Comments on: Virtual Entrepreneurship — Could Home Support It?

By: Keara22hi

Keara22hi — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:05:26 +0000

C’mon guys, people have been making purchases of ‘intangibles’ throughout history. The most compelling emotion-based purchases people make are for experiences. Otherwise, prostitution would not exist. All the customer takes with him are the memories (and maybe a STD). Leisure travel would be a trip to the backyard hammock. No one would have HBO. (I can go on with this list, but I think you got the message).

BTW. I would much rather have an option to give away personal spaces and items to friends rather than just discard.

By: NorseGamer

NorseGamer — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:12:02 +0000

Buying virtual items with real money is, at face value, a bizarre value proposition. I liken it to purchasing an IMAX movie ticket. What am I really buying? A slip of paper, or an emotional experience? That’s my own personal justification for the (not insubstantial) amount of money I’ve invested into Home.

I really would like to see a “discard” feature for personal spaces and items. If Home never supports user-generated e-commerce, at least allow me to simply dump a commodity I’ve bought and no longer use.

By: NorseGamer

NorseGamer — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:09:08 +0000

Excellent points; Sony may likely decide that the legal ramifications of such creative freedom are simply too monstrous to allow. Hence why they only allow licensed third-party developers with original intellectual properties.

It’s highly likely that Sony will continue to be very restrictive when it comes to user-generated content, and probably never allow any such e-commerce to take place. After all, Sony doesn’t need it to survive, compared to other MMO programs out there.

I will admit, though, on a personal front…the freedom and entrepreneurial potential of something like Second Life is highly appealing. Home, I think, tends to target a younger demographic overall.

As an aside: you mentioned you’re a former digital artist, and HSM’s art department *is* looking for layout artists right now…

By: Kid_Fleetfoot

Kid_Fleetfoot — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:39:09 +0000

I am looking forward to auctioning off Villain’s Lair if the auction feature becomes reality which would be strange to have it become reality in a virtual world.

This whole thing of buying virtual items with real money is sometimes mind boggling. At least the stuff lasts longer than food.

By: jmattm

jmattm — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:20:44 +0000

A very interesting topic. As a former digital artist, there’s definitely a market for this type of stuff.

Hobbyists and professionals both give freebies and sell their work in various forums across the internet. This would be a fantastic way for these otherwise static objects to become useful far beyond looking pretty in a poster print or minute long test animation.

Digging deeper into the legal ramifications of the piece though — There’s a ton of infringement among meshes and textures too -- a black market sort of emerged once higher priced digital models came out. This would carry over into Home no doubt, making Sony’s approval process that much more difficult.

Take something like Modnation Racers. There are unlicensed creations all over the place, which I’m really sort of surprised at. Yeah, it’s cool but it isn’t really the players original creation.

I like the idea of virtual goods. I’m not sure how Second Life or Entropia handle such problems, either.

I’m just not sure if it’s practical without some major policing — even then, something’s bound to slip though. I wonder then, if it’s even worth the risk to the platform.