Notice the creative & imaginative events dwindling?

As I predicted, creative events are already dwildling down because of the removal of dwell and traffic incentive. It looks like now 90% of the events posted are for slingo, tringo, and yard sales.... hmmm.... anyone else getting bored?

Yes, the carrot to put on events have been removed witht he removal of dwell, I have an owner of a club saying they are losing in the range of US$100/month in lost revanue for the loss of dwell. We need another system to reward those who attract patrons, other than charging admission, I don't see how that club will get back in the black, or a lesser shade of red.

I have never, EVER, seen a club event that I would catagorize as 'creative & imaginative'. In 9 months now. That's not to suggest that one or two of them haven't been, but I haven't seen it, and I don't really know anyone else who has either. As far as the clubs go that relied on dwell to keep their chain reaction of camping/traffic going - good riddance.

Why exactly do we need 'another systerm to reward those who attract patrons, other than charging admission'? The world isn't free, at least in this present time. Linden Labs support up until now of allowing untold dozens (hundreds?) of people to sit around, do absolutely nothing, and contribute to the decline of the economy has hurt it in the end, rather than help it - the lack of creative and imaginative events has been gone for a LONG time, and that was the reason. Now, perhaps, with people ready to seek other methods of gaining traffic, perhaps ways that don't involve slapping a couple dozen camping chairs in a spot, or holding a crowd of silent naked zombies captive, we'll finally get to see some of these creative events that have been lacking thus far. It can only go uphill from here.

Well... The simple answer is this: In SL, entertainment establishments will always be a money pit.

<listens to outrage>

Done? Good! Now let me explain:

All of SL is entertainment of a sort. People can wander SL, strike up with a few friends, and have a party ANYWHERE. Clubs, on the other hand, have to offer rewards just to get clientel.

"So make an event that interests people and makes them want to come to your club!" Says those who know this already...

Well, the problem is that good events take time to create. Seriously. Let's look at a few, shall we:

Movie theater: No way this is going to do well for a multitude of reasons. Mostly you either run into copyright issues, or that the movies are public domain and can be show anywhere. Still, not many people here are going to PAY to come to your club to see a movie. Period. RL theatres are having some problems with that now.

Dance club: Well, dancing is just clicking a button and forgetting about it, but what about socialization? Well, you can do that anywhere. On anyone's property. <shrugs> Some get regulars, but that's not a good source of income. If the place becomes TOO popular, you can't even keep the regulars, as it becomes too much of a problem to meet up there...

Prostitution: Well, I HEAR this does well, but let's be honest: It's got to get boring after a while...

Quiz contests: They come here to win a prize, not pay you.

Tringo/bingo: See Quiz above. Even when they pay into the pot, you will find that leaches will arrive, never donate, and leave once they win. Period. Invariably.

I could go on, but I don't see the point... There just seems to be one way you can fund events nowdays: Funding from commercial ventures that have nothing to do with the event, or are tied to it by advertising.

Try this, setup a dance club that asks for a 10L$ fee to enter the contest, and when they win, they get an item created by a 'commercial creative'. Let's say, the contest is a riddle contest, and the prize is from Fey designs and a new dress or suit...

No money changing hands, but a valuble prize none-the-less.

What? I hear the cry of the club goer? They say the money they win allows them to buy what they want, and they would rather have cash?

Tough. Buy some lindens.

The problem is that event creators have created thier own problem by allowing the pattern of "I'll pay you to be my friend" to continue. STOP DOING IT. Or, if you don't mind footing the bill, call it what it is, your own private playground to entertain yourself! There is no shame in it! I've done it myself! I just was not trying to use dwell to mitigate my costs. Heck, I've NEVER made enough dwell or anything else to make a differance.

Anyway. That's my two cents. Take it with a saltlick and call me in the morning...

Yes there are still some creative events, went to two yesterday, but i did not go wanting a prize or to win a contest, and i had a great time at both. Its sad that the mindset is so into bucks here, your missing alot of cool things if your hunting the dollar. Never anywhere have i been so amazed by the creativity as in SL, your truely doing yourself a diservice if you do not get out and see things just for wonder, or curiosity, or seeing what others can do here.

Sad to say, until this mindless hunt of the Linden stops...creativity may too..drop in a couple bucks in your account, thats over 600L$, and stop worrying so much and go out and have a GOOD TIME!!!!!!

Why do people feel that builders, land owners, shop sellers, and pretty much every aspect other than event-oriented businesses are allowed to be in this game for business and profit.. but when event creators show proof that LL does not allow a successful formula, people complain they are in it for the money??????

I pay approx $65 USD a month to support paying for my land and my club's stream. Why am I not allowed to try to make some of that back? Sorry, this is not being 'money driven'.... This is being smart, and trying to make SL profitable for me. When LL intruduces something into our world, and people create businesses around that, then to simply remove it suddenly and blame it for the cause of the deficet.... I get pissed every time i think about it.. I'm sorry..

