Ahhh the pawnshops (aka. banks) - 2014

In 2007 a total of 5 banking licenses (pawnshops) got sold
via the ingame auction of entropia.

MindArk named a total of 400.000 $ after the sales but
already Wirecard declined to provide details on how much of that $59,060 it actually paid.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2136510,00.asp

​

[New Oxford Bank]
Anshe Chung Bank : chinese virtual resort seller in 2nd life not operational anymore - no bank teller
Ailin Gräf still has the Entropia Universe logo on "her" site.
But other then that logo, there is nothing left about Entropia anymore.

http://www.anshechung.com/

She bought a pawnshop inside of Entropia for 60.000$ in may 2007, via the ingame auction.
In early 2008 the "Anshe Chung Section" already dissapeared from the forum...
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...-happend-to-quot-ACS-Entropia-quot-Anshe-Bank

...and then she started to sell the bank in the ingame auction for 80.000$ in 2008 already. (got not sold)

Many infos "dissapeared" from the internet, but Ailin had other plans with the bank for sure:
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/ot.../12921-anshes-bank-entropia-universe-not.html

And Anshe seemed to have absolutely no idea about Entropia...
"hey, lets buy a virtual bank in this game...called...I forgot...but they always do such publicity stunts and we can make money in it !!!!!!111"

http://www.virtualmindhive.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php?t5911.html


As I never heard of her again regarding Entropia, I wonder if/how she is still involved into Entropia.
Avatar "Aura Lilly" has been the "manager" in 2012 and then she claimed "Business was still active",
but "Aura Lillys" last post on PCF was made in january of 2014.


Bank is managed/owned by avatar "Anshi Bank Entropia" but there is no bank teller.
btw. I did not know that Anshe Chung (Ailin Gräf) was married to a german guy (Guntram Gräf) and even teached german & chinese at a german school in Hessen,
before she started to make deals online. But wiki says so.

Any additional info is welcome !

[Atlas Haven Bank]
WIrecard (german internet bank) never went operational since 2007
(bought by avatar "Janus JD D'Arcwire")
Wirecard declined to provide details on how much of that $59,060 it actually paid.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2136510,00.asp

market place manipulation - (german wiki) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirecard


The bank is still "owned" by "Marcus Callender The Estate Broker" which is a MindArk avatar, thats usually is set as "owner" as long as noone bought the estate. So Wirecard bank never claimed this estate...

Any additional info is welcome !


[Twin Peaks Bank]
Moneta.ru [payment provider for online casinos] stopped working in 2009 - operational again since early 2014 (?)
(bought by avatar "Yuri iNTellect")
The avatar "Moneta Banker" announced a full stop of the pawnshop activity in 2009 and had his last activity on PCF in 2010.
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...ank-Comments&p=1795295&viewfull=1#post1795295

The bank is now managed/owend by avatar "Divinity Deth Undefined"
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...s-Bank-Bringing-Liquidity-and-Exposure-to-You

"Divinity Deth Undefined" and "James Bling Cash" started a "Strategic Investment Guide" in 2012 :
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/ahhh-the-pawnshops-aka-banks-2014.11685/#post-70560

Any additional info is welcome !


[Port Atlantis Bank]
Neverdie fully operational since 2007 (?)

But also Neverdie wanted to sell his bank/building(?) in the end of 2013
http://www.pedtoclick.com/forum.php?topic=2259

The bank is now managed/owned by avatar "Belgrim Bobbyjoe Stormbreaker"


[Fort Argus Bank]
Jolana Kitty Bryce (long time Entropia Avatar) operational now...and then
Jolana got locked in 2009 for about 2 months and was full of panic, as banned avatars got "accidentally" unlocked by MA and tried to "sell" their stuff to Jolanas Pawnshop, while "she" claimed she had no idea of any exploitation...
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...220-Am-I-getting-scammed-for-200K-Help-please!

