Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, MMORPG industry

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Filed under: Entropia Universe, Economy, News items, belief, Second Life, Politics, Legal, Virtual worlds

Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like you to give a big hand to the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which is back with us once again as a special, and rather unexpected guest. You see, while the UIGEA initially kicked around in 2006, the actual regulations that will implement it are just about to kick off.

Today, the House Financial Services Committee will be holding an emergency mark-up of some of this legislation. Why is it an emergency? Well, because while the whole thing is technically about 'gambling', the wording of the UIGEA isn't at all clear about what it actually is making unlawful, and when it comes to legislation and regulations, the words are everything. Words that are getting decided today.

While you might already be under the impression that the UIGEA was already active, the fact is that businesses have just been jumping the gun and attempting to regulate based on some rather fuzzy wording what they might not be permitted to do.

Online games of chance? Well, sure. What about online games of skill? That's where you use your knowledge and abilities to make a profit in an online activity. That's where we get to the sticking point, because virtual environment economies may yet fall into that yawning abyss between words.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Chance, skill and the law

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Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, MMORPG industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Virtual worlds, MMORPGRTS, Kids

Continue reading News From the Wider MMORPG World: September 9, 2008

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Filed under: MMORPG industry, belief, Second Life

Where is it all going? With an MMORPGG you already know: Content updates, free and paid expansions, and so forth. A broadening and sometimes also a deepening of the game experience.

Virtual environments tend to be a bit hazier, largely supported by microtransactions they may include game-elements (like Entropia Universe), sci-fantasy settings (like the upcoming Blue Mars), specific celebrity events (Habbo) or merchandise and marketing-spotlighted experiences (Virtual MTV, Barbie Girls Online and more).

In a very real sense the virtual environments industry is largely about spotlight. Targeting a market, wooing a demographic, and showing them where you are going to take them in the coming days.

Interesting, then, that the world's best-known virtual environment, Linden Lab's Second Life lacks the answers to fundamental questions, the answers to which directly impact every user and organization who participates (or who might participate in future). In fact, hardly anyone is asking those questions. Now isn't that peculiar?

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Where is Second Life going?

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Filed under: Entropia Universe, Economy, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab has been granted another trademark on their hand-and-eye logo. This time for a credit card. Specifically, trademark registration 3378449 covers "Online financial services, namely, offering a fictional-dollar-denominated credit card to charge online purchases".

Of course, 'fictional-dollar-denominated' would mean Second Life Linden Dollars (L$). Exactly what sort of card this might be is uncertain. You may recall that in 2006, MindArk released an ATM card for Project Entropia (now called Entropia Universe) allowing access to Project Entropia Dollars (PED) and supported by the Versatel cash-card network.

There's no indication whether Linden Lab is (or was) planning a physical card, or some sort of non-physical card, how it would be backed or where it might be honored.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Linden trademark for credit cards

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Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Entropia Universe, Free-to-play, One Shots

For today's One Shots, we're bringing you a treat. This is a screenshot from a virtual universe we don't see very often at all, but is absolutely gorgeous. What title is this, you might ask? It's Entropia Universe, developed and published by MindArk. While the graphics are somewhat stylized, nobody can dispute that they're not lovely to look at. What else can we tell you? Well, according to Mike S. who sent this screenshot in, this is prior to the upgraded CryEngine2 graphics -- so it looks even better now, if you can envisionthat! With lovely graphics, a free-to-play model, and the ability to cash out items you find into real-world funds, we're shocked we don't see this title more often.

Do you have a screenshot from a world we haven't seen in recent times? Would you like to brag on your favorite game or world? We'd love to see your screenshots. All you have to do is email them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with a note telling us a bit about what's going on in the screenshot, your name and the name of the game. Then relax and enjoy the limelight!
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Filed under: Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Events, in-game, News items, Virtual worlds

Continue reading Entropia Universe bidding war heads to $12,000 payout for newbie

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Filed under: Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Business models, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, belief, Free-to-play, Virtual worlds

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Filed under: Entropia Universe, MMORPG industry, News items, Virtual worlds

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