IN RL, people pay for entrance fees and alcohol.... IN SL, people DO NOT pay for entrance fees or alcohol. LL and the residents of SL need to realize that entertainment and events in SL is one of the most important aspects in world... and multiple various events need to take place all the time for SL to stay interesting. Because us event creators are making SL interesting for LL and their customers, a government stipend should be in order... (PAID WITH MONEY THAT ALREADY EXISTS!!!).... LL pays for instructors... LL should pay event producers as well.

I for one an fully in favor of the box office. I think the box office combined with the intellegent use of both in world and Rl corporate sponsorship and intellgent interesting, professionally done events will allow the event owners to once again break even or make a profit

For those that have not figured it out yet this being a "game" is the operative word. Its labelled as one many, many people play it as one. However if you choose to profit that's okay too. The bottom line is its only a "half assed" economy. People play for many reasons. I think the biggest reason is to make friends and have "fun" online. These people already pay a fee for a membership the premium is 10 bucks a month plus they might own enough land for say a house. Honestly the dwell and other little bonuses given to artificialy keep the economy going IS needed. The money is gonna run out and no one will be spending on anything and it will happen quickly. Those who are content providers who think we are supporting those who are not and that those who are not should get off the butts and create their own are gonna be in for a shock. Soon everyone will -as LInden Labs gradualy chips away at the little bonunses built into keep some money flowing - (can you hear that little ice pick there?) be spending less and everyone will hurt.

As far as exploiting a system I have never seen any game or any system to date that people don't try to exploit. That does not mean the system itself is inherintly bad and should be removed, but it does mean that some effort should be made to remove those that exploit ie: the creation of camping chairs I guess it the biggest beef.

Anyhow yes I would imagine that there are going to be less events as it becomes a strain on people's real world pocket book to hold them they will need to do less its pretty obvious and anyone who thinks removal of these small ingame LL built in benefits is a positive thing isn't looking at the entire situation.


LL is taking an easy route by removing the system in lieu of dealing with those exploiting it Ie: camping chairs...

shrug I still say that larger upload fees are a better solution instead of taking money away from those ingame that may not be able to afford to buy it out of game. I for one will not be able to afford to put more real world money into purchasing Lindens so umm I guess I won't be buying much ready made stuff any longer. I have already hunkered down to learning how to do it all myself which was a partial intention of playing this game, but along the way i was also paying others for things as well cause well there are those with good ideas out their and I like their stuff. Now and soon I wont be doing that oh well maybe when we hear business owners complaining of dwindling revenues LL will take another look at things again beacuse they will most certainly have a bigger voice.

Dwell is still there..
perhaps it is because so many people cannot post in the events now and it only leaves those things you mention.

I too agree with you Double D, everyone in this game thats making an earnest effort to make a profit should not be put down for it..i love to see all our condos rented out, and send some L to offset our land fees..and i think theres no shame in that.

As far as entertanment goes, as my grandpappy used to say, the ponds gotta turn over from the bottom to have fresh water. As long as clubs pay ppl to show up with cash prizes etc, no ones going to be willing to pay for entrance. As soon as traffic is gone, thats about it for entertainment endorsements from the game. Am thinking that when everyone charges, or does not pay ppl to show up, the games going to change drastically.

For good or bad...we just dont know that yet..but i agree..content that pulls ppl into this game for the good of LL should be compensated in some way, its only fair..we tap dance and they gain all of the benefits...not fair!

Box office may or may not eventually work, but not untill we stop paying ppl to show up.

Opinion:

Ive been saying this ever since I arrived here, in February of 2005. Its why I didnt do Game Show Channel here, and things have only gotten worse since.

(I dont have appostrophes right now; they keep bring up Mozilla "find in this page".)

coco

No, it is not... it has been cut dramatically, and will be fully gone mid-June.
A lot of event producers and creators in-game are suddenly feeling a 'whats the point' when a) they remove any chance of return income, & b) most of SL residents take for granted when there are very cool fresh new events in SL.

I have noticed a major decrease to the cool creative events over the past month.
People think suddenly now... whoa, there's yard sale spam and tringo spam in the events.... well that's because now THAT'S ALL THERE IS.

I am getting tired of the event-goers telling us event creators what to think and how we should do things. Event creators must:
Buy land
Build a venue
purchase a stream
hire a host
hire performers and talent
run interesting contests, games, and prize promos

All of this costs money. Any event creator in SL would say the same thing

Actually, no, I've not noticed creative and imaginative events dwindling. The events calender is still full of spam like it usually is so it's almost impossible to judge.

I was just at another Live Music event with over 30 people there. The live music movement in SL is amazing, full of really talented musicians and very appreciative audiences. Tips for the musicians are freely given, prizes are rarely handed out, and they're an excellent way to socialize.

What I really love about it is seeing other live performers attending shows and encouraging their peers. Many different music styles are represented, and there is always an audience for whatever is the style of the moment.

The main problem I see happening is performers not having access to a server sometimes. It would be great if LL offered a hosting server to live performers (if that's possible?) or sim owners for a small fee if necessary.

Yes, the performers/live musicians DO very well in SL. They get to spread their music & get plenty of support through tips and donations. The performers are doing great.

How does the venue that hosted their performance benefit?!?! People ARE NOT donating to venues, they donate to the performers.

