Have you ever wanted to make money from playing a game on your computer? With the recent creation of real-world-economy virtual universes, this is now possible. The top 3; Second Life, IMVU, and Entropia Universe, have many successful players that make these games their primary sources of income. Making substantial money from these games is not easy, but with a few online tutorials, a bit of hard work, and these insider tricks; you'll have a pretty good shot.
*Second Life
Second Life (SL) is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. This is a game created by the users, as users are the ones who develop the items and properties that are used. You can socialize, create items, play games, and pretty much do whatever you want in SL. A user, "Anshe Chung" has claimed to earn over $1m solely from Second Life, by running her own land developing business.
What's the catch?
In order to be a successful real estate developer, animator, programmer, or entrepreneur in second life; you will need to have a whole lot of KNOWLEDGE and put in a whole lot of WORK. Also, you will need connections and money within the game, because even if you create a great product there is no way for people to know about it.
How to beat the system:
Whether you want to start by depositing money or not, the best way to earn is to learn about SL. There are many workshops designed for teaching specific things in the game, and an infinite number of tutorials online. Use these to develop your skills, and start doing small projects. Gradually produce things on a bigger and bigger scale, until your projects are making you real money. Do not get bogged down by jobs such as an "exotic dancer", unless this is for your first bit of capital.
*IMVU
IMVU is a an online social entertainment destination where members can use avatars to chat and play games. It has over 10 million unique visitors per month and the world's largest catalog of virtual goods. Players can make money by creating virtual goods and then selling them, and collecting portions of the profits.
What's the catch?
In order to make good money, you must have great products and your products must be known by others. Also, building up your list of products takes time, but it needs to be long before you start making any real money.
How to beat the system:
Try to think of products that are not already on the market, and then make them. A good way is to think of something that you want but that you can't find on the market. After developing many products, see which ones are selling the best and try to figure out what about that product was making it sell good.
*Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe (abbreviated to EU) is a MMO virtual universe created by MindArk, a software company based in Sweden. This game is unique in the fact that it hosts a real world economy. You can deposit money directly in the game and withdraw it directly from the game, without having to go through third parties. EU is also more of a game then Second Life and IMVU, which function as virtual chat rooms. In EU, you can hunt, mine, craft, pilot a spacecraft, and rise to the top in many other pre-defined professions. EU also holds the world record for the most expensive virtual item ever purchased
What's the catch?
MindArk advertises Entropia Universe as a place where you can deposit money as an investment, grow your skills, and then start taking out the money that you earn. The problem is, there are very few people who are actually earning money on Entropia Universe. This is because EU functions as a type of casino, you put money in to buy ammunition to hunt, probes to mind, or materials to craft, and then pray that you get something out of it. The "loot" (valuable items) that you get will vary, but it is almost positive that MA will win in the long run; a classic "the house always wins" scenario. Also, the options for earning money without depositing are very limited. The only consistent way is to "sweat", collect sweat from animals to sell. This method is very time consuming and slow, and most sweaters only make around $0.25 USD an hour.
How to beat the system:
The trick is not to try to earn money from MindArk, but from other players in the game. While you may have to sweat for a while to earn that initial capital, the number 1 way to earn is by trading. Check out the auction house and people standing around to see what people are selling. If there are any items significantly below the "Mark Up" (street price, abbreviated as MU) then buy them and re -sell them. Eventually you will be able to trade more and more expensive items, making more and more money per transaction. This could lead to the purchase of shops and land areas, where it will be easier to sell things and you will be able to collect taxes from other peoples mining, crafting, and hunting!
As you can see, it IS possible to beat the system and get a good amount of money from these virtual worlds. Remember; what separates the winners from the losers is the amount of fun they have. The whole reason to make money from a game is to have fun doing it and it is important not to lose track of that.