Real money trading is not illegal in every MMORPG. In fact, Entropia Universe is all about making money or spending money to expand your experience.

After gaining much success in its homeland, the Swedish sci-fi game will be teaming up with Cyber Recreation Development Corp. (CRD) to reach the Chinese market.

Developer MindArk plans on making a server with 7 million user capacity to attract plenty of people from one of the biggest MMORPG markets in the world. Aside from expecting expecting 10,000 job opportunities, Entropia Universe is supposedly able to save the environment. You read that right: this MMORPG will save the environment.

We won't be seeing a virtual Captain Planet or something like that, but CRD corporate chief David Liu believes that "people will actually be able to work from home inside Entropia Universe... thereby decreasing the amount of pollution generated by travel."

Get a job and help mankind by playing an online game? Good luck to our Chinese gaming friends, and we hope you become successful in your endeavors.

MindArk and Global Gaming Factory X AB have announced that Entropia Universe will be the first virtual universe and software to use the Smartlaunch Direct digital distribution platform. This will make the game easier for gamers to download at internet cafes and gaming centers around the world.

Smartlaunch Direct is being fully integrated with the Smartlaunch server and cafe administrator, displaying popular games from cafes around the world. Cafe owners can then easily download and install a game on all computers in the cafe using Smartlaunch Direct.

"This new partnership with Global Gaming Factory X AB will allow us to share the Entropia experience with new players who will have the software as an easily accessible option in their own environment," said MindArk CIO Marco Behrmann. "We look forward to a prosperous future using Smartlaunch Direct."

 

Two of the online millionaires from Second Life (Anshe Chung) and Entropia Universe (NeverDie) have teamed up to launch the Virtual Worlds Academy. This Academy is said to help in the promotion of the creative community by recognizing various achievements in different fields such as virtual artistry, technology, commerce and culture.

The first project they will be implementing upon its launch is the Virtual World Awards. The awards is slated to be an annual event which recognizes excellence and originality in virtual reality. Various awards will be given to those who have contributed to the evolution of these online worlds. Another feature of the event is the induction of various "industry icons" into a virtual hall of fame.

NeverDie spoke about the said awards saying that "the Virtual World Awards are designed to honor the creativity that people bring to this booming universe. As the online community develops we think it’s essential to document its history and its forefathers."

For those who are interested in submitting their own nominations for the Virtual Worlds Academy, the window to do so will be open from May 1, 2007 through November 15, 2007. It should also be noted that to be nominated, you should have created original content for Virtual Worlds. You can click on our read link to go straight to the Virtual World Awards webpage to submit your projects. All the accepted nominations will be announced February next year.

Jon Jacobs is one of the more popular folks of the Entropia Universe, thanks to his virtual venture, Club NeverDie. From the looks of it, the gamble paid off and although Entropia's cash card scheme was cancelled, Jacobs still has a lot of things to smile about in Entropia.

He has just announced that he won one of the first five virtual bank licenses for US$ 90,000. This new venture will specialize in short-term bridging loans to help finance avatars building virtual manufacturing and constructions. The auction started last February, with the price starting at US$ 0.10 and climbing to US$ 99,000. When asked for his reaction, Jon Jacobs had this to say:

We had a ball! The auction came to a close to virtual cheers, dancing and champagne popping when the more than 125 visitors to Club NeverDie’s VIP bar got the official word that Anshe Chung and I scored two of the coveted five banks on the block. We gamers achieved victory!

Whether or not this new gamble pays off, well we don't know. But heck, that's open for speculation.

ATM Marketplace reports that MindArk's MMORPG, Entropia Universe, wanted to do something different for players. It wanted to let players withdraw in-game money as real-world dollars. In May of 2006, MindArk announced a planned new ATM card to make it happen.

The Entropia Universe Cash Cards were supposed to simplify the process of money withdrawal for players by allowing them to withdraw their PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars) as real-world currency at ATMs.

Jon Jacobs (known within Entropia as Neverdie), an artist/filmmaker who spent US$ 100,000 of a loan against his real-life house to buy an Entropia space station which he resold as apartments and commercial space, called the Entropia Cash Cards "the Holy Grail of massive multiplayer gaming that everyone has been looking for."

Sadly though as revolutionary as the scheme was, the ATM/cash card scheme had to end.

The plan seemed all well until January 2007, when players were informed that MasterCard would no longer support ATM traffic from the card's backing financial institution, North York Community Credit Union of Ontario, Canada. Because of this development, Entropia announced refunds to be credited to players' PED accounts.

We've heard of off-shore banks and virtual banking, but banking in a virtual world? Hmm, is that another step closer into the Matrix?