In the end of 2010 Jolana tried to sell the bank for a buyout of 550.000 PED while "she" payed 950.000 PED.
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?203635-Fort-Argus-bank

The Bank is now managed/owned by avatar "Tzepelea Tzepu Geri" who also tried to sell the bank in 2013 but canceled his forum auction after 10 days.
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?252487-Fort-Argus-Bank-(short-term-offer)

Any additional info is welcome !

Wow, "banking" inside of Entropia does not look so good, does it ?
So in early 2009 MindArk had prepared the next publicity-stunt already. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) granted MA a reallife banking license.

It was revealed that Mind Bank failed to secure the required fundings for the venture (which was a sum of EUR 5 million), and thus MindArk requested for the permission to be revoked. We never heard of this bank idea again.
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/wiki/MindArk#Banking_License

p.s.
To everyone claiming this is old news...YES IT IS!
But it is also a still ongoing process and I post this so it wont be forgotten and new arrivals will be well aware of it. =)

 

omg I remember this DSE site haha. Never dared to register. (c) 2008
http://dse.anshechung.com/

I remember all the discussions about sweatshops and stuff. Ahh how do I miss Entropia Reality.^^

I bet noone will come to authenticate me if I would fill out this form : (c) 2008
http://dse.anshechung.com/index.php?fct=EU_SIGNUP

I also remember reading something like LindenLabs banned this "idea" of converting currencies
Linden Labs wanted to ban virtual banks in 2008 already...
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Second-Life-banks,news-27171.html

Also down: http://anshex.anshechung.com/

And all other links to her "projects" are all (c) 2008
http://www.anshex.com/

But they could just have forgotten to change it to 2014 (?), as at least the "blog" posts about (a) new 3d building(s) once per month...hmmm...

http://www.anshex.com/blog/category/second-life/

And wikipedia says (by 2014) they aquired more stuff to their portofolio.
But this was the case in 2012 already. So whats actually going on in 2014 ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung

19 people clicked "like" on her site on their facebook symbol...19...

I havent followed 2ndLife for a long time now and except for the anshe-blog I cant find any recent informations regarding her on google. Nothing. Nada.
Very confusing...

So at least Wirecard bank just bought this "estate/license"...because they could...and the price wasnt even officially confirmed...bank never opened. Ya, that sounds liek Entropia.

This whole bank-scenario had way too much "buying, seling, want to sell, want to buy" stuff going on.
WAY too much!

Skippie was looking to buy a bank. Once in 2009 :
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?202966-In-Game-Bank&highlight=Bank

and once in 2013:
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?238261-Bank-and-or-Mall&highlight=Bank

But noone sold his "pawnshop" to Skippie. But he had money and pawnshop owners knew they could only fail in the long term...

However "Divinity Deth Undefined" got hands on the moneta.ru bank and whyever they decided to sell. Whyever Wirecard choosed to do nothing with their bank. Whyever Jolana Bryce decided to sell to Tzepu...whyever Tzepu also had the idea to sell it again...

If this wouldnt be Entropia, Id say something fishy might be going on.
But alas, this IS Entropia ! x'D

And which ponzi guy you are talking about ?

 

In the end I only post here to have my own archive of history, to be ready to be shown to those who are unaware. But feel free to spread the word (or this text) wherever you want. ;)

 

But you arent 100% sure ? :) Because I read only the building got sold, but not the license.

 

Just like in reallife...there is a name on the bank...the manager of it got a different name...and the owner got also another name, that differs from bank and managers name...and then there is the original "seller", who also has another name....and if something goes wrong...everyone can pin the blame on somebody else ;D

 

Oh, I remember somehting like that...give ped, earn interest...lol

 

My friends from france handed me over this 2012 project of the
"Strategic Investment Guide"
by "Divinity Deth Undefined" & "James Bling Cash"
(did you mean that Wistrel?)

I wasnt aware of it, but while reading the 1st phrases,
it reminded me of dozens of others that have tried exactly like this before.
And they failed, or could only "scam" a few people. Then they disappeared.

Undefined...Bling...Cash...25k PED membership fee

Ok, lets go.

