See the gentleman with the dyed hair on the left? His name is Neverdie and playing a video game called Entropia Universe is funding a party in the suite of the Palms hotel. I’ve been to a fair share of parties (years of working at a nightclub) and video game related parties in my life… and this is quite different from what I’ve seen. It’s on the level of a rockstar party, but with a crowd of friendly Entropia Universe players. Neverdie actually profits from the game by capitalizing on people who hunt on his land and rent apartments on his rock. Unlike other virtual worlds Entropia Universe is pro player monitization. I spoke to a number of players here who explained the capitalist structure gives them freedom to empower themselves as players and as people. It’s an interesting real and virtual world I stumbled upon and something I’m barely scratching the surface of. I guess my first thought is about the fusion between the two and the (real) world that thrives off a playing in a virtual one.
Update: Neverdie is talking about a battle between the top two players in Entropia Universe. Tomorrow they battle over a piece of land valued at over $25,000. And we’re about to sing a song he created about server update time. Surreal isn’t it?
Published: Jan 9, 2008 11:43 pm