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An Entropia tidbit

September 15th, 2006 (Visited 3670 times) Tags:

Today I had occasion to speak with a guy who told me that he made more money from Project Entropia than he did from his day job.

Most recently, he sold a $12,000 rifle.

When I asked him if it was all a Ponzi scheme, he said (paraphrasing here), “Well yeah! But I’m at the top.”

He uses his Entropia ATM card to buy groceries and the like from time to time. He said he just assumed that since it was a bank card, that all the relevant fiduciary law was being followed, the money was protected, and so on.

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17 Responses to “An Entropia tidbit”

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Phil Wallach wrote on September 17th, 2006 at 12:22 am:

An Entropia tidbit

Faith wrote on September 16th, 2006 at 7:15 am:

[...] Comments [...]

links for 2006-09-17 wrote on August 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 pm:

[...] An Entropia tidbit [...]

Reader Comments

Trucegore said on September 15th, 2006 at 10:11 pm:
He uses his Entropia ATM card to buy groceries and the like from time to time. He said he just assumed that since it was a bank card, that all the relevant fiduciary law was being followed, the money was protected, and so on.

That sounds like you or him dosnt quite beleave that.
shatterteredlkass said on September 16th, 2006 at 1:36 am:
Life is a ponzi scheme, Raph.
moo said on September 16th, 2006 at 4:20 am:
Off-topic: I just noticed that over at the IGDA forums, the possible Statuses of posters include “Half-Raph Member” and “Full-Raph Member”.

For some reason I find that quite funny! It is a nice tip of the hat, anyway
Brett said on September 16th, 2006 at 5:07 am:
I have long suspect the real money games would be a great place to launder money in at least until the cops and tax men start to pay attention to them.
Chas said on September 16th, 2006 at 6:37 am:
Real Money transations probably would make good laundering schemes… Gaming/gambling usually is- and probably at very good return rates. Just as Ney took payment in poker chips, then reported them as “winnings” a player could insert illegitimate earnings into one account, then have that character “buy” something (an uber weapon, a location, or a useless virtual tribble) at a rather exaggerated cost from their main. The “sale” is then reported as legitimate earnings.

PE might be a “Ponzi Scheme” but a Ponzi Scheme could probably sustain itself for quite a while with a regular influx of laundering money coming in. These guys don’t mind a loss of a % for transaction purposes- it’s worth it for “clean money.”

My only question: usually, launderers seek business processes that wouldn’t raise eyebrows- high risk ventures can justifiably have high payouts, so they work well for this sort of thing. Would a taxman question a 7-figure filing from someone claiming to have earned it “playing a game?”
Tide said on September 16th, 2006 at 7:29 am:
and by “protected” I think you mean to say Raph that there are sufficient funds being held in trust against whatever debits he makes. That is, PE is a bank. Holding money in reserve against the real world purchases its members make.

yeah this is nuts. Someone in anti-terrorism is going to start monitoring this stuff eventually. Regardless of
Raph said on September 16th, 2006 at 9:34 am:

Trucegore: I haven’t heard any word about Entropia being officially a bank. But yes, I do think that games that function in this manner probably need to be.

I don’t know that the game is actually a Ponzi scheme. That’s just one of the popular descriptions of it on the Net.

Moo: the Raph and Half-Raph things don’t haveanything to do with me, as I understand it. There are other Raphs in the industry — I know of at least two more.
Morgan Ramsay said on September 16th, 2006 at 1:05 pm:
I remember that MindArk was owned by a bank. I probably read that somewhere at Club Neverdie. I checked out the MindArk 2005 annual report, and their primary shareholders are Jan Welter Timkrans and real estate property lessors C-G Bothén AB.
Darniaq said on September 16th, 2006 at 2:03 pm:
Raph wrote: I don’t know that the game is actually a Ponzi scheme.

Not sure anyone would actually advertise their service as a ponzi scheme
Shan said on September 16th, 2006 at 10:32 pm:
Darniaq wrote: Not sure anyone would actually advertise their service as a ponzi scheme

Oh, I don’t know. Amway, Nutra-life, etc. do.

Not in so many words, perhaps, but it’s clear from the description of their activities that this is what the system is.

Also, the “economic crisis” which took down Albania’s economy in the 90s was a huge Ponzi scheme, and everyone knew it. They just thought that it was the Italians, or the Greeks, at the bottom of the pyramid, not themselves!
Darniaq said on September 17th, 2006 at 11:54 am:
It’s the “not in so many words” part. There’s a lot of ponzi schemes out there by definition of what individual roles are within the structure. Some are just more overt about it than others
Cael said on September 18th, 2006 at 12:49 am:
Off-topic question, i think.

I apologise once again for being English, but i’m guessing a “ponzi” scheme is just pyramid marketing, which is illegal pretty much everywhere?

Because the term itself means nothing to me.
Morgan Ramsay said on September 18th, 2006 at 1:32 am:
“Ponzi” refers to Charles Ponzi.
Russ Duckworth said on September 18th, 2006 at 11:55 am:
It was great to meet you Raph.

Yup. In some ways it’s like a Ponzi scheme with the older and richer players owning a good chunk of the best gear, but if I were to use a single term to describe it, I’d the game much more closely resembles a casino when you take a look at the mob loot and mining system.

With an active crafting community, land ownership and taxation rights, guild (called “societies”) competition, player owned shops, and a robust event system, Entropia Universe (formerly “Project Entropia”) much much more than some ladder to climb.

I’ve seen new smart users come in and rise past my accomplishments and riches in only a year. I’ve been playing for 4+. Those that come come in, avoid playing the high stakes slots, and be prepared to deal with a little tedium can find great success in Entropia Universe.

When you get there, look me up. I’m Rei of the society Coat Killers.

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