MindArk's Entropia Universe with it's Real Cash Economy is going to auction out five two-year virtual banking licenses for those who want to be the next virtual millionaire. What would it mean to set up a virtual Bank of America in Entropia? Well, the winning player will be able to conduct 27/7 banking service.

They can give out loans and collect interest, be involved with the design and naming of their virtual bank, use advertising opportunities, and draft their own bank staff.

Yet another interesting investment opportunity for Entropia players. Remember Deathifier's Treasure Island and NEVERDIE's planet resort? This new banking possibility might just take the cake for the most expensive virtual property.

Public bidding starts mid-January within the Entropia Universe.

MindArk PE AB, creators of the Entropia Universe, a virtual world featuring the use of a real cash economy, has recently announced the winners of a public auction for the three virtual mall properties within the world. Bidding lasted from December 19 into the late evening of December 29. The total winning bids amounted to $179,668.

The malls should provide instant cash revenue to their new owners as each mall includes three shopping floors, eighteen medium sized shops, eighteen large size shops, three trade centers with an auctioneer, technician, trade, society, repair terminals, etc. On the fourth floor of each mall, there is a public teleporter and a public balcony.

MindArk is obviously proud about this display of interest in their virtual world. Chief Information Officer, Marco Behrmann had this to say:

the perfect thrilling ending to MindArk's most successful year to date. The desire to own virtual real estate in Entropia Universe is growing rapidly, which the mall auctions clearly show. Big business has entered the virtual universe with tremendous force, and we see no indication of this changing.

The Entropia Universe virtual world is most famous for having set a world record, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Last December 2004 it sold a virtual Treasure Island for US$26,500 setting a record for the largest dollar amount spent, to 22-year-old Australian David Storey, a.k.a. "Deathifier." During October 2005, the sale of an asteroid based space resort for US$100,000 to famed gamer, Jon 'NEVERDIE' Jacobs, set a new record for the most valuable virtual item.

Given Entropia's reported success, and that lawsuits, mudslinging, and sabotage is a sure sign/symbol of success, we now wonder when Entropia will be assaulted by a horde of flying wangs.

Entropia Universe will undergo a big bang as gamers pop virtual bottles of Sjoeblom winery sparkling wine to welcome the New Year. A limited number of bottles of the bubbly have been distributed to Entropia members on December 19. Just like the real thing, they don't come cheap.  A high demand for the bottled spirits has raised its trading value to over US$ 15 per bottle.

Entropia avatars will be able to pop the cork on their bottles and enjoy the New Year's festivities at the stroke of midnight in their respective time zones. With players from all over the globe, citizens of Entropia Universe will celebrate the New Year for a full 24 hours. Most of them will probably wake up with virtual hangovers the next day.

We guess there is a cycle that applies to every single MMO title out there: The game is released initially and fans dig it. After some time, the developer implements updates that he believes is for the good of the game. The players, on the other hand, have already become accustomed to the original settings. When the changes are applied, they cry "foul." But the changes are put in place anyway and virtual life goes on.

So, we won't be surprised if fans of Entropia Universe will do the same after they've tested the newly implemented Content List Version Update 8.8 by developer MindArk. After all, residents of Planet Calypso have had a reputation and history of militancy in the past. But as we've mentioned, everything did not end there. If anything, Entropia Universe has moved on.

Among the many changes included in VU 8.8, probably the most glaring are the ones done to Skills and Professions. All avatar attributes will now start at 1 point, instead of the previous 20 points. Team Settings was also changed. Stackable Items can now be split between team members based on the damage inflicted by each member.

There are also changes related to the upcoming Holiday season. Accordingly, several shopping malls and holiday gifts have been activated and were made available all through out Entropia. Anyway, there are a lot of changes to talk about. Why don't you just click on the read link to know all about them? After that, come back here and tell us what you think.

Some of the greatest, perhaps even the wisest, minds in the universe will get a chance to be some of the coolest people in an entirely different universe. MindArk, developers of Entropia Universe will be co-hosting two parties happening simultaneously for Nobel Prize winners: a real-world party, and a completely virtual one.

The event, dubbed the Nobel NightCap, will be held at the Stockholm School of Economics on December 10, and is meant for some very distinguished dignitaries: Nobel Laureates and their guests, members of the Swedish Royal family, the Nobel Foundation, and the Swedish Academy. A virtual NightCap party will be happening concurrently, courtesy of Entropia's Club Neverdie, and will actually be projected on the walls of the real-world party.

Of course, since not everyone is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, Club Neverdie will be free for everyone to get into during the party's proceedings. While you might think of Nobel winners as some kind of intellectual stuffed-shirts, the virtual aspect of it definitely makes the whole deal seem very cool and trippy. If you're feeling up to partying with royalty and intellectuals, you can always join them in virtual body and spirit through the game.