Twinity's Growing Pains and Possible Solutions, Pt 2: Modded Apartments

In part two of my post about Twinity's growing pains, I'd like to talk about another problem it's being faced with, that of "Modded Apartments."

A Courtesy Abused, Once Again

What I'm about to say is going to be extremely unpopular, but here goes... The trend of people "modding" places located in Virtual Berlin, London, Miami, Singapore, New York, or Palmadora is now getting out of hand. Why? Because just as with the orientation scheme of paying newbies globals to explore Twinity, the perk of being able to mod one's apartment is being completely abused.

Initially, the whole point of allowing people to build up their spaces was to give resourceful members a creative outlet to build nice environments in places other than the available virtual cities. For example, let's say someone wanted to recreate a luxury spa she'd seen in Nice, France or have a tiki lounge out on the beaches of Hawaii somewhere. He or she could build this place to their heart's content. Allowing people to do this made sense-- since it's impossible for Twinity to build every major city or location in the world, why not let its users "fill in the blanks?" Let users wishing for a virtual version of a location that doesn't exist yet do the job. Let them build a winter wonderland out in Anchorage or the Taj Mahal in India or whatever, so long as it was built at some "other place."

This worked out beautifully in the beginning, in that it resulted in some absolutely wonderful spaces that enhanced life in Twinity by providing more variety to a world overburdened with a primarily urban landscape. It also helped Metaversum give an idea of what virtual cities to build next-- Palmadora and Virtual Miami were most likely inspired by places like "A Dream", a beach environment that became hugely popular amongst Twinizens.

Now players seem to be taking this "modding" to the next level-- as a way of getting out of paying for additional apartments or commercial spaces. For example, they will take one of their small places out in London or Miami or wherever and just start adding more floors to it.

Sorry, but just like setting up duplicate accounts (see this blog entry), it's a form of cheating. It's one thing to want to mod your apartment in a location of your choice--like Tokyo or Chicago or Paris-- but it's another thing to move to a place out at, say, virtual Hackescher Markt or Trafalgar Square and start building a 20 room palatial mansion there.

Some people who are used to this type of building will probably think, "Well, what's the big deal?" The big deal is that it's destroying a potential revenue stream for Twinity, as well as for players who are trying to make some profit out of the real estate market. Believe it or not, there are people who have bought apartments and entire buildings in these virtual cities with the intent of renting them out or selling them at a profit. With players deciding to "mod" their apartments rather than scout for new ones, they have no hope of seeing any return on their investment, especially now that so many newbies are modding their starter apartments.

In the end, it's up to Metaversum to decide what to do about this growing problem. But if it were up to me, I would stop the practice of allowing people to be able to mod their locations in Twinity's virtual cities. I can't see a bona-fide real estate market thriving otherwise.