Metaverse Market Index

Terant · 10-07-2007, 02:32 PM

Metaverse Market Index Will Bring Comparative Tracking To Online Worlds

News is a few days late since I couldn't remember my password.. I've been lurking for a while here I guess.

I figured this would be a good place to see the opinions of people who have from the begining, watched the emergence of IGE and sites like player auctions. We have seen alot of people make a lot of money.

I'm wondering
1) if Metaverse can be sucessful by properly utilizing this data to track virtual world currencies and player interaction
2) can they use this information to drive and estimate real world profits?
3) will this cause future MMORPG development to have their virtual economies influenced by investors trying to reep the most revenue from creating a sustainable and managable virtual marketplace?
- and will this start increasing the amount of Venture Capitalist involvement in MMORPG development?

I would love to hear more speculation on this concept.

TOOL · 10-07-2007, 03:24 PM

Are you a shill too?

gremlinz273 · 10-07-2007, 03:29 PM

No, he is obviously seeking tools to maximize his gold/plat/gil/credit-farming studio's profits. And trying to avoid, in the future, the massive profit loss he took by investing the lives of so many Chinese in to Vanguard.

Prova · 10-07-2007, 03:39 PM

From an investor's standpoint, it's interesting to think about how people would interpret the information presented by an index of this nature. Dupe outbreaks and even controlled private dupes can lead to hyperinflation in MMO economies, and liquidity is a very big question mark.

The article seems to suggest that it is the economic activity that is being indexed, rather than the value of currency say WoW gold to the US dollar or something similar. I suppose the investments would then be in private deals with IGE or a similar dealer to benefit from the success they're having, rather than the actual buying and selling of the online currency to create a profit either from changes in currency valuation, or just buying high and selling low. There is also a big question as to whether or not there is even available liquidity to do the ladder. If more and more companies decided to create positions in these economies to compete with IGE rather than invest directly into them, you could probably see the gaudy margins that IGE makes on their currency dwindle away, which would bring rise to a much easier ability for the average person to buy and sell online currency for profit.

The thought of attributing the idea of financial derivatives to MMO economies is also somewhat interesting, but overall the economies are likely too unstable to have anything of that nature have longterm success.

Regardless, i'm very intersted to see how this plays out, and have a feeling that it'll definately give the government another reason to start taxing MMO currencies.

Grave · 10-07-2007, 03:52 PM

Oh shit, they're double teaming us now!

Terant · 10-07-2007, 04:10 PM

just a quick reminder... great games on paper many times turned into poor releases because of their lack of funding. Horizon's... Shadowbane... and my all time favorite vaporware - Dawn.

This is pretty relevant information since it could potentially put more money into MMORPG development. This would be a good thing for everyone who plays games of the mmo genre.

Zehn - Vhex · 10-07-2007, 04:31 PM

have u guyz herd bout dis new gam? Itz called metavurse I think its guna be teh coooooolest game evarrr!!!

Geaux · 10-07-2007, 04:33 PM

metaverse saved me $500 a year on my car insurance.

Troll · 10-07-2007, 04:40 PM

we are the games players!

TOOL · 10-07-2007, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terant

just a quick reminder... great games on paper many times turned into poor releases because of their lack of funding. Horizon's... Shadowbane... and my all time favorite vaporware - Dawn.

This is pretty relevant information since it could potentially put more money into MMORPG development. This would be a good thing for everyone who plays games of the mmo genre.

Just a quick reality check. Great funding has many times turned into poor releases because the developers don't know shit about how to make a game that's worth playing. Daikatana, Vanguard, and my all time personal favorite failure - Star Wars Galaxies.

This information is pretty relevant if you're interested in putting more money into the MMORPG developers' pockets by reminding them that people don't pay for games that suck.

Slide · 10-07-2007, 05:29 PM

too much brown

Twobit Whore · 10-07-2007, 05:35 PM

Maybe it's just me but I can't tell wtf the article is even talking about it. It doesn't explicitly say either way but I see at as one of two things. Either it's about goldfarming activities in which case this shouldn't even exist or (more likely) it's about corporate presence in Second Life style games.. in which case who gives a fuck.

Prova · 10-07-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

Maybe it's just me but I can't tell wtf the article is even talking about it. It doesn't explicitly say either way but I see at as one of two things. Either it's about goldfarming activities in which case this shouldn't even exist or (more likely) it's about corporate presence in Second Life style games.. in which case who gives a fuck.

The article is definately very vague, which leads me to believe that the idea itself will be somewhat underwhelming and will likely be a poor implementation to a potentially cool idea. I also get the feeling that they're almost solely dealing with the finances inside second-life, which isn't seeing the broad scope of their idea and also has limited uses.

TOOL · 10-07-2007, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

Second Life style games

Okay, I stand corrected about people not paying for games that suck.

Also, apparently Metaverse and Metaplace are not the same thing. Now that I see that, I can direct my nerd rage more appropriately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the article in the op

The problem is simple; there is little or no reliable and comparable data about user engagement and economic activity in virtual worlds, which makes it difficult for businesses to select the worlds in which they should invest their time and money.