No Sad to say the OP is right. The Phoenix Spa, which hosted 5 non-*ingo events weekly, has closed its door to free events. The build will remain as long as sales support the tier but Perse can no longer afford to hemmorrhage 10-20K a month paying DJs, Live Musicians, hosts, and an event manager to run it all.

Once the dust settles down, if she's able to continue to support the tier with sales, then we will consider some paid events. But really all I hear is "why should I pay for events?" I see few people willing to support event venues. I see few people willing to perform without being paid. I see few people willing to host without being paid. etc etc. And frankly, no one expects them to. But venue owners are expected to pay out to hosts, performers, etc with no return whatsoever. So my hope for successful paid events isn't large.

It strikes me as very odd to see what LL values more.

Events and 'venues', in SL, are NEEDED so badly. Events are what people do when don't know what to do.

It seems that LL values instructors at teazers and flexy prims currently, and creative events are on the bottom of the list with LL's thought being 'event creators will make their own events, and if the content is worthy there will be a financial success.'

(no offense to teazers... teazers is great! go there to learn anything)



hmmmm.... that leads me to an idea.... maybe I'll just tell LL I teach a class on how to party!! That way my events will be viewed as classes, and therefore receive $500 an event.... I mean class...

All of the events at the Shelter are free for everyone, and will stay that way as long as I have a say in it. Most of those that are actually scheduled are various trivia, building, or social events.

The loss of dwell isn't the first 'hit' we've taken in the past. Here's how we dealt with some of the previous ones:

Event support was cut: We replaced that funding with MetaAdverse
Developer Incentives cut: We doubled our efforts finding donations of cash & tier
MetaAdverse went out of buisness: The FFRC helped soften that blow.
Dwell cut: We doubled our efforts finding sponsors.

I think it is possible to survive without Linden subsidies. Thanks to some amazing generosity from folks in the community, we've been able to survive no matter what Linden throws our way. But it hasn't been easy, either.

I certainly hope so.

I have noticed a major decrease to the cool creative events over the past month.
People think suddenly now... whoa, there's yard sale spam and tringo spam in the events.... well that's because now THAT'S ALL THERE IS.

I am getting tired of the event-goers telling us event creators what to think and how we should do things. Event creators must:
Buy land
Build a venue
purchase a stream
hire a host
hire performers and talent
run interesting contests, games, and prize promos

All of this costs money. Any event creator in SL would say the same thing[/QUOTE]


Well I had a nice "different 'thing' happening in Second life. I call it 'THING' because I am NOT allowed to call it an event.
It was an interactive pavillion full of slide show, information on flora, fauna, indigenous people, everyday things in Aotearoa / New Zealand. It was an INTERACTIVE pavillion because there is such a lot of information in it, taking four months to build. Before I opened I did a couple of dummy runs and it took amost 3 hours to just show the slide and give the information. Therefore the interactive thing was born. I used to advertise this 5 times a day to cover all time zones, because we do not all live in North America. I was given a warning against SPAM, even though it clearly states you CAN post up to five events a day. It was a non-profit build (though donations could be left), with a difference. people would come at look at their own leisure, I always received positive feed back on it. I tried running it with a host, who greeted people and was there to answer questions, but people just became annoyed because they didn;t like the feeling of being 'watched'. Really because it was interactive there was no reason for anyone to be there. i was never cited/warned about not having a host. The build hosts itself. What Linden lab essentially was try to force this pavillion into being commercial although I have always posted on the classifieds it being there, I was never looking for a free ride. In fact my prims and that part of my tier was effectively being donated back as content in Second Life. . I pay my money to LL the same as everyone else. I went the competition - give out L$ route one time, all this did was bring in people looking for L$ and not interested in content at all. I would not go that route again, it defeated the entire purpose of the build. Sadly there is no place in Second Life for such content and no effective way to tell people about it since I cannot post it in the events. Since NOT posting in the events, my visitor numbers are all but a few now. I hoped that Linden lab would provide some sort of section in the events listings for builds such as mine with the new upgrade, alas that did not happen:/ I have been contemplating taking this build down and just using it for purely selfish purposes, what is the point of wasting my money / land tier/ prims for something to just sit there with no purpose?
I wonder how many other 'THINGS' have gone from the events calendar for the same/ similar reasons?

This dwindling began about 15 monthes ago...

I have visited your interactive pavillion and found it interesting and educative. I feel for you, it is obvious you put a lot of work and time into it. But what did you expect? Hordes of SL residents crashing down you doors trying to "get educated" about a country most have never heard of before Lord of the Ring came out as a movie?

The sad reality is that the majority of SL resident are here to relax and have fun and to socialize. And for most of them, that involves watching their AVs jerking around in what they call "dancing" or playing tringo... no learning involved.

That aside, if you want to advertise your place, do like everybody else, use your signature and post messages everywhere in the forums, daily... just try mine below.

You've proven the point..... People become tycoons because they make and sell copies of things, or they play the land market...... but EVERY single interesting creative venue in SL has ABSOLUTELY NO way of harvesting a profit.

You've proven the point..... People become tycoons because they make and sell copies of things, or they play the land market...... but EVERY single interesting creative venue in SL has NO way of harvesting a profit.