Game Experience

I've been a registered user of Entropia Universe since December of 2005. At the time it was called Project Entropia. Like so many before me, I was intrigued by the allure of making money in a virtual game. As you can see, my curiosity has not subsided. Although I hope I have a few more tricks up my sleeve this time around.

I originally played the game for a couple weeks. Starting off by 'sweating' but got bored with that really quickly. So I broke down and deposited $10 which gave me $100ped to use. Naively, I quickly spent that money on a rifle (Opala), some armor (Settlers) and ammo thinking that I would go out and kill the Ultimate Uber Beast and reap the AMAZING rewards forever solidifying my stake in this virtual universe.

I blew through the ammo in no time and there I was, broke and feeling empty inside. So I stopped playing. At that time, I had other games that were more rewarding because I didn't have to 'pay' for everything.

More recently I've come back to EU to have another crack at making some money. I have deposited $20 and got $200ped out of it. I've purchased A few items that I've read are going to be helpful. This Guide by Pinky got me started on what I should focus on at first.

I've been working on collecting the items needed. So far I've got the NeoPsion Aa Mindforce Implant & the Payn-Inc Implant Inserter. I now need to track down a minor focus chip and some force nexus so that I can finish up the 'Uber Sweater' part. Then I can move onto my next step, which I believe will be sweating and hunting.

I also should mention that I purchased a Jester D-1 rifle because I had read that the return is slightly better than the Opalo and I have been using that for most of my short hunting trips. Yes, I have still been hunting. It seems to be the only activity in the game that actually keeps me interested at this point. I know there is much more to the game, but it take a lot more money to get involved with them. So my plan is to start off being good at what I can and move up from there.

I realize that in order to make any king of money in this game, I'm going to have to work my way through the professions slowly. Which I'm fine with. While I do that, I'm going to spend my 'out of game' time researching online, finding resources that might make things easier for me. I'm know it's much quicker to deposit a boatload and skip these trivial steps, but like most people, I don't have boatloads of money kicking around. And this wouldn't be much of a Blog if I just skipped all the hard stuff and went directly to 'Go' nor would I learn very much about the game. I figure this is the best way to learn the ins and outs of the game and still work within my budget.

At some point soon, I'm going to establish a monthly budget (more of a business plan) that I'll be working with. Whether for depositing or working some other aspect of the 'business' I don't know yet. Most likely, the first few months will need to be spend depositing so that I can build up experience and items that will be useful for future endeavors.

In the meantime....

It's on to research!

The Entropia Universe Experiment

Well, I figure I better just start writing or I will never get started...

My plan is to experiment with the idea of making money in a virtual world.

My chosen Platform? Entropia Universe.

For those not familiar with Entropia Universe (EU), it is a virtual game world that boasts the first 'real-world economy.' Players of the game are not charged to play the game. It can be downloaded free of charge, and even played without putting a single dime into the game. But for those wanting more than a measly game-life of endlessly 'sweating' for any spending money, there is the option of depositing real money into the game. There's a fixed exchange rate of $1us=$10ped (PED is the in-game money), so basically a 10:1 ratio.

I'm not going to get to far into explaining how the game works as there is a plethora of information online that one can search for. EXAMPLE The company website has plenty of information for getting started in the game also.

What I want to know is...

Can one make a living by playing a game? Particularly this game. I say 'this game' because I have had limited success in other game endeavors that I have experimented with. I have dabbled in gold trading, account buying and selling as well as item sales, guides and the like. And, to my initial surprise, was actually making what I would consider a 'decent' amount. It certainly wasn't enough to live on, but nonetheless it was a legitimate earning from virtual goods/services.

My initial speculation is Yes, money can be made by playing a game. My limited experience tells me that it won't necessarily come from simply killing mobs or crafting items. It will come from a multitude of different 'streams' of income that could make up a more steady, sustainable income, while still involving me in the game regularly.

The goal of this blog is to simply chronicle my travels during this experiment.

Will it work? I have no idea.

Will I learn something? Absolutely!
Will I make money? Probably
Will I make a living? Let's find out together!

If you want to follow along with me as I discover whether a simple game lover can make and sustain a real paycheck by using a little entrepreneurial spirit, then click on the 'Subscribe' button.


Thanks for reading