Re: [-empyre-] Re:[-empyre-]:An Avatar Manifesto::final

[John Klima <klima@echonyc.com>]

Melinda Rackham wrote:
> back to avatar business -  there is  huge kapital behind these spaces, which
> offer players/users basic dumbded down avatar design.. its not like they are
> opeating on a shoe string.. so avatars  and the time taken to develop them
> can be big online earners.. while the rest of the world  including us
> artists  are scrathching thier heards saying why cant we earn any money on
> the net ..online vritual environments which weve been talking about  have a
> growing thriving market.. there is an online world  in south korea which has
> 2.5 million players..

and 99% of the 2.5 million players *want* to be george clooney or cindy
crawford, not a 12 legged robot.
 
>  i read an article a while ago  about Everquest (owned by Sony - $28 a month
> to be a member (about 1/2 million memebers, sony's monthly revenu 6.7
> million..)  an average players per capita income  within the online world is
> around $2500 US..  and you can trade everquest currency offline  for reall
> dollars..  so if you live in Bulgaria for example  you are better off
> playing and making money in everquest then selling online for income than
> actually going to work.. and blurring  avatar realities with hard world
> space Everquest characters sell for up to US$2000..
> 
> i guess you could compare it to people trading baseball cards or treckies
> trading seven of nine  dolls at conventions..
> but  is selling your avatar character like selling your  baby to the highest
> bidder?

i was a beta tester for everquest, which had a wide variety of
characters, human and non, to choose from, and you had pretty good
latitude as far as dress-up. prior to everquest, i was an avid and early
player of ultima online, which also had its real world avatar market.  i
power gamed a mage (the hardest character to be) for a year and got her
to grand master (the highest skill level) before i quit. i could have
sold her for 2k easy, she was a rare, powerful and of course beautiful
(she wore a very sexy magic bustier) character, but i could not stand
the idea of some high school kid from greenwhich connecticut running
around masquerading as bix redux. so yes it would have been like selling
my baby to the highest bidder, so i just killed her instead. hmmm.

best,
j