ForumGarden

I was fascinated in the late 90's by the upcoming concept of playing virtual reality games online. Not just first person shooters, but the games that had worlds in which you interacted with other fictitious characters. A world where you lived, worked, made money, gained treasure, etc.

The Internet really was changing things. I had people who worked for me who were making money on the side (after work of course!) playing these games.

What a thought! Creating real tangible wealth in the "real" world by transferring your "fantasy world" assets to your real life character. The concept was mind-blowing.

Now, we've taken this one step further. We have begun outsourcing our real work, why not outsrouce our virtual work?

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,14 ... _tophead_2

Think about the next steps. Holographic screens. Then virtual reality worlds that you can play these games totally immersed - like a holo-deck on Star Trek. Better yet, with the new optic/implant devices, you won't need a physical room.

I can see many many people in the future who will shrink away from society totally and basically live their lives in a virtual world - only interacting with the real world as necessary to pay bills, eat, etc.

That's my prediction. It'll be the 21st century's new designer "drug". Easy to get, easy to use, path of least resistence, create a world totally customized to your liking, and the perfect escape from reality.

When Play Money Becomes Real

The buying and selling of virtual currencies, weapons and other goods from massively multiplayer online games like EverQuest and Ultima Online may be off most people's radar, but it is truly big business.

One company, Internet Gaming Entertainment, or IGE, has more than 100 full-time employees in Hong Kong and the United States who do nothing but process its customers' hundreds of thousands of annual orders for virtual goods, the lion's share of which average nearly a hundred dollars each. And demand is so strong, says IGE CEO Brock Pierce, that the company is hiring about five new people a week.

Read more:

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,62929,00.html