Tools available on the website are constantly improving, and the advent of venture capital will increase site development options as it will allow for more servers/programmers etc.

The concern appears to be with the relatively high trading costs of cities and states compared to their revenue. Weblo is growing at an accelerating pace (increasing steadily at 10% + per month), and cities and states have lifetime ownership until transferred.

Many players purchase cities where they live although there are also many speculators in the game. Site development is encouraged by the ranking engine, so there is incentive to update on a regular basis. This will build quality content which will attract viewers from around the web.

While cities currently have a relatively low return, many of them are fairly inexpensive for a lifetime website. They also generate revenue based on any players that live in the city and a share of traffic revenues from any site within the city. As weblo grows, people will develop many base level sites for reasons of personal interest.

Since there is only one real world address associated with each virtual address, there are people who will contribute to the directory by listing their home, business or favorite hangout. A large number of people will develop this content for the pleasure of doing so and for the gratification of recieving feedback and using the messaging system to communicate with other players with similar interests.

Over time, this will “populate” the cities in a systematic fashion. Eventually these cities and their associated states will earn revenues from traffic and usage of the base level sites. During this time content will constantly improve and search engine competition will become more competitive. Something akin to a real world directory will evolve, and the nature of the site is such that there is incentive for weblo to increase the potentials of the site.

While weblo generates revenue from base sales and a commission on site transactions, the real money is in advertising. Recently there are a number of other social networks arising which actually pay their users to provide content and generate traffic, so it is likely a viable model.

The beauty of weblo is that it has excellent potential for a wide range of highly targeted advertising, as well as an internal system that encourages cross traffic within the site. Ultimately advertising will be the model that sustains weblo, long after upper level site ownership stabilizes.

These are the reasons weblo will work, and a few of the reasons that people play it. There are investors, speculators, causual traders and an increasing number of people who just want to carve out their place on the internet.

Weblo is a relatively young site, with an interesting revenue model, but it is far from having reached its full potential.

It is also significantly different than a pyramid scheme, and those who see it that way are looking at it on a very superficial level, and are perhaps not visionary enough to see the long term potentials of the site and what is being built there.

This is exactly the sort of game/internet social experience that a lot of adults will find to be an entertaining and immersive internet experience, a more sophisticated and appealing social site than myspace, facebook or twitter which is largely associated with a younger, less affluent demographic.

Personally, I enjoy the game immensely, and feel that there are excellent long term potentials as well as an intrinsic entertainment value.

Whether weblo becomes ultimately profitible or proves to be nothing more than a casual hobby, does not overly concern me as I enjoy the game on its own merits. However, I think the game does have potential, and I feel it will evolve considerably over the next year or so.

I do feel fortunate to be involved early enough to have a wide range of selections available that suit my interests, although I am certain I would be enjoying the game if I entered it a year later. Though, admittedly some of the higher potential opportunities will be more difficult to pursue at that time, I know that I would find a niche that interested me even at that point.

Ultimately, I feel it will be a successful business model, and am encouraged that other sites are taking the advertising sharing model seriously enough to use as the basis for their own designs.

So call it what you want, but I wouldn’t say that calling it a pyramid scheme is an accurate assessment. Its much more far reaching both in terms of the economic model and range of appeal than many of you are giving the game credit for.

Like all new ventures and business models, it will be greeted with skepticism from some quarters, but it is unique enough and well managed enough that many people will not grasp its true potentials until it becomes a cultural phenomenon.

My prediction is that the site is going places, is a viable revenue model and has a significant future on the internet.

:-)

Regarding the waste of time, one word: Twitter.

MIKE JAMESON
REALTOR CT&MA
DOMAIN NAME BROKER
WEBLO OWNER OF 100S OF CITIES WITH A GREAT
RETURN ON INVESTING ALREADY!

apparently, most people agree weblo is a waste of time and money, and I would agree with that.

now, the question is how they managed to get $3.3 million from a VC fund…

“Social networking combined with virtual reality world is the future of internet business.”

That is not a fact, nor a good idea. That is your own self-serving speculation.