Is this really a problem? Are there businesses out there that are having a hard time deciding which virtual world to invest their time and money into? If your business doesn't know enough about virtual worlds (aka MMOGs) to tell a good one from a bad one, maybe your company should stay out of the virtual world business?

I guess I can see how this MMI concept might help get funding for smaller companies that can use it to point out to their potential investors exactly which features they copied from games that are already established successes. But seriously, how many WoW clones does the world need?

spronk · 10-08-2007, 12:11 AM

I hope they have a naked-titties-to-gold conversion chart.

10-07-2007, 02:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
Terant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 5 +0 Internets	Metaverse Market Index Metaverse Market Index Will Bring Comparative Tracking To Online Worlds News is a few days late since I couldn't remember my password.. I've been lurking for a while here I guess. I figured this would be a good place to see the opinions of people who have from the begining, watched the emergence of IGE and sites like player auctions. We have seen alot of people make a lot of money. I'm wondering 1) if Metaverse can be sucessful by properly utilizing this data to track virtual world currencies and player interaction 2) can they use this information to drive and estimate real world profits? 3) will this cause future MMORPG development to have their virtual economies influenced by investors trying to reep the most revenue from creating a sustainable and managable virtual marketplace? - and will this start increasing the amount of Venture Capitalist involvement in MMORPG development? I would love to hear more speculation on this concept. __________________ Terant Kas'Ton -retired sorceror of e'ci Last edited by Terant; 10-08-2007 at 09:26 AM..

10-07-2007, 04:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
Terant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 5 +0 Internets	just a quick reminder... great games on paper many times turned into poor releases because of their lack of funding. Horizon's... Shadowbane... and my all time favorite vaporware - Dawn. This is pretty relevant information since it could potentially put more money into MMORPG development. This would be a good thing for everyone who plays games of the mmo genre. __________________ Terant Kas'Ton -retired sorceror of e'ci

10-07-2007, 05:35 PM	#12 (permalink)
Twobit Whore Insert Quarter Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11,178 -14 Internets	Maybe it's just me but I can't tell wtf the article is even talking about it. It doesn't explicitly say either way but I see at as one of two things. Either it's about goldfarming activities in which case this shouldn't even exist or (more likely) it's about corporate presence in Second Life style games.. in which case who gives a fuck. __________________ I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand. I ball my fists and you gonna know where I stand.

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10-07-2007, 03:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
TOOL Yes. Oui. Si. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Anonymity is a virtue. Posts: 554 -6 Internets	Are you a shill too?

10-07-2007, 03:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
gremlinz273 a Menace Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 619	No, he is obviously seeking tools to maximize his gold/plat/gil/credit-farming studio's profits. And trying to avoid, in the future, the massive profit loss he took by investing the lives of so many Chinese in to Vanguard.

10-07-2007, 03:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
Prova Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 157 +4 Internets	From an investor's standpoint, it's interesting to think about how people would interpret the information presented by an index of this nature. Dupe outbreaks and even controlled private dupes can lead to hyperinflation in MMO economies, and liquidity is a very big question mark. The article seems to suggest that it is the economic activity that is being indexed, rather than the value of currency say WoW gold to the US dollar or something similar. I suppose the investments would then be in private deals with IGE or a similar dealer to benefit from the success they're having, rather than the actual buying and selling of the online currency to create a profit either from changes in currency valuation, or just buying high and selling low. There is also a big question as to whether or not there is even available liquidity to do the ladder. If more and more companies decided to create positions in these economies to compete with IGE rather than invest directly into them, you could probably see the gaudy margins that IGE makes on their currency dwindle away, which would bring rise to a much easier ability for the average person to buy and sell online currency for profit. The thought of attributing the idea of financial derivatives to MMO economies is also somewhat interesting, but overall the economies are likely too unstable to have anything of that nature have longterm success. Regardless, i'm very intersted to see how this plays out, and have a feeling that it'll definately give the government another reason to start taxing MMO currencies.

10-07-2007, 03:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
Grave Slightly OP Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 2,137 +38 Internets	Oh shit, they're double teaming us now!

10-07-2007, 04:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
Zehn - Vhex Lord of the Dance Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 8,796 +166 Internets	have u guyz herd bout dis new gam? Itz called metavurse I think its guna be teh coooooolest game evarrr!!!

10-07-2007, 04:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
Geaux Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Baton Rouge, La Posts: 466	metaverse saved me $500 a year on my car insurance.

10-07-2007, 04:40 PM	#9 (permalink)
Troll Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 354 -7 Internets	we are the games players!

10-07-2007, 05:29 PM	#11 (permalink)
Slide Limey Bastard Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London innit Posts: 744 -3 Internets	too much brown

10-08-2007, 12:11 AM	#15 (permalink)
spronk nerd Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,095	I hope they have a naked-titties-to-gold conversion chart.