Take Away English-Virtual Worlds 虚拟世界

Online gamers enjoy a concert on the BBC's virtual island

The line between the real world and online ‘virtual worlds’ is becoming increasingly blurred¹ with gamers spending real money to buy virtual commodities and even real estate in digital worlds.

Welcome to the world of MMOGs, Massive Multiplayer Online Games. For those who don’t know, an MMOG is a computer game which thousands of people can play simultaneously² on the internet, interacting or competing with each other. Some of the most well-known MMOGs include Second Life, World of Warcraft and Legend of Mir II.

Whilst many of these kinds of games involve role-playing and fulfilling tasks, others simply offer an alternative universe where players can socialise, earn money and trade with each other.

In recent years ‘social’ MMOGs like Second Life and Project Entropia have invited gamers to spend real money inside the game. And whilst many people might find this strange, some online gamers have used their virtual investments to make a profit.

A 23-year-old Australian gamer, known as Deathifier paid around £14,000 for an island in the game Project Entropia in 2004 and within a year had recouped his investment by selling land to other gamers to build virtual homes on. The young entrepreneur is highly confident that his digital assets will continue to be profitable.

“The money made to date is only a taste of what can be achieved with my virtual island purchase," said Deathifier, "There is still more room for growth and revenue with the untapped resources surrounding the land."

Here at the BBC we are never slow to embrace new technology, and have rented a virtual tropical island within the game Second Life. The BBC’s island has been used to stage online music festivals and showcase new musical talent. It is hoped that it will also bring gamers closer to their favourite artists.

BBC interactive³ editor, Daniel Heaf, said, “There may be opportunities to have people like Justin Timberlake on spaces like this – that will allow a level of interaction with the audience that we have never tried before."

GLOSSARY 词汇表
blurred 模糊的 real estate 房地产 interacting 互动 fulfilling tasks 完成任务 socialise 社交 virtual investments 虚拟投资 recouped his investment 赚回投资 digital assets 数字资产 untapped resources 未开发的资源 to stage 举办	virtual commodities 虚拟商品 MMOGs 大型多人在线游戏 role-playing 扮演角色 alternative universe 另类宇宙 trade 贸易 make a profit 赚钱, 获利 entrepreneur 创业者 revenue 收入 embrace new technology 接受新技术 showcase 展示

 

1 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

3 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。