The views in this piece exclusively reflect the opinions and experiences of KangarooJackNicholson, and do not reflect other staff writers, nor the Earth2 team. It should also be noted that KJN holds tiles in multiple nations and is actively involved in marketplace purchasing and selling.
I’ll leadoff by stating we’re not getting political, mostly I thought the word “shtimulus” sounded funny enough to build some content around. That said, this weekend’s Easter Egg hunt will have an immediate ramification on the marketplace, in part due to the following clause from the 3/27/2021 Announcement:
For legal reasons the E$ received from finding an Easter Egg needs to be spent on purchasing land or held for purchase of other virtual items coming to Earth 2 over the next few months.
With 250+ prizes this weekend, at least some of which are over $1000 USD, that is a potentially large amount of buying power being released to the community in a short period of time, and most importantly, it cannot be withdrawn. Furthermore, those larger cash prizes may facilitate the movement of some of the more expensive, more heavily discounted properties on the marketplace. A $700 Class one property at 40% off looks a lot more appealing if you’ve just had $2000 parachuted into your Earth2 account.
"Green Day Concert - Drunk Easter Bunny Strikes at a Concert" by Anirudh Koul is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
If larger, expensive properties are being sold, you’d see smaller plots rise up the discount page in each nation. Some may use this as an opportunity to spread their portfolio empire, buying in nations where they don’t already own tiles. Any other number of trends, both previously visited and completely novel, could also break out shortly after that money is disbursed.
One component of the statement that will maybe lessen the impact on marketplace movement is the “purchase of other virtual items”. This could cause a small number of egg finders to HODL their winnings for the immediate future. I personally doubt that many folks will opt to hold this cash with below market value Class One and heavily discounted Class Two and Class Three on the marketplace. That said, there could be other clues in the video that cause users to hold onto cash. There’s ultimately a lot that Shane and the team could sneak into the trailer to cause mass speculation.
"The Golden Egg" by afagen is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
If the video promoting the Easter Egg hunt contains additional clues or information regarding phase two, that itself could cause marketplace movement. Let’s say certain resources were depicted in the video, could that cause a rush on certain mines or land types? If a certain biome were featured in detail, could that cause sales in an area known for that biome (for example, a spectacular rainforest clip which encourages purchasing of Amazon Rainforest tiles in Brazil, Peru and Colombia). This is highly speculative, but Shane knows that we love our speculation. Err, shpeculation. I have no expectations to get an egg myself, but I think all users will benefit from this sort of giveaway. In any case, we will all know the marketplace ramifications quite shoon.