The thread has its origin on PCF :

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...ide-to-Financial-Success-in-Entropia-Universe



"Your ingame guide to financial success in Entropia Universe"

Even MindArk was a little more...creative, with their slogan back then : ;D


In short, you buy infos on "how to" play entropia (right/better). You buy knowledge. To actually make "a pretty penny" inside of Entropia...ahem, I meant, shut up and take my money !!!!11 ;D

I dont know these 2 avatars, so I cant judge them, but the system alone sounds like if only these 2 people will make the "pretty penny". A ponzi scheme. A pyramid scheme. No matter how nice persons these avatars are.

The thread itself ? A daily bump, hundreds of posts with no other word then "bump", 10 alleged lifetime members since 2012, 4 "reviews"(?) of (really) "happy" members, one if them beeing anonymous (ok, all are anonymous) that claim to be fully satisfied, fullfilled their goals etc. etc. etc.
I wonder if they can fullfill my goal of unlocking robotology (cheap) xP

One mentiones that he could have doubled the amount of money he put in, if he wouldt have gotten health issues. Awww, bummer.

And one says :
"I cant deposit, because france sucks, but I have seen my change with SIG and sold all my items to partake"
He then claims having made 2k PED profit in a month *woohoooooo* and hopes to be able to continue to play without depositing, as the SIG program perfectly fits his gaming style. Having fun, not loosing tons of cash like before....wait...did he go back to snablesnots using Opalo and was just fuck!ng lucky ?

When he lost tons of cash before, he must be really proud making 2k ped in a month. Seriously, 2k PED is what others waste in 1 day...in a week...just like this guy from france did...before...tons of cash...Im not sure if this doesnt even make any sense. It reads like brainwash to me.

So this guy had wasted tons of money before, france turned into sh!t and he payed "someone" to recieve the "reciepe for success". At least he hopes so.

Maybe he read something along the lines :
"So to anyone who is skeptical in joining, don't be, you have nothing more to lose than more of your ped."

Thats one of the comments of one of those "happy" customers btw.
I mean, WTF ?! I know one can be desperate in this casinmmo...but...

It is written exactly like one of those:
"I cant explain, but this product has changed my life and I would buy it again"
"It didnt make me rich, but I feel better now."
"If you call now, you wont recieve 2, not 3 nooo you will recieve 4 of it!"

Need a short pause ?

Feel free to look at their main site :
http://www.strategicinvestmentguide.com/

Entropia has not really changed it seems. Such people were always part of it, hoping for the big $.
(thanks to the money of others)

This idea has been around since 2003. "Give money, get info, make money...maybe ;p"
People were always aware of it and avoided it under all cirsumstances.
Why ? Because it never(!) worked out and people arent always dumb.

I mean, those 4 happy SIG customers clearly say:
"I only wanted to loose less then before and it worked with SIG"
"So to anyone who is skeptical in joining, don't be, you have nothing more to lose than more of your ped."
"I cant deposit, but I have seen my change with SIG and sold all my items to partake"

Of course you dont need to be a rocket-scientist to "loose less" in this gam(bl)e...
What is this ? 1990 ?

I get pointed to a thread that is up and running with exactly the same words that we tried to avoid since 2003. Why is it different this time you may ask ?

Because Divinity is a "long time player" (?),
Because Divinity claims having deposited about 31.000 $ at once and cashed out 40.000 $ ?
Because he made deals with moneta.ru to "buy" their pawnshop ?
Is he special now ?

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...ficiently!!!&p=2926908&viewfull=1#post2926908

We usually informed MindArk about such activities back then and they usually (officialy) warned us to stay away from such "outside" business. In todays world MindArk seems to enjoy "messing" with the wrong people. Ya messing, because MA also wants a piece of the pie.

I wonder why it is an active thread since 2012 ? Why isnt it closed ? Banned ?
I mean, it is on PCF !!!
Or am I blind ? Is THIS the mighty solution ? *sarcasm*
And why would MindArk be happy about that ?

