Index Page 2 of 10 platinum piece was worth about one cent U.S. -higher than the Japanese yen or the Italian lira. With that information, he could figure out how fast the Ever Quest economy was growing. Since players were killing monsters or skinning bunnies every day, they were, in effect, creating wealth. Crunching more numbers, Castronova found that the average player was generating 3 19 platinum pieces each hour he or she was in the game-the equivalent of $3.42(U. S) per hour. " That's higher than the minimum wage in most countries "he marvelled Then he performed one final analysis: The Gross National Product of Ever Quest, measured by how much wealth all the players together created in a single year inside the game. It turned out to be $2, 266 U.S. per capita. By World Bank rankings, that made Ever Quest richer than India, Bulgaria, or China, and nearly as wealthy as russia It was the seventy-seventh richest country in the world. And it didn't even exist Castronova sat back in his chair in his cramped home office, and the weird enormity of his findings dawned on him. Many economists define their careers by studying a country. He had discovered one I first met Castronova at a piano lounge last summer at the Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas, where he was attending a high-tech conference We talked over a few drinks though our conversation was soon drowned out by the bar's syrupy Frank Sinatra impersonator, belting out a version of"New York, New York " Castronova winced. "Where better in the world to talk about virtual worlds than las Vegas? he said. "This place invented the idea of virtual life Castronova is a natural role-player. He's a short, nebbishy guy with a neat goatee and horn-rimmed glasses. When he lectures he radiates charisma; he is the cool professor you wish you'd had when you were trying to grasp the dry mechanics of price theory. Until recently, he acted in a Shakespearean troupe, and in his spare time he explores the world of"multiple-user domains"-Internet chat environments where people assume different personae as they hang out together Castronova suspects his eclectic background is why he never made the powerful connections necessary to secure a good academic job. "Ive al ways been an outsider I've just been floating around outside communities, sort of flitting from topic to topic, he said With virtual worlds, he had finally hit upon a subject that was exploding into the mainstream Experimental online worlds had been kicking around for years, but they took a leap forward in 1997 when Ultima Online- a medieval fantasy world similar to Ever Quest-launched, and quickly amassed a hundred thousand users. The idea of having a second life on- line suddenly didn't seem so geeky, or, at the very least, it seemed a profitable niche; companies like Sony and Microsoft swarme on-line. Today there are more than fifty active games worldwide and anywhere from two to three million people playing regularly in the U.S. The games range from Star Wars Galaxies(where you can wander around as a Wookie and fight the Dark Side) to There. com ( where you can wander around Disneyfied islands as an attractive gap-style model and admire your hot new body In Korea, a single game called Lineage claims more than four million players To figure out precisely who was playing Ever Quest, Castronova persuaded thirty-five hundred users to fill out a survey. As one might expect, the average age turned out to be twenty-four, and the players were overwhelmingly male. The amount of time spent "in game"was staggering over twenty hours a week, with the most devoted players logging six hours daily. Twenty percent of players agreed with the cheeky (if alarming )statement"I live in Norrath but I travel outside of it regularly", on average, each of these"residents"possessed virtual goods worth about $3,000 U.S. When you consider that the average http://www.walrusmagazine.com/printpl?sid=04/05/06/1929205platinum piece was worth about one cent U.S. — higher than the Japanese yen or the Italian lira. With that information, he could figure out how fast the EverQuest economy was growing. Since players were killing monsters or skinning bunnies every day, they were, in effect, creating wealth. Crunching more numbers, Castronova found that the average player was generating 319 platinum pieces each hour he or she was in the game — the equivalent of $3.42 (U.S.) per hour. "That's higher than the minimum wage in most countries," he marvelled. Then he performed one final analysis: The Gross National Product of EverQuest, measured by how much wealth all the players together created in a single year inside the game. It turned out to be $2,266 U.S. per capita. By World Bank rankings, that made EverQuest richer than India, Bulgaria, or China, and nearly as wealthy as Russia. It was the seventy-seventh richest country in the world. And it didn't even exist. Castronova sat back in his chair in his cramped home office, and the weird enormity of his findings dawned on him. Many economists define their careers by studying a country. He had discovered one. I first met Castronova at a piano lounge last summer at the Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas, where he was attending a high-tech conference. We talked over a few drinks, though our conversation was soon drowned out by the bar's syrupy Frank Sinatra impersonator, belting out a version of "New York, New York." Castronova winced. "Where better in the world to talk about virtual worlds than Las Vegas?" he said. "This place invented the idea of virtual life." Castronova is a natural role-player. He's a short, nebbishy guy with a neat goatee and horn-rimmed glasses. When he lectures he radiates charisma; he is the cool professor you wish you'd had when you were trying to grasp the dry mechanics of price theory. Until recently, he acted in a Shakespearean troupe, and in his spare time he explores the world of "multiple-user domains" — Internet chat environments where people assume different personae as they hang out together. Castronova suspects his eclectic background is why he never made the powerful connections necessary to secure a good academic job. "I've always been an outsider. I've just been floating around outside communities, sort of flitting from topic to topic," he said. With virtual worlds, he had finally hit upon a subject that was exploding into the mainstream. Experimental online worlds had been kicking around for years, but they took a leap forward in 1997, when Ultima Online — a medieval fantasy world similar to EverQuest — launched, and quickly amassed a hundred thousand users. The idea of having a second life on-line suddenly didn't seem so geeky, or, at the very least, it seemed a profitable niche; companies like Sony and Microsoft swarmed on-line. Today there are more than fifty active games worldwide, and anywhere from two to three million people playing regularly in the U.S. The games range from Star Wars Galaxies (where you can wander around as a Wookie and fight the Dark Side) to There.com (where you can wander around Disneyfied islands as an attractive Gap-style model and admire your hot new body). In Korea, a single game called Lineage claims more than four million players. To figure out precisely who was playing EverQuest, Castronova persuaded thirty-five hundred users to fill out a survey. As one might expect, the average age turned out to be twenty-four, and the players were overwhelmingly male. The amount of time spent "in game" was staggering: over twenty hours a week, with the most devoted players logging six hours daily. Twenty percent of players agreed with the cheeky (if alarming) statement "I live in Norrath but I travel outside of it regularly"; on average, each of these "residents" possessed virtual goods worth about $3,000 U.S. "When you consider that the average Index Page 2 of 10 http://www.walrusmagazine.com/print.pl?sid=04/05/06/1929205 10/28/2004