A game is just that - a game - isn't it? At least, that is what I thought at the start of this unit. I've come to realize, however, that there is a lot more - almost infinitely more - to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Let me explain ...

When I heard of a player killing another person - in real life, that is - for selling a virtual sword which had only been lent to him (ABC Online, 2005), I felt that the killer was simply insane. How could anyone confuse 'reality' and what takes place on the screen of his computer to such an extent? That was before I knew that many players spend more time immersed in their online worlds than they do at their paid employment (on Earth, that is) (Castronova, 2001, p.3). These hours spent building up the status of their game character (called an avatar) and the accumulation of virtual belongings - including weapons - can be argued, I now see, to justify classifying the avatar and its skills/goods as "intellectual property", deserving of legal protection, as suggested by Sal Humphreys (2004).

Reputation, skills and items such as clothing and weapons were not, I then discovered, the only things upwardly-mobile avatars might strive hard to attain. Taken together, it has been estimated that the economy of their so-called 'virtual worlds' situate them as the 79th most affluent 'nation' on Earth, with average earnings of some $3.42 per hour for their inhabitants and a growing market in real estate making itself felt in the 'real' world (Dibbell, 2003). Even more remarkable was the purchase of a virtual island in Calypso - the world created by MindArk for its "Project Entopia" - by Australian David Storey. His winning bid? A staggering $26,500 - making this the most expensive MMORPG purchase ever (Lettice, 2004).

This turned my attention to "Project Entropia" (PE) and all that it entails. Please read on ...