You Can Do Anything vs. It's Just Too Hard!

It is possible that a person who is a high energy, go get 'em, always working hard and succeeding in real life sort to bring the same attitude and behavior to SL. There is no reason to assume success in SL business activities implies the one doing so is a loser in real life.

Nor is there any reason to assume that my post was meant to be completely serious.

Better, perhaps, to take it in the spirit of this thread.

And there ya go, Enabran - more paeons to the usual crowd of content-creatorati of Second Life - Yawn!

Now if you were to bring in blaze Spinnaker, Mulch Ennui, a W-Hat crew, and He-Who-Still-Remains-Nameless - and pair them up with the content-creatorati - I'd watch the fun. Hell, I'd produce and direct.

Or perhaps with more subtlety - employ unknowns as your sidekicks, and bring in the self-stylized stellar content-creatorati as apprentices....

I just wanted to give a gracious thanxies to Seth for mentioning The Donald. I am a YUGE fan of Trump. And it is perhaps fitting I also penned a piece titled "Master and Apprentice".

And that reminds me of another of my favorite tomes, this one:



and Trump doesn't just mean wealthy in $ (or L$), he means in family, friendships, and life—applicable to Second Life!

You will read it and close it with a smile on your face, like you are closing a good deal.

It is truely one of the best books I have ever bought.

Heh, I used to love Trump. Then I had a few chats with the Director of Public Relations where I work. She used to be one of The Donald's publicists. After hearing her stories I don't like him anymore.

hard to know if you're serious or joking seth... so i'll take it at face value for a sec

i thought that enab wasn't saying that "everyone needed to be like this." rather, those who want to be in business should act like they are in business.

whyya gotta distort and divide?

I agree that SL should be about a helluva lot more than business. Go create, go dance, go chat, go cyber, go fly... do whatever. have fun. Only do biz in SL if it's fun, or if it's financially more rewarding than anything you can find in RL.

I skimmed this thread because Enabran should know better than to try and have a real convo in these forums but I have gathered this...



When do the auditions for Apprentice SL begin? I will be the obligatory Black Chick. *dusts off suit and fake credentials*

Eboni, the Templar Institute for Advanced Capitalist Studies admits all students. Even those who don't know they have been enrolled!

As much as I really like your original post Enabran (and think it is a wonderful one for discussion.. as others have shown).. I do have to pause and agree with blaze's post here as well. As I see myself fitting into his description a great deal. Whether he is sincere or not, it is a decent observation about another class of people in SL.

I've been here since Sept 2003. And I am pretty popular (I don't really know why, and I don't say that to boast or anything.. it just sorta happened). and people think I'm rich. But I'm not. For a variety of reasons, I've just not made money, and given most of what I did have away.

Yet you *know* how I feel about SL and various aspects of it. You have seen my posts and my support. As well as the times when I step in and disagree with things. And I just don't really fit into your original categories.

Perhaps it is ok to say there are exceptions to the rule? but then a good convo becomes, how many of us exceptions are there. hehe

Again, it should be stated that what I lay out above applies only to viewing Second Life as a place of business. There are plenty of philosophical and personal aspects of Second Life that I cannot even begin to address in a post. I'm simply trying to narrow down the ideas for how Second Life should and should not be directed as it relates to business.

I guess a lot of people don't know this, but I spent my first six months in SL puttering about and amusing myself and thinking that I was definitely enjoying the wave of the future. Were it not for some chance accidents, I may not even be "in business" right now. Even if that were the case, though, you'd still see me in the forums saying the same things in support of a solid business atmosphere and against dillution of Second Life's economic power.

ahh.. I guess I was wrong then when I made my statements about the fact that you "know" how I talk about SL.

It is late though. So I'll detail more tomorrow. Sorry for assuming. And know that despite what you think, I did read all your posts, you did not need to repeat. I only need to clarify.

"It's too hard! If only it were a little less hard, it would be perfect."

"You have any idea what we could do to to make it less hard?"

"Study economics? Take a cold shower? Visit the in-laws?"

You missed this:



I'm afraid I've been a bad person and am guilty of injecting a little deflating levity into another fest of politicized "you-too-can-be-like-us" rhetoric.

I'm sorry, I did it again. Someone stop me, please, before I get dangerously close to the truth....

Those unlucky and lucky tests are interesting. If I was trying to solve the puzzle, I would've figured out it was impossible to obtain the ring thru simple means and (if I had the right tools) destroy the puzzle to obtain the ring. And for the newspaper, I'd read the ad stating how many pictures were inside and still count up the pictures anyway just to confirm if the ad was telling the truth or not.

see you did it again with your last line... dancing around and obfuscating anything and everything with hints of "a joke"

i think you're smart seth, and like to read a different perspective on things... so stop dancing around the "ominous truth" and if you've got something to say, say it

or make a real joke, poke fun, and make everyone laugh... which is totally fair

but you're kind of caught in between. it's like you're still stuck in the "what about those who have no talent" thread from ages ago, which was much more us vs them combative, rather than actually reading what enab was and was NOT saying

although i liked your "imagined defeatist" line... that's true... it may be that enab and a few of us others are merely reacting to a small group posting on the forums rather than a common mentality in SL... this whole thing may be a complete non-issue

Damn, Eboni, that's whack!

You and I think much the same, Lash.
(Scary that there is more than one of us... the world is in more serious trouble than I thought.)

Intuitive, Circumventing, Suspicious and Pragmatic.

Now if I could just get a hold of all the information in Enabran's head, I would rule the world...
...or at least a part of it; I don't think Anshe and the other land barons are about to give up their chunks any time soon.

