Ailin Graef is a player in the massive multiplayer online experience Second Life. She started nearly three years ago with a mere $10 account and, in that time, has used her skills as a designer to create a considerable amount of money. In that online 3D world she owns 36 square miles of virtual property, which a player can build houses on and rent to other players. She also owns virtual shopping malls and numerous in-game brands. All this amounts to holdings worth $1 million in real world money!
The currency in online game indo877 worlds has been quickly gaining value against the real world dollar, just like comparing dollars to yen. A lot of this began years ago in one of the first popular online games known as Everquest. People were selling high level characters they created, magical items and even stashes of in-game gold for thousands of dollars in real money on Ebay. According to IGPlace.com, a piece of gold, in the massively popular World of Warcraft game, is worth 18 cents. Players will actually camp in a spot where they know the greatest monsters appear. They kill the monster, get its treasure, sell it for a large amount of in-game gold and then sell the gold for real world money. They do this all day just like having a job. Economist Edward Castronova discovered that Everquest players earned more than $3 per hour in real world value just by playing the game.
The key for the independent film makers is that there are many roads to “cash out” of these online experiences and pocket the money. Imagine playing a multiplayer game all day and developing a high level character with stashes of gold and tons of magical items worth thousands of dollars in the real world! What could be more fun than killing orcs and dragons as a way to raise the money you need to get your independent film project done?
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