Originally written by qDot for mmorgy.com

(This article is part of a multi-part feature on the viability of different business models for virtual world porn. Links to other articles will be added to this one as they are finished.)

Yup, 'sbeen a long time since I sucked the sexy out of something like I'm about to do here.

As you saw last week, I geared up MMOrgy for it's re-entry back into the world of relevancy with a post about a press release I got from a new virtual world porn studio. Now, far be it from me to say that I did it first, but well, I did it first. Or would've done it first. I just have no follow-through.

Right around the time I started MMOrgy as a virtual world sex blog, I had multiple business vectors also planned out, as can be seen in the follow DOA domains:

• escorts.mmorgy.com - our very own brothel! Was gonna take Isabelle for a spin at being a Madam in the hottest little whorehouse in SL.
• studio.mmorgy.com - our very own porn studio! Making bank off takin' pictures of virtual T&A, then laugh all the way to the LindeX/IGE.

So, outside of my usual 5 minute attention span for any project and general lack of caring about non-engineering projects well after I get them started, what stopped these things from coming to fruition? Well, while researching exactly how and why I was going to execute on this plan, I ran into many roadblocks that ended up in me scrapping the whole thing due to lack of time. This series will outline my thoughts on the viability of virtual porn, the reasons why I decided it wasn't for me, and some of the business model ideas I have yet to see used, but think would work (Yes, free ideas, yours for the taking!).

Business Models of Real World Porn: Why Virtual Porn Seems Lucrative

First off, I don't claim to know a damn thing about running a real world porn business. I've been around countless people who do, and I know they'll be very happy to correct me if I'm wrong.

The simplest viable business model for internet porn is content production. Here's a high level view of what is needed to make the most no-frills, no-fetish, stereotypical straight-male-demographic-aimed original content porn site I can think of. For sake of simplicity, this also assumes that the person starting the business has at least some technical skill in creating websites, editing movies/pictures, etc.

• Get a computer - US$500-US$1000 to do basic stills and movie production
• Get a camera - Cheap! US$100 if you're poor, it'll still work, and hell, some people like that Polaroid quality...
• Get a model - Not Cheap! Especially depending on the scene. US$100's at a minimum

• If in US:

• Get the model background checked - Not too expensive these days, but you'll need it for your 2257s. Not sure about other countries.

• Get all 2257 compliance documentation - There are services to get these done, but once again, US$100's, 'cause if you're not in compliance, expect US$!!!!s from federal lawsuits.
• Get legal representation - US$100's if you go prepaid* Place to take the pictures - Since we're going simple, as long as you've got a bed somewhere, you're covered.
• Take pictures of model - Assuming you don't have to get them coked up, you've already paid for this. However, you still have to rely on them to show up, be ready, not look like hell, etc...
• Get a website and enough hosting to not have to pay per gigabyte of bandwidth - Stupid, stupid cheap. Less than US$100 year
• Create secured members only area, full tour layout, graphics, etc... - Doesn't have to be real fancy. Probably US$100's 'cause you can find some geek who will do it for free for the promise of free nudie pix.
• Get credit card merchant account, deal with chargebacks (people defaulting/claiming they didn't make the charge, which becomes YOUR problem) - US$100's a month, especially because most credit card companies are ridiculously skiddish about taking in porn accounts due to chargebacks, so merchant accounts will cost orders of magnitude more.
• Keep site up through attacks (this happens pretty often)- Depends on your hosting, but you'll need a decent admin or service. US$100's per month.
• Create and distribute advertising, manage incentives programs - US$100's in fees to advertising services for VERY few click-throughs and even less conversions.

You can see how many US$100's I threw around in there. While it seems like taking a picture of your sister's slutty sorority girl friends and pasting them all over the web might be the short path to cash, to do it right takes a ton of seed cash and work.

Thus we enter the world of virtual porn, by which I mean porn generated using character models and settings from a prebuilt MMO. Watch the steps melt away!

• Get a nice computer for rendering - < us$1500
• Camera provided with software
• Models provided with software - Hell, /you/ are the model! You can do the whole damn thing by yourself if you want to. All you are limited by is the number of clients you can run at once.

• For sake of argument, say you're in Second Life...

• Skin - US$6-10 for a texture with all the trimmings (nipples, hair if needed, etc...)

• Genitalia - US$3-8, less if it doesn't need to "work" (i.e. just there for pictures, non-scripted)
• Clothing - US$3-6 for a few sexy outfits
• Set - US$3-6 for the furniture, damn near free if you have even the most basic of building skills.
• Land - US$10 per month at minimum, just to make sure you have a nice place of your own to put everything in.
• The top 4 can also be converted into time resources if you have the skills to make your own. Only land will always cost.* No legal - Yay for art laws!
• No background check - Yay for assumed legality!
• Website - Same as above. US$100 per year for hosting, and you probably won't have to worry about attacks quite as much depending on your content
• In-World Distribution - Pure time-sink, unless you go for a pre-built publication solution, in which case, US$3-10
• Money Exchange - Why take credit cards when you can just convert virtual currency? You'll lose a chunk per conversion and also live and die by the swaying of the market, but no worries about chargebacks.
• Web Advertising - Time resource. Work blogs (like this one, or many others that will simply post about new shiny porn) for free advertising.
• In-World Advertising - Usually nominal, if service is good enough, can quickly spread by word of mouth.

Seems like a no-brainer to the casual observer. All you need is a nice computer and a little bit of knowledge about your favorite MMO with something decently sexy in it, and you're ready to go. Right...?

(Stay tuned for the next article in our series, "Titties are timeless...")