Overview
You may have read the articles about the relatively new version of Monopoly, Weblo. Actually, there are few resemblances between Weblo and Monopoly, which is the best selling commercial board game in the world. Weblo doesn't have any get out of jail free cards or community chest and chance cards. I haven't seen a jail, yet either come to think...more
You may have read the articles about the relatively new version of Monopoly, Weblo. Actually, there are few resemblances between Weblo and Monopoly, which is the best selling commercial board game in the world. Weblo doesn't have any get out of jail free cards or community chest and chance cards. I haven't seen a jail, yet either come to think of it. Rich Uncle Pennybags is no where to be found and oh, there are not even any dice. So what is this new version of Monopoly? When I first heard of it, I thought it was the cub scout group I hated when I was a kid, Weeblos. I doubt if any Weeblos even play Weblo -- unless their daddies have greatly increased their allowances. The biggest difference between the real Monopoly and the new virtual version is that Monopoly uses those small, colored bills, while Weblo only uses greenbacks, real dollar bills.
The folks at Weblo don't call the game monopoly at all. They say Weblo is a virtual world based on the real world. Well, I guess Monopoly was somewhat based on the real world, although I don't think people get as many chances in real life as they do in that game. The Weblonians (that's what they call themselves) earn real money by using online replicas of real cities, states, famous properties and internet domain names. That's straight off their webpage and its true, you pay real money ($2) to register properties, say the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (Don't try the White House, some one owns it already and is trying to sell it for $10,000!) You get a deed for the property and a webpage which you are to fill with relevant and colorful content. The more attractive your page, the better as more people will visit your property and give it high ratings, which makes your property more valuable. More visitors also means you get higher dividends from Weblo who makes money from advertising on your properties and shares the profit with you. As you can imagine, if a property is owned by a pretty woman like Beyonce and there are pictures or better yet, videos, of her in a bikini on the webpage, the property gets many more hits and is much more profitable than lets say, the National Cathedral or even the Supreme Court. I am trying out the recently-in-the-news model anchorwoman, Lauren Jones, and she has gotten ten times as many visitors than my favorite actor, Daniel Day Lewis.
Owning the White House might be cool and you may get lots of visitors ( I don't think a sexy picture of the current first lady will help, sorry) but its actually better to be the Mayor of Washington. Mayors get a slice of all the monies earned by each piece of property in their city. They also receive a cash reward for every new Weblonian who registers in their city. That's right, the virtual Mayor of Washington gets money for every real citizen of Washington who registers in the game. The governors of states make even more money as governors receive a portion of all the money earned by each of the cities in the state. Simply put, its better to own cities and states instead of properties. Of course, cities and states do cost more. Most cities cost $25 (in real dollars) and smaller states with few citizens cost $100. Washington, DC is on sale for $99,999. You can place a minimum bid at the Weblo Auction House on New Mexico for $5,000. As you can see, this is high stakes real estate.
The good news is that there is not a registration fee for joining the game. You also get ONE free celebrity when you register. The best way to cheaply start Weblo -- with ZERO money invested -- is to register a celebrity (e.g., a cartoon character like Mickey Mouse, an actor like Paul Bettany, a model like Vida, a composer like Andrew Lloyd Webber, heck, even Buddah is possible) whose webpage will receive many visitors and whom you can sell for $25 or more. Make sure you register an actor in your own country as it costs $1 to get immigration rights to sell properties in a foreign country. After you sell the celebrity and make your first $25, use that money to register ten very good properties that are located anywhere in the world. St. Peter's at the Vatican is taken and so is St. Basil's in Moscow and even Canterbury Cathedral in England. (I was lucky to be able to register the US Supreme Court which I sold for $50 for a $48 profit).
Register the properties, make colorful, interesting web pages for each property and then sell each of them for $15 and higher. Wikipedia will become your best friend as it gives free information on every major property, city, state and celebrity. Yes, its true, Weblonians cut, copy and paste everything there is on the internet and put it on their virtual pages. I own the Gannett Corporation and I have their logo, pictures , almost all their colorful public relations materials on the web page. However, my page looks better than there page (if I must say so myself). It is free advertising for Gannet, no? Use all the profit to buy your first cities or to register unclaimed cities (which is usually cheaper). You might find some good deals on the Auction House. I was thrilled to buy Amiens, France for just $15. I will be able to resell it for at least $25 and up to $100.
After you buy your first cities, you can resell them to raise the money to buy your first state. I was able to buy my first state, the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea, for $50 and I hope to resell it for $150 after I get it a very high rating with lots of visitors.
You can also make money by registering and selling internet domains. However, it costs $4 to register a domain and they usually only sell for $5, unless you have a really good one like Viagra.net! I don't recommend domains for beginners, unless you have a really good prospect.
