The Eikonico Presentation

A hybrid MMORPG-Virtual World: based upon a broad spectrum of emergent Information Agesocial and technological concepts. These will likely include, but not be limited to transhumanism, resource based economics, techno-libertarians, singularitarianism, etc. while highly entertaining, Eikonico will allow the players, both individuallyand collectively, to explore the many implications of the various concepts, ideologies, social and technological mechanisms.

The Market Virtual worlds will generate $6 billion by the end of 2012, driven by increases in conversion rates and ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) as well as total growth of the market.Virtual Worlds: 2011 and beyond. Key industry trends and market developments Growth Drivers• Perceived Value: Parents allowing children to spend more time in VWs• Greater Funding: Uplift in VC activity moving into 2011• Brand Awareness: More VW having real-world presence• Payment Mechanics: Easierways to purchase virtual services/currencies/goods Virtual Worlds: Industry and user data

Revenue Model• The revenue model for MMORPGs is far superior to other online games.• Non-MMOs using 25 developers over 2 years require sales of about 500k units to barely break even, and are in debt $3m on sale of only 250k units. However, an MMO with 50 developers (allowing for $50m on server costs and player churn) over a 2-year period will show a bank balance of $9m on 250k unit sales, with continuing sales for many more years to come. If 1m units are sold, then the balance shoots up to over $100m. An MMO does not need to be wildly successful to show decent returns.• To make these figures viable (and even to greatly exceed them) for Eikonico, the KEY issue is retention of players. I believe we can realistically achieve this with a good MMORPG. But so long as we use the innovations we have in mind to anchor retention more so than MMORPGs have thus far attained, we can far exceed the above expectations.• As these innovations (ie, self-governance, e-portfolio, euergetism) are at the core of community-building and the consequent pull on player retention, we need to work diligently on execution of these ideas. There is much to look forward to.• from "Game Development Essentials: Online Game Development" (2008)

The OpportunityA technologically enhanced space for the free reign of the imagination using gameplay to enhance a sense of communityFeatures• A unique system of commercial leverage based in munificence• Self-governance• Scale of Repute• Avatar ePortfolio The present paradigm forVWs aims to create an immersive experience for its users as the feature that keeps the model economically viable (as well as fun). However, all worlds with significant market penetration are run by private companies that do not allow deeper controls to be passed onto users. This limits the immersion experience and the potential profits that may come from allowing deeper user control.

Problem 1: Social Responsibility Lack of social responsibility and empathy in the marketplace.

Being open, vulnerable and sensitive to the plight of others is considered detrimental to commercial relations and a prescription for failure in the marketplace. Yet the market requires a continuous infusion of social trust to function. Indeed, the market feeds off social trust and weakens or collapses if it is withdrawn.Jeremy Rifkin, Economic Recovery Will Fail Without Our Trust, Huffington Post 2010This attitude is endemic to long term social cohesion, and ultimately does not serve optimal financial return. Rifkin is describing the requirement for empathy as a means to both economic and societal advancement. The challenge faced by present and emerging virtual networks is to structure the virtual environment so that the invisible hand of empathic sensibility thrives.

Problem 1 recommendation: EUERGETISM Giving to the communityMembers who wish to develop standing in the community willfund the VW. The recognition of such giving will serve to gaincredibility and trust within the VW that will in future reap thebenefits of a loyal market and commercial benefit. Repute is gained by providing Eikoicowith: – Funds – Service – Product – A Klout-like score (a measure of influence based on one’s ability to drive action.)

Problem 2: Social CapitalSocial capital is not transferrable between virtual worlds, or social sites generally.

This creates a barrier to world jumping, so even if a world is not providing an optimal experience, the social capital built there is difficult to abandon. When to comes to allowing for the social capital built through regular social sites, there is ZERO provision to transfer that into a virtual world.

Problem 2 recommendation:ePortfolioassociated with one’s AvatarAn ePortfolio is a digitized collection of artifacts used to document accomplishments of an individual or institution, allowing a transfer of social capital between virtual communities.

Problem 3: Governance Governance is lacking, leaving anarchy as the default mode.… anarchy seems to be the de facto form of government in synthetic worlds. No one is in charge. Edward Castronova, Synthetic worlds: the business and culture of online games (2005) p.222 Depriving player experiences of a variety of governance models limits the ability to optimally immerse into the virtual world.

Problem 3 recommendation: 3 Pillars of Self-Governance• Promote benevolent, intelligent, scientific, open-minded leadership on all levels• Promote diversity among the various power structures on each level• Separate, as much as possible, power from meta-power The separation of power from meta-power, diversity of expression and open- minded leadership establishes the grounding for creative growth and expression of being, enhancing the ability to innovate and enable a quality of life customized to one’s personal nature. These customizations will bring together groups of like- minded individuals. The creation of a platform in cyberspace where these individuals can create a constitution based around their interests will inevitably lead to a Community of Focus from which a further evolution of expression may occur. A major advantage of this governance model is that it sets a precedent for citizen- sovereign values, thereby distinguishing this synthetic world from the rest as they are exclusively based in merchant-sovereign values. Not only does this create a major point of difference to other synthetic worlds, but also spearheads a profound political layer (and therefore deeper immersive experience) to the world and how it is perceived by real-world governments, and the rights and privileges that may come from that relationship.

Problem 4: Privacy Anonymity (privacy) is traded off for commercial interests. Privacy control is coded to favour corporate interests. Full use of a site is often predicated on allowing personal data to be mined and shared with third parties.Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation: … anonymity is needed to allow freedom of expression and has been vital for pro-democracy movements such as last years revolutions that became known as the Arab Spring.” This country was founded on unpopular ideas by unpopular speakers and they used anonymity. Its part of why we have protection of freedom of speech, to protect unpopular ideas.... Elinor Mills

Problem 4 recommendation: Inverson of data requirement modelEuergetism inverts the data requirement of members to the data requirement of businesses, thereby allowing personal data to remain private. Businesses prove themselves worthy (as addressed by the proposed Scale of Repute) of the interest of Eikonico’scitizens without having to reveal their demographic. The more businesses reveal their intentions through Eikonico- funding, the more likely they will benefit through commercial reciprocation from Eikonicocitizens.

Ending ThoughtsWith few exceptions, worlds do not close once they areopened. This is absolutely astonishing in the context of games,where an industry rule of thumb holds that approximately 95percent of titles will fail and disappear from the shelves aftersix weeks. By contrast, the seven-year-old world of UltimaOnline still has more than 150,000 actively paying subscribers,at more than $10 a head. Indeed, all of the oldest games haveamazingly robust population counts. Synthetic worlds, itseems, almost never die.Edward Castronova,Synthetic worlds: the business and culture of online games (2005) p.56

The Eikonico Presentation

by Giovanni Esposito

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