Let me first explain that this whole issue is important to me. First and foremost, because I would like you to take it easy on me in case I get flamed--hopefully if you know this is personal you won't be too abrasive.
Second, in explaining why this is important to me, it's a nice setup for showing that, IN FACT, these changes will certainly cause problems for many people who exist in SL. I am not consistently in SL the way I was when I first joined, but every couple of months or so I like to barrage the Event Calendar with a series of Mentor events and regular events. I do a LOT of educational events, and the ones I have the best turnouts for have been my economy-oriented ones.That being said...
I have always had a standard list of six ways people can legitimately make money in Second Life strictly by using the game's system. New players love it. Here's what I've listed:
1. buy/sell products/services
2. host events
3. attend events
4. refer friends
5. stipend
6. dwell
These points have worked out so well! If you cannot sell products/services, you may instead make a great host. Or, you may make a great host attendee. What a perfect way for the average social player to make some money? It's not like the 500-1000 TOPS you can make as an event host each day comes anywhere near the amount you could make with a vendor. But instead, you know that you have added content to the game--which to many people is incredibly important, isn't it? And to event attendees... how many of you know people who login and only attend events? How much do first place winners make at the average event--350, tops? For a half an hour to an hour's time? Why is it not considered an intellegent 'keep,' to keep events around so players feel there is an incentive to take part in the 'gaming' aspect of Second Life? ...or have we really gotten to the point where the only acceptable competition in Second Life is in the retail business..?
So, we refer friends to make money (this was nerfed a while ago,) we have our weekly stipends (nerfed just now,) and our dwell is our last way to make money legitimately (also nerfed--dwell is going to be either a lot more blatant right now, or entirely nonexistant for the average player; after all, how many huge gatherings do you know about in Second Life that are not event oriented? Oh wait, I suppose we have clubs...)
Let's face it. Content-out. Consumerism-in. Now if I ever decide to host my "educational events," I won't lie to the attendees. I've always been as brutally honest as possible. So, here's the truth. "You want to make money hosting events, become a Mentor or an Instructor."
Joy! We have turned the first volunteer service of Second Life into an organization close enough to LL to be able to reap the benefits of Event Support. There have already been players in the Mentor group who have joined solely for the Event Support (won't be naming any names here,) now, it's like the one perk to hosting Mentor and Instructor events is going to seem a lot tastier to people who know they are good on-stage. The next Linden who takes on the Mentor group (as I understand it, Char is heading off for TeenSL--everyone remember that? It was brought up about the week before SL crashed for 3 days,) is going to have a lot of work on their hands, sorting through the mix.
So. Social players can no longer make money except for the minimal amount they recieve from Stipend along with whatever they can compete for at Mentor events.
Argue all you want that GOM "fixes" this problem. Sure, so those one-time 9.95 players now have to fork out more US$ just to buy things in Second Life? Senseless. SL's entertainment industry, minus the Dwellnor Club Incentive, has crashed.
"Welcome to Money 101, my name is Daemioth Sklar ... you can make money four ways. 1. selling products/services 2. refer friends 3. stipend 4. dwell . Can't use Photoshop? That's fine, you still have 2, 3, and 4. Referring friends not so easy? That's okay, you have your Stipend. 50L a week won't get you that 500L AV for another two and a half months? That's fine, you have Dwell. Oh wait, you don't own land. Just buy the money, what's the use in earning it, anyway?"
I'll add more as I think of it, but this is my rant for now.