Virtual Real Estate’s Role in The Metaverse — If someone owned Heaven, I bet they’d monetize it. We’re an odd group like that, us human beings. It seems that whenever something wonderful is found, someone simply has to take possession of it. Someone needs to make money off of it. And while they’re not quite Heaven, there’s definitely…

Why It Has Survived, and Why It’s Here to Stay — Who could possibly deny the hype around virtual real estate (“VRE”) this year? The question is not if there’s hype — there’s plenty — but rather if there’s anything of substance that really underlies it all. Is there something about virtual real estate that has lasting appeal, or is it…

$3 Trillion!¹ $8 Trillion!² $13 Trillion!³ I’ve read all sorts of estimates on the value that will be present in the Metaverse over the years to come. They’re all informed guesses — but guesses nonetheless. Each time I see one come out, I’m reminded of the many assumptions they’re based…

“So you’re telling me people are spending thousands of dollars on imaginary land?!” This has become one of those jokes. The ones where, despite the fact you’ve heard it a hundred times already, everyone seems to think they’re clever when they drop it on you. …

Everyone’s seen the games, the builds, and the NFT galleries. They’re all well and good, but there’s so much more that could be done! The following four projects represent something a little different: unique applications of Web3 and Metaverse technology, whether because they offer something new or because they present…

In a book he published in 2006,¹ author and journalist Julian Dibbell recorded the following statement from a cartel informant: “That’s the ugly side of [the game]… a side I prefer not to get involved with. Those guys are serious people… I would love nothing more than to see them…

Arguing for a change in design — Key points: I talk about the potential of virtual reality and virtual worlds to improve language teaching. That application requires software tailored to it, and it’s unreasonable to expect the same virtual world that runs games and virtual storefronts to do that as well. Extrapolating from there, I argue that…

Key Points: The founder of Nifty Island has stated that digital land scarcity is “unethical” and “a losing [business] strategy”. I argue on the basis of digital scarcity’s use in game design that it’s not inherently unethical. One must consider its results. I argue that digital scarcity makes for a…

A primary use case for NFTs — The NFT markets are a bloodbath this month, and it seems the naysayers couldn’t be happier about it. The volume of NFT sales is down 92% per NonFungible,¹ which is something like the entirety of Europe disappearing into a space the size of Finland and Sweden — an incredible contraction…