I mean, I liked the idea of the Hadesheim Stock Exchange back then.
I would have loved to invest into fantasy "ingame companies",
that are controlled by demand & supply aka. MindArk. ;p

This MMO is trying to turn into some kind of "ponzi pit" since a long time now.

By the way, big thanks to mastermesh for a neat list of other (failed) investment funds :
http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/2577936-post17.html

R&R fund anyone ? :S
MMA bigshow ? :D
The araneatrox super-trap-video for 75 $ ? xD

Today there is Akoz, Mercury and maybe Neovixen, Deathifier and Buzz and now and then Neverdie. They do of course only have "1" avatar for business *lol* and at least Akoz&pr0n rule the land of Entropia by now. $ wise. Your $. 5 people. (and their investor"friends")
Might be a little different if we would have more then about 8.000 active accounts.
Let say, 1 mio, concurrent users ?

Divinity tried to jump on the ponzi-train, as it does not seem that the pawnshop amortized by now.
Who would have thought of that, by the time the banks, ahe, pawnshops got sold ?
Captain Obvious maybe ? xD

 

Im only trying to post about how I "think&feel" about their form of "advertisement".
It is clearly ponzi, you cant deny that. Can you ? 4 so called "reviews" in 2 years that sound like an american commercial for stuff that you dont really need.
(still such reviews are able to pull in people, eh?) ;)

A form of advertisement, that I dont see for the 1st time.

I think this way. That doesnt mean it is bad. But I would never invest 25k PEDs to "gain information" that would probably NOT make me earn a "pretty penny". Please, wake up. And if Im placed into the "we wont make business with people like you McCormick, because of your attitude" section, it would only mean to be even more carefull about it...to me. I dont claim to know everything about Entropia, even after more then 10 years, but selling knowledge, that simply cannot be guaranteed working, sounds somewhat fishy to me. And Im talking about "making a pretty penny" here.

"Loosing less" inside of Entropia doesnt require an investment of 25.000 PED.
Excpet you are a rich f*ck that doesnt care about $ and has absolutely no idea about anything.
Then this "investment into knowledge" is defenitly made for you.

Back then knowledge got shared by the community.
A community member asking to get payed for sharing...is defenitly NOT caring.
No matter if he (Deth) took 3 people and guided them "for free" for about 3 weeks.

To me it is a bitter taste, that Entropia gave birth to so many so called "investment groups" by now.
Whatever happened to the individual players.

A group of investors buying a hangar or a stable is something completely different for sure. Go for it !
Hangars & stables (should) have a guaranteed return of investment. (probably over years), if you have returning customers, while SGI simply cannot guarantee this kind of "return". Just face it.

Sure, you can Opalo snablesnots for 10 years, trying to sell your loot on a daily basis, with hours of spamming the trade chat every single day, not beeing able to actually enjoy the "gameplay".
But even 10 years of snablesnots wont gurantee a "break-even" in this universe. If this already sounds again like "McCormick sounds like he knows everything about PE" then this text wasnt made for you, reader. ;)

I dont want to start a debate on priciples here, I was just posting my thoughts about this kind of "strategic investment".

"Your ingame guide to financial success in Entropia Universe"

Anyway, good luck to those 2 and....be carefull out there. You never know.

 

As long as people get trojans on their computer by installing this sh!t, Im happy and not really pissed off.
And they DO get trojans by installing this. (no peds included) :)

I followed a discusison about "hacking Entropia" way back in time on the well (un)known forum unknowncheats.com. back then you could change values, but only on the client side. As soon as the server jumped in. values changed back to their original.

In the end people agreed that it is a "very nice" encryption and because of the "real money involved", noone would dare to try to go any further anyway. (in public)

Also we arent 1 mio. players. Too easy for MindArk to detect such "tests".

I dont say it is impossible, but.....you know... ;)

 

"Strategic Guides and Bots" are a different story though and I even have seen speedhacks working inside of VU 5.6 without beeing detected, by messing with the "winsock.dll" for example.

Sometimes MindArk is aware,
sometimes they dont care.