A 4.5 billion year old meteorite makes the hearts of gamers and fantasy fans beat faster. They dream of a real sword made of star metal.
Crafting is a popular occupation in many games. Collected resources can be used to create powerful weapons, especially when the materials are not available in large quantities, such as star metal in New World.
It is therefore not surprising that fantasy fans and gamers think of a mighty sword forged from star metal when they see a real meteorite made of rock and iron. The Fukang meteorite at least makes their hearts beat faster at the thought of that.
Gamers dream of the ultimate final sword made of star metal
What kind of meteorite is this? The meteorite that is currently exciting thousands of users on Reddit is a very rare find from the year 2000. The meteorite, which is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, was discovered near Fukang in China.
The giant meteorite is a pallasite, a stone-iron meteorite. Its crystals contain the mineral olivine. The metal structure consists mainly of kamacite, an alloy of nickel and iron (via meteoritelab.com).
The Fukang meteorite originally weighed around 1,003 kilograms. Over time, it was broken down into smaller and smaller pieces to be studied in various facilities around the world.
Why is the meteorite so popular among gamers? Fantasy fans and gamers from all over the world are enthusiastic about the Fukang Pallasite. In games like Conan Exiles or New World, star metal exists as a mineable raw material that can be processed to make weapons. For this reason, it would be obvious for some to forge a real weapon from the meteorite in real life:
This is the material I need to create the ultimate final sword.
The comment from Jasond777 that many users on Reddit agree with.
This idea is not entirely new. Fantasy writer Sir Terry Pratchett, who died in 2015, had created his own star metal sword after being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding achievements with his Discworld novel series.
According to independent.co.uk, he collected iron ore and allegedly melted it with several pieces of meteorite in a homemade furnace. With the help of a blacksmith, the sword then took on its final form.
Collecting and processing ores and metals can be an entertaining activity, depending on the game. Mining on the ground and in space is also very popular in Star Citizen. The corresponding vehicle was in the top 3 most popular spaceships last year: Star Citizen shows exciting numbers: Germans love the space MMO and fulfill a typical cliché in the game