Take Away English-Virtual Worlds 虚拟世界
时间：2019-01-02 作者：英语课 分类：Take Away English
Online gamers enjoy a concert on the BBC's virtual island
The line between the real world and online ‘virtual worlds’ is becoming increasingly blurred 1 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 simultaneously 2 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 interactive 3 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
- 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》
- 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。
- 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。