Your friends keep talking about metaverse, cryptocurrencies and NFT, underlining how these technologies represent the future and you need to lend them to be able to take advantage of many benefits, even from the economic point of view. So you’ve tried to inform yourself about these topics and you’ve stumbled upon Earth 2, a project that seems very interesting to you but that, however, is still not very clear. Did I guess right?
Well, if you want information about how Earth 2 works, you are exactly in the right place. In my guide I’ll show you not only what exactly this service is, but also how to register for it and start using its virtual land purchase system right away (because that’s what we’re talking about). Don’t worry, you won’t need a crypto wallet, Bitcoin or other digital currencies to be able to make transactions: you’ll just need a credit card and a little patience and attention.
In this regard, before proceeding, I remind you that what you are about to read are not financial tips but the simple technical description of the operation of a service, Earth 2 specifically. I do not assume, therefore, any responsibility for any loss of money that may result from investments on this platform. If everything is clear and you’re ready to start, read on: everything is explained below.
What is Earth 2
Earth 2 is a kind of second planet Earth, but a virtual one, a metaverse in short. You may have already heard this word that recently began to spread on the Web, especially related to the name change of Facebook. The new name of the company is in fact Meta, adopted to convey the intention to build a metaverse.
You should know, however, that this is not a new term, but it was used for the first time even in 1992, in the science fiction story Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. The meaning that the author gave it was that of a virtual reality shared by users connected to the Internet, represented in this world with avatars.
Earth 2 is far from being a metaverse of this type, at least for the moment. To describe it in the best possible way, you have to imagine the real planet Earth, with all the places that distinguish it, but with the ability of users to buy virtual lots of land, just as if it were a game.
Of course, the purchase of land is only part of phase one of the project, the ultimate goal in fact is to make the land customizable, using resources from the land itself. It is not to be excluded then the future scenario in which you can connect a virtual reality visor and access in a completely new way to the spaces of Earth 2.
At the moment, we’re talking about a centralized service and not yet linked to cryptocurrencies, nevertheless the company’s long-term plans foresee the decentralization and transfer of assets on the blockchain, implementations that will come in the near future (from 2022 onwards) thanks to the partnership announced with Polygon Studios. The advantages for Earth 2 users will be many, such as the possibility to make transactions (sales, purchases or exchanges) quickly and with low costs, moving everything also on the Ethereum mainnet.
You may be wondering, at this point, how reliable is the project and especially who is behind it. The staff is composed of industry veterans, with decades of experience in various fields: from virtual reality (e.g. Dillon Ceo, co-founder of Oculus VR) to real estate, passing through software programming and game development. Also joining the team is Omar Rahim, former senior director at Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms. There are no big doubts, then, about the genuineness of the project and the intention to bring it forward in an organic way so that Earth 2 becomes a solid reality, easy to use and above all safe in terms of digital property, even if then obviously in worlds like these the absolute certainty that things are going well is never there.
That said, if you are still interested in the topic and want to try to buy a plot of land on Earth 2, let me show you the procedure to register to the official site and start using the service.
Earth 2: registration and access
The first step to use Earth 2 is to register on the official website. At the moment there is not yet an app that allows you to manage everything via smartphone or tablet, so you’ll have to use a browser to connect to the site that I previously linked.
From the home page click on the top right, on the words Log in / Sign up: you will see a screen for access. Not yet having an account, you must click on Sign up, where you read the voice Don’t have an account?, you will be brought back to the registration page. To do so, you must enter a valid email address and password (make sure to create a secure password), then click Continue.
Before you can log in, you will have to confirm your account, so open your email and check your emails, the one coming from Earth 2 contains a link to complete the operation. Under Please verify your email address by clicking the following link you will find Confirm my account: click on it and you will become a citizen of Earth 2.
To log in, just go back to the official site and click again on the Log in/Sign up button, on the top right. Then fill in the required fields (e-mail and password) and click Continue.
Earth 2: buying land
Now that you’re officially a member of Earth 2 you’re probably wondering what you can do and what are the available options. As I previously mentioned, at the moment you can buy plots of land that will become useful during the advanced stages of the project.
To buy a plot of land, click on the Buy land button in the upper left corner: you will be taken to the page with the subdivision into plots with a top view. If you have a specific location in mind, enter the address in the search bar at the top left, just below the Buy land button, and then press Enter on your keyboard.
If the plots of land you want to buy are available, they will appear in gray, if they are not you will see the flag of the country of the user who has already bought them.
Click on one or more plots of land to select the ones you want, then, in the right pane with the entry Tiles Selected, click on the Details button. You will then be taken to a summary tab that will tell you how much land you have selected, the market value and the purchase price. If you are satisfied with your selection, you can continue by clicking on the Buy Now button.