I'd really like to think this is the case, but as I typed out my initial post, I was troubled by how much these factions mirror real-world political thought. The truth of it is, there is a pervasive mentality within the west that the "government's" role is to do things for people, based upon the unstated assumption that people are unable to do things themselves.



That information is available for free! Continue reading the forums. The Templar Institute for Advanced Capitalist Studies is here to educate you and as its esteemed Professor, I invite you to apply my lessons in your every day travels. There are no graduates of this Institute because the learning never stops.

professor Templar,

Would you mind elaborating on how your analysis of the two camps, X and Y, applies to product marketing and placement in the SL arena?

If I am an events content creator, what is a good tack for generating the necessary social reforms to restore perceived value to the transient content created in form of events and atmospheres of, say, a nightclub?

Should I invest effort in education of the masses about the required level of work involved in these events, or should I simply focus my attentions on "hard lines" of product, and only work event coordination as a fun sideline with no intent of profit therefrom?

Is it possible that the people claiming that "it's just too hard" are gamers from other MMORPG's who now want to PLAY Sim Business? How people define SL will drive their expectations.

A tad harsh but I agree with your point totally. I've always been one for tolerance in SL on on all sorts of levels. Preachiness about how people should be playing their game always irked me. It's not reality, you shouldn't have to play by real life rules in a virtual world, in my humble opinion.

Forseti, my intentions are very clear. It is you, I'm afraid, who is obfusticating things - I suspect because of personal viewpoints or agendas you may not even be aware are operating here.

I will say one thing, free and in the clear - humor and perspective does not always have to be mainstream, and does not always have to be followed with a: or a: . Although I usually do this so as not to lose some people. In this case, Forseti, I seem to have lost you twice, even so.



From the IM's I've been getting, I think I did. But you know as well as I do that humor is subjective.



Au contraire. I dislike whiners who claim to be "victims of talentlessness." On that score, I agree with Enabran completely. I also dislike people who have little self-respect and lack a healthy ego.

I, for example, am one of the very best builders in Second Life, and I have no doubt of that - although my builds would not necessarily be appealing to everyone. There are people in this very thread who might confirm both of those claims. I am also one of the very best dagger-and-stiletto artists on the forums, which is also an art that might not appeal to everyone - as you, yourself can attest, Forseti.



I understand that Enabran and others are reacting to a small group of nay-sayers on these forums. But there are two important points here - and I and a couple of others are making them - in reaction to both sides.

First: it's not a binary argument, us and them. There are third, fourth, fifth, and more viewpoints operating in these issues, and you and the "other side" cannot appropriate all POV's into a binary debate so easily. And "both sides" try to do that, whether y'all are willing to admit it or not.

And second: These are not "small" issues among small groups of people on the forum fringes. They cut to the core of the inworld social matrix, and say some meaningful things about concepts like hierarchy, control, custom and ritual, and etc., which define a virtual world.

And as everyone really ought to realize - community concepts in Second Life are woefully underdeveloped.

My point exactly. You use the word PLAY twice.

You know, I'm glad you've asked this question as the lack of a viable events industry within Second Life has been very troubling to me.

As you would appear to well know, events at this time are not, overall, viewed to be profitable or even all that high-quality. The reason for this requires a brief history lesson and I hope you will indulge me in this.

Back when Second Life was younger, there existed the concept of "event support" in the form of L$ subsidies paid to anyone who hosted an event. The problem was, those hosting events, either from lack of business savvy or simple laziness decided that the L$ subsidy was "good enough" for event revenue. Hold enough events and you'll get a few thousand L$ a week. Event admission was free and the calendar soon filled with "HOTTEST ASS & THONG" contests. In order to attract patrons, portions of the L$ subsidy were given away to guests.

Thus was perverted the normal order of business. Instead of paying to go to an event, an event host paid you to attend. Ridiculous! And with this crutch, who needed to create novel and engaging events? No one! Just use the tried and true method of paying everyone some L$ via the money ball. Give away some cash for the hottest ass. You're golden!

Of course, this money-from-nothing was an untenable arrangement. The economic impact was dramatic and to stem inflation, Linden Lab ended event support, except for educational events.

The outcry was immediate! This would end events in Second Life as we know them! Indeed, if that were the case, it would have been a great thing. 95% of events at that point were pathetic banalities that conferred no benefit or entertainment to others beyond impressive lag and the ability to get next-to-free positive ratings from everyone around. Enjoyable? Hardly!

But it passed the time.

The trouble is, even with the end of event support, few have attempted to make a big move toward new styles of club event. The idea of charging admission is seen as shocking and dreadful, and much lamentations about event support and its needed return are ventured.

So, to properly answer your question, your challenge is to create a compelling, fun, and enjoyable new breed of live event. Something worth spending money upon. It needn't be a lot of money, as you'll make some good revenues with low prices and high volume. It's also something that has to be sustainable, something you can do weekly or even multiple times each week. This improves the ability of word of mouth to work in your favor.

What I'm describing here is not at all easy and I'm not even sure if the market is capable of supporting it. But it is what is needed to create a profitable event business. If it's something that you love, I always, always recommend giving it a go. And if it doesn't work, at least you were having fun.

As for "hard product," that in itself can be a very time-consuming enterprise. Between development, QA testing and marketing, it's a very full-time job! I look at Second Life, though, as a creative outlet. Don't do anything that is not going to be fun for you. The Real World is dull enough without opening up a dull second life.

Just have fun and make the very best stuff you're capable of creating. The market will reward you accordingly. Best of luck!