physical world and think about what I'm buying more and how my money flow is. The game caused me to think about that more than my actual physical life. It definitely has an influence on people and teaches them lessons. We've talked to universities who are thinking about running classes where at the beginning of the class you start out with so much money and see who ends up with the most at the end in the game.