Tag Archives: Empire Avenue

Since yesterday’s announcement of the price correction, I’ve seen several people freak out about the effects of this on their share price and the effect on their portfolios.  I’ve got a few thoughts on the situation.

EAv is in beta. Changes should be expected – especially in regards to share prices.  EAv is about valuing content – so, it makes sense that the core mechanic (the share price) is going to be tweaked along the way.  Invest in content you like, then interact with those content producers – the interaction will help their price stay high.

If for one reason or another, you think EAv is only a game and you want to protect your ‘hard earned’ portfolio value, I have one tip.  Sell everything, then you won’t see any drop in portfolio value.

I joined Empire Avenue roughly a month before the opening of the public beta.  I thought, oh hey, cool, a stock market simulator.  I promptly went on my way, treating it as such.

I had it wrong, as do most people on the site.  Empire Avenue (or EAv) uses a stock-like system to help value content.  As the site says, it’s in beta, and the people behind the site are constantly making changes.  The next release will be changing the way content is valued slightly to give more weight to the quality of your content (as measured by audience and engagement).  I suspect on September 7/8 we will have many people angry about their price dropping (but hey, maybe it will only have a positive effect).

The more time I spend thinking about EAv, the more I get frustrated with the ads and the apparent mentality of the users.  I struggle to find interesting/new content.  I’ve met some new ‘friends’, had lively discussions about the site, and even bitched about cheating (or gaming, if you want to call it that).  In an effort to walk the talk (ie, using EAv for content, not a game), I’ve begun divesting (and investing) based on content.

If we talk on Twitter/Facebook/whatever, then I’m probably going to be buying you.  If I like your website/blog, I’ll probably buy you.  If we are in an EAv community together and you’re active, I’ll buy you.

If you don’t have good content, then I won’t be investing.

And that’s the way I think everyone should be ‘playing’ the ‘game’.