Making Money With Virtual Property

I was reading this morning on the BBC website about a 22 year old gamer who purchased a Island in the game Project Entropia for $26,500.00 dollars. Back when I used to play MMORPG games (Everquest, DAOC, WOW) the companies used to be VERY MUCH against you selling an in game content. But lots of people got away with it anyway. I was the first druid in the game of Everquest to reach level 50 (I know I am a nerd) and promptly sold my character on eBay immediately for $2400 wayyyy back in May of 1999. It had taken me about 1 month of hardcore playing (living in the game pretty much) to get to that level so fast. I kept buying accounts... building charectors and selling them on eBay. Sometimes the auctions would get canceled but even when they did I would get offers. I never got as much money as I initially did for that first character. A.D.D. MOMENT: Sometime I should write about my addiction to MMORPG games. So what did he get got his 26k ?

The virtual island includes a gigantic abandoned castle and beautiful beaches which are described as ripe for developing beachfront property.

This game is very different because it actually has a exchange system which converts the in game currency to real money and back again. Pretty slick. Back in my Everquest days my biggest competition in selling in game content (swords, armor, characters) was N. Koreans who were basically working for slaves wages for companies farming equipment for their boss's to sell in real marketplaces. Everquest took place in a virtual world called Norrath and I remember a article one time that talked about how if Norrath was a real country in the world based on estimates it would be one of the top 10 richest countries in the world. Project Entropia is just getting started already has 200,000 players. I think this is going to be huge.