Blog refocus and redesign
I’ve given the blog a much-needed redesign and have decided to refocus it mainly on web development projects. While I’m still interested in the economics of virtual worlds and may post on it occasionally, most of what I do now involves software development, mainly with PHP and WordPress. When I solve an interesting problem or [...]
New major
I have declared a second major in computer science and will graduate in December 2010. This means that I’m now a double major in computer science and economics. I’m currently looking for a summer job within the realm of computer science that would hopefully lead to a full-time position after graduation. Please let me know [...]
Good virtual economic reads
Well, summer is here! The semester is over and now I’m trying to figure out what to do with myself. In the meantime, I thought I’d get a new post up here and share some of my favorite reads relating to virtual economics. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, please leave me a comment [...]
Starcraft 2 beta opt-in now open
I know this doesn’t fit into the realm of virtual worlds per se, but it’s still of interest to any Blizzard geeks like myself: you can now opt-in for the Starcraft 2 beta! To do so, simply log into your Battle.net account (all Blizzard accounts have been automatically converted to Battle.net accounts) and choose to [...]
Blizzard defeats Glider, MDY Appeals
For those who have been following the Blizzard vs. MDY Industries case (makers of WoW bot Glider), there have been a few developments. First of all, Judge Campbell ruled in favor of Blizzard and awarded damages of approximately $6 million. Further, he said that since Michael Donnelly, the owner of MDY, had run the business [...]
Merry Christmas!
I’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to anyone reading this blog – all 2 of you. I have decided to find time to start writing more articles and comments pertaining to the ecomonimcs and legal issues of virtual worlds throughout the new year. So, be on the lookout for [...]
New post on GameRates
I have recently been asked by the great guys at GameRates.com to write a guest post for them. I decided to write about Ed Castronova and his team’s results with regard to the Arden project. You can see my post here. Let me know what you think!
Blizzard wins vs. MDY Industries, makers of WoW bot “Glider”
Our friends over at VirtuallyBlind have reported that Blizzard has won the ongoing lawsuit against MDY Industries, the makers of the most popular World of Warcraft bot: Glider. I’ll leave the legal commentary to Mr. Duranske, because what we’re interested in here are the long-term effects of the World of Warcraft economy. As I said [...]
Users moving between virtual worlds
Recently the folks at Linden Labs and IBM have teamed up to port the first avatar between virtual worlds. See more here. This is an interesting development. To what extent will characters/avatars/data be transferable between worlds? Will your 70 Tauren Warrior be able to hop in a car and drive around a virtual town? Will [...]
Blizzard ban causes gold prices to double
According to a recent report by GameRates.com, a large banning effort by Blizzard has caused the price of WoW gold to skyrocket. Allegedly the ban nabbed many gold sellers and gold “mules”, characters with enormous amounts of gold that companies used to distribute their illicit goods. Blizzard used to announce the fact that they’d closed [...]