Yeah, the "real world cash" bit just amazes the heck out of me. People are willing to pay real money for virtual houses, virtual cars, virtual land, etc.

Seems to follow this formula:
The creator = God; able to generate unlimited income because he can generate unlimited land to sell... as long as he keeps those servers up.

The landlords = Clever sharks with enough business sense AND internet-underground sense to make good money.

The citizens = Further proof that "a sucker is born every minute." Or, people who somehow have plenty of money and no real social life.

But being from the Internet generation (almost), I don't see why I should pay for it. In my day, I've spent countless hours in chat rooms, exercising my IMAGINATION to create a fun world to hang out in. For free.

Well, chat rooms are free, except for the time you waste. "All your money won't another minute buy". So, burn that candle from both ends by PAYING to waste time. Unreal... but brilliant... until it colapses.