Andy Warhol once prophetically exclaimed that in the future everyone would have their “15 minutes of fame”. But beyond that 20^th century-era prediction now anyone can create alternative forms of themselves (Avatars) which exist only in cyberspace and in addition to fame, this Avatar can gain fortune and a weird kind of eternal existence. The pioneer in achieving prominence and wealth from what some would consider a role-playing character is the man that The Los Angeles Times described as “the world’s first cyber-superstar” Jon Jacobs, i.e. NEVERDIE.

Jacobs gained his first national online notoriety in 2005 when he mortgaged his home to buy a virtual asteroid for $100,000, making it the most valuable virtual item ever sold at that time. The next day, he received an offer to sell the asteroid for $200,000, but he refused. Those seemingly “mad” moves turned out to be moves of “mad genius” as Jacobs turned that hunk of cyber-rock into Club NEVERDIE within the online 3D Entropia universe- a massive multi-player game in which people interact using avatars-ultimately becoming the first person to become a millionaire strictly from monies earned in virtual worlds. Sure the world was virtual, but as for the money? Well, that was very real.

About a year ago he blurred the line between gamer and game developer by launching ROCKtropia, an entire online virtual music world and planet in the 3D Entropia universe. ROCKtropia is highlighted by “Lemmy’s Castle” which was created in collaboration with heavy metal rock legend Lemmy Kilmister.

I caught up with Jacobs at SXSW while I was trolling around the ScreenBurn gaming room last month and saw the ROCKtropia booth. I was eager to follow-up and expand upon our brief conversation and NEVERDIE graciously accepted the offer for a podcast interview. What follows is a conversation about his past, his future and what it’s like to be incarcerated in a cyber-prison within a virtual world that he helped create.

Plutopia News Podcast

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