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What does this game mean?

It means that Entropia Universe is a large multiplayer online role-playing experience (MMORPG). Other MMORPGs normally operate by purchasing the client software in a store and then paying a subscription fee every 30 days, where the internal game economy is just that a game economy.

Entropia Universe is the opposite! The client software is free to download over the Internet and there are no subscription fees associated whatsoever. The real cash economy means that the internal Entropia Universe economy is linked to the real world economy, by using a currency called the Entropia Universe Dollar (PED), which has a fixed exchange rate linked to the US Dollar (10 PED entropiauals 1 USD).

As a participant, you use PED to acquire virtual land and entropiauipment in Entropia Universe, thereby investing in your avatar's (Participant representation in the virtual universe) growth and abilities. A unique aspect of Entropia Universe is that a player may elect to transfer PED back into real life currency, thereby enabling them to earn real money while participating in the online virtual universe of Entropia Universe.

As Calypso is a recently discovered planet, the colonists (participants) need to establish their own economy and build up their society. This rentropiauires a lot of cooperation and specialization one man cannot do it all. This means that participants need to collaborate when it comes to furthering their development; it is better to have a specialized miner searching for minerals and an expert tools manufacturer making tools. This is also true in regards to land management and estate brokering.

What are these Virtual Items I keep hearing about?

Virtual items are items that exist within the virtual universe, for example a laser rifle, a house, or a vehicle. They are intangible assets, which in Entropia Universe have a real value as they can be sold, bought, and traded for PED. The concept is not as strange as it seems, as people have paid for virtual items, or experiences, for decades, when one thinks about it. When you go to a store and buy a CD, what are you paying for, really? Is it the shiny plastic disc you have bought, or is the content in the form of music? You have bought the experience of listening to something you deem valuable. The same theory applies to the virtual rifle, house, etc in Entropia Universe.