There are currently two accepted payment methods: credit card or account credit. Since you have just registered, I will show you how to make the procedure with credit card, then click on Pay with credit card.
Fill out the fields by entering all the required data, specifically, under Card number you must enter the credit card number, under Expiry Date the expiration date, under Card holder your name and surname and under CVV the unique code printed on the back of the card.
In the Billing address tab, instead, you must enter your personal data, in order from top to bottom: the country of origin, province, city, zip code and finally address. When you have filled in the fields, click on the button at the bottom right where it says Pay now. Now you own a plot of land on Earth 2 and you can, if you want, sell it if the market price increases in the future.
Earth 2: Verify your account
In order to buy land already owned by third parties, if these are at auction, you must verify your account and, to do so, you must activate the two-factor verification (also called 2FA).
Click on your avatar in the upper right corner, then select Settings in the drop-down menu. On the next screen, where you will find all the settings, you need to choose the Manage 2FA item to open the Earth 2 Account Security screen. To continue, click Enable Two-Factor Authentication, then Next and use the app you want to use to generate OTP codes for Earth 2 access (e.g. Google Authenticator) to scan the QR code displayed on your PC.
Now just enter the six-digit code generated by the Authenticator app in the Token area, right below the QR code you just scanned. If the operation is successful you can press the Back to Profile button.
Now you can verify the account: to the right of the Manage 2FA button you can find the Verify account button, click on it and the Verification form will open, from which you must select an identification document of your choice between: passport, driver’s license and identity card. Click on the one you prefer and then you can choose to continue via mobile, taking a photo of the document with the integrated webcam or uploading a photo already on the device. I recommend the first option, then click on Continue on mobile and enter your email address in the recommended field before clicking on Send.
From your smartphone, then open your email inbox and tap on the link you received, where it says tap here. On the next screen you will be asked to upload two photos of the selected document: tap Take photo and insert the two images, front and back. After performing the procedure, press Confirm to activate the front camera of your smartphone, center your face and wait for the system to confirm the correct execution of the procedure.
The verification will take some time, so you will have to wait for the data to be compared before you can access the auction system for the purchase of land owned by third parties. You can check the status of the procedure directly in the Settings of your profile, accessible from the Earth 2 site by clicking on your avatar.
Buying on Earth 2 means making real investments. If your goal is to earn money through the resale of land, the smartest solution is to bet on plots in high demand, “blowing” them to the competition.
Famous places or those that host monuments are of course the most popular, therefore also the easiest to resell at higher prices. It is therefore not a bad idea to aim at these to have an advantage over other users. Keep in mind, however, that in the future all the real buildings will eventually be removed from the Earth 2 map, to make room for the customized ones of the users who own the lands in question. It is safe to assume, however, that real addresses will remain famous for a long time in Earth 2 as well.
Don’t underestimate also the places that people frequent on a daily basis, such as train stations, bus stops, airports, stadiums and so on. When more users use Earth 2, these places could become real showcases for products and advertisements, with high display potential.
Earth 2: Sell Land
You have bought a few too many pieces of land and maybe you want to put some of them back on the market, so that other users can buy them from you. No problem, the procedure is very simple and now I’ll show you quickly.
From the main page, after logging in, click on your avatar in the upper right corner and then, in the pop-up menu, select Profile. On the next page, under the heading Portfolio, you can see all your purchases, identify those you want to sell and then, by clicking on them, you will access the explanatory page. Check carefully that you have chosen the right lot and then click on the Sell/Edit button.
On the next page you can enter a description of the land for sale, in the bar under the heading Description. Going down, you can decide the amount at which to resell the land, either individually or by choosing directly the total. Then set a value in the fields keeping in mind that, in the box where it says Per Tile, you can change the value for each plot, while where it says Total refers to the total of the selected lots.
After choosing a value, you have two options: Save, to set a price that potential buyers will see in your profile and on which they can base their purchase auctions, or Sell, to make the plots immediately visible on the Marketplace. If you choose Sell you will have to click Accept on the next screen to finalize the procedure. Before continuing, however, I must inform you that Earth 2, when you get earnings from the sale of the land, will retain 5% of the total, so proceed with the sale only if you agree to the terms.
After clicking Accept in the last screen, your land will be officially on the Earth 2 Marketplace and can be purchased by third parties at the price you set.
For the rest, this is just a general introduction to the functioning of a service, Earth 2, full of facets (even risky) and destined to change a lot over time. I invite you, therefore, to consult well the official documentation, attend the related communities (eg. the one on Reddit) and always proceed carefully in all your operations on the platform, trying to stay informed about its operation.