So what is the purpose of all of this? For me, an avid gamer, its a break from killing monsters and doing quests on World of Warcraft. I also love to design webpages on Weblo. And of course, I enjoy the challenge of starting out poor and making it rich. Don't we all? The purpose of Weblo is to have fun, network with people from around the world, learn world geography, be creative, make a few dollars, and aspire to become the Rich Uncle Pennybags of Weblo. (Don't even think about it, someone has already registered the Rich Uncle as a celebrity!)
Enjoy.
The folks at Weblo don't call the game monopoly at all. They say Weblo is a virtual world based on the real world. Well, I guess Monopoly was somewhat based on the real world, although I don't think people get as many chances in real life as they do in that game. The Weblonians (that's what they call themselves) earn real money by using online replicas of real cities, states, famous properties and internet domain names. That's straight off their webpage and its true, you pay real money ($2) to register properties, say the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (Don't try the White House, some one owns it already and is trying to sell it for $10,000!) You get a deed for the property and a webpage which you are to fill with relevant and colorful content. The more attractive your page, the better as more people will visit your property and give it high ratings, which makes your property more valuable. More visitors also means you get higher dividends from Weblo who makes money from advertising on your properties and shares the profit with you. As you can imagine, if a property is owned by a pretty woman like Beyonce and there are pictures or better yet, videos, of her in a bikini on the webpage, the property gets many more hits and is much more profitable than lets say, the National Cathedral or even the Supreme Court. I am trying out the recently-in-the-news model anchorwoman, Lauren Jones, and she has gotten ten times as many visitors than my favorite actor, Daniel Day Lewis.
Owning the White House might be cool and you may get lots of visitors ( I don't think a sexy picture of the current first lady will help, sorry) but its actually better to be the Mayor of Washington. Mayors get a slice of all the monies earned by each piece of property in their city. They also receive a cash reward for every new Weblonian who registers in their city. That's right, the virtual Mayor of Washington gets money for every real citizen of Washington who registers in the game. The governors of states make even more money as governors receive a portion of all the money earned by each of the cities in the state. Simply put, its better to own cities and states instead of properties. Of course, cities and states do cost more. Most cities cost $25 (in real dollars) and smaller states with few citizens cost $100. Washington, DC is on sale for $99,999. You can place a minimum bid at the Weblo Auction House on New Mexico for $5,000. As you can see, this is high stakes real estate.
The good news is that there is not a registration fee for joining the game. You also get ONE free celebrity when you register. The best way to cheaply start Weblo -- with ZERO money invested -- is to register a celebrity (e.g., a cartoon character like Mickey Mouse, an actor like Paul Bettany, a model like Vida, a composer like Andrew Lloyd Webber, heck, even Buddah is possible) whose webpage will receive many visitors and whom you can sell for $25 or more. Make sure you register an actor in your own country as it costs $1 to get immigration rights to sell properties in a foreign country. After you sell the celebrity and make your first $25, use that money to register ten very good properties that are located anywhere in the world. St. Peter's at the Vatican is taken and so is St. Basil's in Moscow and even Canterbury Cathedral in England. (I was lucky to be able to register the US Supreme Court which I sold for $50 for a $48 profit).
Register the properties, make colorful, interesting web pages for each property and then sell each of them for $15 and higher. Wikipedia will become your best friend as it gives free information on every major property, city, state and celebrity. Yes, its true, Weblonians cut, copy and paste everything there is on the internet and put it on their virtual pages. I own the Gannett Corporation and I have their logo, pictures , almost all their colorful public relations materials on the web page. However, my page looks better than there page (if I must say so myself). It is free advertising for Gannet, no? Use all the profit to buy your first cities or to register unclaimed cities (which is usually cheaper). You might find some good deals on the Auction House. I was thrilled to buy Amiens, France for just $15. I will be able to resell it for at least $25 and up to $100.
After you buy your first cities, you can resell them to raise the money to buy your first state. I was able to buy my first state, the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea, for $50 and I hope to resell it for $150 after I get it a very high rating with lots of visitors.
You can also make money by registering and selling internet domains. However, it costs $4 to register a domain and they usually only sell for $5, unless you have a really good one like Viagra.net! I don't recommend domains for beginners, unless you have a really good prospect.
So what is the purpose of all of this? For me, an avid gamer, its a break from killing monsters and doing quests on World of Warcraft. I also love to design webpages on Weblo. And of course, I enjoy the challenge of starting out poor and making it rich. Don't we all? The purpose of Weblo is to have fun, network with people from around the world, learn world geography, be creative, make a few dollars, and aspire to become the Rich Uncle Pennybags of Weblo. (Don't even think about it, someone has already registered the Rich Uncle as a celebrity!)
Enjoy.
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