http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/nett/article1033619.ece
Article is in Norwegian.
Aftenposten is one of the largest Norwegian newspaper, and hopefully this will get some more ppl to join PE.
Translation:
The Australian guy who bought an virtual Island for NOK 265 000, is now selling lots there. But in Project Entropia, it is more to use money on.
Other online games are trying to “get rid off” trading with real money, but Project Entropia has it as a base.
In January, Project Entropia had a turnover for around 130 000 000 NOK. No goods exsist in real life.
215 000 NOK for a lot of 25 square meters with rights to hunt, selling lots, and taxrights. This seems like a very good deal, but only until you see that it is only some numbers and symbols in a Swedish database.
The lot, that is a whole island, was sold to an Australian for a couple of months ago. This is the until know highest valued virtual item that have ever been sold.
As oposite to a normal computergame, it is real money you deal with within Project Entropia. When you kill a monster, you get money into your account.
If you wanna buy a bigger gun or a new sweater, you need to pay.
This makes the experience “better” and it is more exsiting, says Marco Behrmann from the company MindArk that deliver the game.
Project Entropia is not a game, it is a virtual Uni-verse, says the instruction book. More then 200 000 ppl have registrated a real account in the universe.
2000 of them is Norwegian. No doubt that someone have invested large amount of money into the game.
Free start.
Aftenposten create an avatar and arrive to the futural city, Atlantis without spending money. As the real world, it doesn’t cost anything to exsist here.
What cost, is to make a carrer. 10 PED is 1 USD. (Around 6 Norwegian “kroner” NOK) A bank service make that you can transfer money from your Credit Card into the virtual universe.
Very fast, do we as many other, understand that it is not fun running around in orange training suite with only bare fists. I buy a pistol and a lasergun. The “laughing” price for the lasergun is 4 PED. Do you kill a mob, can you loot it for around 60-70 PED.
The trashweapons you buy in the start are not high valued. The very atractive weapons are valued up to 60 000 NOK.
It is the market that decide. We are surprised about how much the participants are willing to pay for rare items that gives status, Says Marco Behrmann.
Decay sells.
The company doesn’t earn money in selling items. It is the decay that makes the company income. Every items, clothes and others decay when they are beeing used. The participants can make money on stock exchanging, but then they have to earn more then the items decay.
Some ppl allready started to use analyzing tools that the stockbroker are currently using to estimate supply and demand.
The Universe will after the plan exsist for many decays. When graphic will be better, it will be upgraded without the content or the participants resources change.
Color clothes.
Since the startup for 2 years ago, it has developed various motors in Project Entropia. All clothes come without colors when you buy them, but players who have trained coloring can create pattern on them. For money, of course.
The 25 square meter island that the Australian participant bought, is allready aligned and many lots are allready seperated and sold further. At that place it is not growing a vivacious city.
Last time I talked with him, he was satisfied with the deal. He got his parts of the income from hunting and mining on the Island, says Behrmann.
The company MindArk, has now 25 employees that is working with the Universe.
Translation for text under images:
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image:
This pistol didn’t cost more then 2 PED. (Around 1 NOK) More rare weapon can cost up to 60 000 NOK. -
image:
Like this you do your shoping. The goods are in the left. When draging them into the middle section, you put them into your basket. You can pay when draging your credit card from the section to the right.
/Kjetil 
