About Movie

Ones and zeros. How much of our lives are dictated by the ones and zeros floating around somewhere out there in cyber space? More than we know I am sure. It is a brave new world, and we are a part of it whether we like it or not. We have even created for ourselves magical worlds where we can become anything we have ever dreamed, and a few things that we would never have had the imagination for. Access to these worlds is gained through the same portals through which we do our banking, shopping, communicating, scheduling, etc. etc.

In these worlds, we can communicate with other adventurers like our selves, who are tired of the mundane, day-in day-out of our real existences and desire only to feel the rush of pillaging a new dungeon, gaining the next level, forging a new weapon. What is it in human beings that drive us to escape our lives? People can be blissfully lost for days in a novel, hours in a movie, minutes in a song. Why? Besides the obvious fact that the real world can be a brutal place, I would guess that it has something to do with the fundamental desire in humans to be free.

These escapes provide relief from the constraints of reality. The last thing going through a level 56 mage in the midst of a raging battle with a fire breathing dragon is the fact that the garbage has to go out and the rent is due tomorrow.

In Azeroth there is no such thing as annoying land lords - and if there was you could probably just chuck a fireball at them and boom - problem solved. The interesting thing about the new worlds being created online is that the lines between reality and fantasy are growing increasingly blurry. Some of these virtual communities have evolved into real world economies, with all the risk and reward associated with real markets. It was inevitable, when ever you have demand for anything, you will eventually have some one who will be willing to supply what is demanded, and some one else willing to pay for it.

As a result, there have been real world industries created to service the ever growing demands of the virtual worlds. If you don't want to spend the hours it takes to develop your online character, you can spend the money to buy one - all leveled up, all geared up and ready to go! I heard of one case where one particular weapon in an online game sold for $1500 real money and that was a few years ago Just recently a man was arrested for hacking into hundreds of online accounts for one particular game and stealing weapons and other equipment valued at tens of thousands of dollars - real money! These stories are not new by any means, but the underlying concept is significant.

Many online games will allow you to buy their virtual money with your real money. And if you did the math, I would be willing to bet that some of these game world currencies are doing better than some of the real world currencies right now. This notion of a feasible trading market in a virtual world challenges the idea that the only real commodity being traded is time - some one spends x amount of hours creating a virtual asset that some one else buys for x number of dollars. When you can buy and sell dollar-to-dollar so to speak into a money market that is based on demand in a virtual economy, what kind of questions does that start to raise? What kind of opportunities does that create? Through out history, technology has created new markets and new opportunities to create business. From the first ocean faring ships that brought back spices, to continent crossing rail roads that united the new world, technology has continually driven commerce.

So by the power of internet, we have been creating new worlds, and new economies have been born out of them. New companies are establishing claims and staking out territories. These companies operate in the real world with real money, but at the same time, they don't...or they have decided that ultimately there is no real difference. You can buy their virtual gold with your real money. You can also sell your virtual assets for real money.

The lines between reality and fantasy are blurry. Is that character fantasy or an asset when you could sell it to pay the mortgage? Regardless, many people are finding that they prefer a little bit fantasy once in a while. It makes it a little easier to be a dish washer most of the time when you can be a level 80 Paladin the rest of the time. Welcome to a new world order built out of ones and zeros and fueled by the global need to escape.