Man. Myth. Morland.: The irrepressibility of human nature

Extortion, prostitution, and vigilante justice. No, it's not Vegas, it's The Sims Online.

Alphaville could have become a socialist utopia, a grand experiment in free-market capitalism or simply a reflection of the allure and the pitfalls of any real Western city.

As it was, Alphaville quickly turned into a hellhole of scam-artists, crime syndicates, mafia extortion artists and teenage girls turning tricks to make ends meet. It became a breeding ground for the very worst in human nature - a benign-sounding granny, for example, who specialised in taking new players into her confidence, then showered them in abuse. Then there was the scam-artist known as Evangeline, who started out equally friendly and then stole new players' money.

The proliferation of virtual worlds raises some fascinating issues. Their currency has real value, to the point that the need has arisen for a full-fledged exchange to convert, say, simoleans to therebucks. Entire academic reputations are being staked, and group blogs devoted to, the study of these massive socioeconomic petri dishes.

I myself have never dabbled, but had it been around in high school, I undoubtedly would have.

Check your links, Mike. I got http://www.gamingopenmarket.com/ for both, 'Entire academic reputations' and 'full-fledged exchange'. Typos: they'll get ya.