Whyville and vSide Next for Virtual Greats

Whyville and vSide have signed up as distributors for Virtual Greats' licensed, celebrity-themed virtual goods. Doppelganger says that it is evaluating several collaborative items for vSide, but nothing is ready for announcement. Jim Bower, CEO of Whyville-developer Numedeon, is planning to launch virtual goods in mid-February tied to the recently launched Pearls system that lets parents set monthly allowances in the form of virtual currencies.

"We're actually surveying the kids about which of four clients, two of which [Virtual Greats] is close to closing, the kids would most be interested in in terms of virtual goods," said Bower. "The top one they're interested in is Paris Hilton and the second is Elvis—and actually fairly close behind. There's a surprise: 12-year-olds are almost as interested in Elvis as they are in Paris Hilton."

Whyville and vSide have signed up as distributors for Virtual Greats' licensed, celebrity-themed virtual goods. Doppelganger says that it is evaluating several collaborative items for vSide, but nothing is ready for announcement. Jim Bower, CEO of Whyville-developer Numedeon, is planning to launch virtual goods in mid-February tied to the recently launched Pearls system that lets parents set monthly allowances in the form of virtual currencies.

"We're actually surveying the kids about which of four clients, two of which [Virtual Greats] is close to closing, the kids would most be interested in in terms of virtual goods," said Bower. "The top one they're interested in is Paris Hilton and the second is Elvis—and actually fairly close behind. There's a surprise: 12-year-olds are almost as interested in Elvis as they are in Paris Hilton."

After the launch Bower plans to continue the surveys, essentially conducting market research, looking for new celebrities that users are interested in and presenting the case through Virtual Greats to bring them in.

While certain celebrities, like Snoop Dogg, are considered inappropriate for Whyville's kid and tween audience, Bower says the community does a good job regulating itself.

"We can trust them, but part of the commitment, our part, and why they're interested in working with us is that we're not inflexible. It's a community decision," he said. "Any celebrity we produce will produce a huge amount of discussion in Whyville on all sides. If kids are able to buy Paris Hilton custom earings or Elvis guitars, there will be an opportunity provided by us to comment. Anything we introduce is like that, but something that is strongly cultural is definitely like that."

Whyville has sold branded goods before. When it brought in musicians like the Cheetah Girls for concerts, the items worn during the performance were sold on eBay with the profits going to a charity of the artist's choice.  Based on that experience, Bower says he expects the virtual goods to perform well, but to need to evolve to meet the market.

Likewise, Numedeon is betting that the Pearl system will be a hit in Whyville. In its first month, Bower says the Pearls had 100% growth over the previous WhyPass subscriber system. Since then it's grown steadily at 15-20%. Additions like Virtual Greats' goods should boost that and provide a strong complement, or alternative, to the sponsorships that fuel Whyville.

"The difference is that sponsorships are periodic and episodic. Virtual goods sales are regular and predictable," said Bower. "The big episodic sponsorship things are important because it gives us the opportunity to launch and build new content. On the other hand, you need some revenue just for basic maintenance, so the virtual goods piece of the revenue model gives us that base.  Many sites run on banner ads, but it's becoming recognized that that just doesn't work. Everyone's going to be looking for other systems."

After the launch Bower plans to continue the surveys, essentially conducting market research, looking for new celebrities that users are interested in and presenting the case through Virtual Greats to bring them in.

While certain celebrities, like Snoop Dogg, are considered inappropriate for Whyville's kid and tween audience, Bower says the community does a good job regulating itself.

"We can trust them, but part of the commitment, our part, and why they're interested in working with us is that we're not inflexible. It's a community decision," he said. "Any celebrity we produce will produce a huge amount of discussion in Whyville on all sides. If kids are able to buy Paris Hilton custom earings or Elvis guitars, there will be an opportunity provided by us to comment. Anything we introduce is like that, but something that is strongly cultural is definitely like that."

Whyville has sold branded goods before. When it brought in musicians like the Cheetah Girls for concerts, the items worn during the performance were sold on eBay with the profits going to a charity of the artist's choice.  Based on that experience, Bower says he expects the virtual goods to perform well, but to need to evolve to meet the market.

Likewise, Numedeon is betting that the Pearl system will be a hit in Whyville. In its first month, Bower says the Pearls had 100% growth over the previous WhyPass subscriber system. Since then it's grown steadily at 15-20%. Additions like Virtual Greats' goods should boost that and provide a strong complement, or alternative, to the sponsorships that fuel Whyville.

"The difference is that sponsorships are periodic and episodic. Virtual goods sales are regular and predictable," said Bower. "The big episodic sponsorship things are important because it gives us the opportunity to launch and build new content. On the other hand, you need some revenue just for basic maintenance, so the virtual goods piece of the revenue model gives us that base.  Many sites run on banner ads, but it's becoming recognized that that just doesn't work. Everyone's going to be looking for other systems."