Stipend Clarification!

God made man in his image? *smarmy grin*

Dwell = Crap unless your in the top 3 constantly.

With the fundraiser we held on my sim, we managed to get over 14000 dwell and 3rd place in popular places.

I was all excited as I was donating the dwell to the fundraiser, wanna know how much I got.. around $L300.

So unless ppl are going to entirely devote their time to hosting and insisting their visitors go nowhere else, wassa point?

I didn't say it was going to be good money hehe. I said its one way they will try to earn the money they have lost.

BTW that sucks!

Slight exaggeration. It's not everyone. It's actually just a few that have been very vocal about it, and actually a lot of those that have seem to be extremist in their views, so I can't say that I agree with them entirely.

But surely you can see the basic logic...

IF you choose not to 'do' anything in SL, that is fine, dandy, well and good. No one begrudges you that. It's your choice. I know lots of people who dont make any kind of content, host, teach or do anything else other than socialise.

But IF thats the case AND you expect to be able to buy things inworld, or spend money, then you HAVE to get that money from somewhere, right? And why in hell should Linden Lab PAY you money so you can buy stuff? As people have said, that's a welfare state and a bad thing.

If you don't spend money - and its completely possible to live your Second Life without spending money - then you don't have any of these worries. But if you want to spend money, you have to HAVE money. If you don't EARN your money then you have to bring it in from outside, surely?

Or do people really just expect that LL should continue to give them free handouts to go buy sportscars and natty clothing?

Thank you for clearing that up. I for one did not know exactly what was going on

Yeah I do see your point, give them a couple of days of crappy *get your wang out* events and they will soon realise its not worth it, they will prolly pay more in electricity being online

Wow..... sounds like There. Fewer members, home of the 500 T-buck tee shirt, and all the other things I hated about that place. This is the grand vision for the future of SL???

I have a basic account and DO create content for SL. It has helped me supplement my stipend and bonus. As for "crappy events," that's really a matter of personal preference. Some people might find a sexiest lingerie party more interesting than a SL basics mentor session. There are times when I enjoy a good class and others when I'd rather just cut loose so let's not try to make this some sort of dry haven of academia. You want to see SL disappear real quick, make it less fun.

Many people enjoy socialization and are only going to do that. They are not inclined to build or teach and it's not like there are tons of job opportunities in SL. Part of what makes SL an enjoyable escape is the money they get. Many people have RL jobs and can't spend endless hours online creating the perfect prim monument to thinkology. They come here to relax, unwind, and enjoy themselves. If you make SL less relaxing and enjoyable, you will see the whole deal come unwound. Endless empty sims, limited shopping choices (hey, no one's buying so why make?), and less support from LL as profits fade.

Wow.... now it really sounds like There!

BTW the economic changes are already having an effect on the small business person.... since the announcement no one has bought a single thing from my vendors. Everyone seems to be holding on to the L$ they have since they're afraid of what LL is going to do to them.

Vince. You didnt answer my question after quoting my whole post? So do you really believe that LL should just give you free money so you can go entertain yourself? And if so, why? (Other than 'so its not like There').

Btw, any affect the economy changes is having is purely reactionary on the part of retailers and customers. Maybe they should wait and see instead of panicking in advance?

I agree with the wait and see part for vendors. I still plan on paying my rent and weathering this one out. Of course the effect is reactionary by the retailers and customers. The bigger the change, the bigger the reaction. These changes are pretty damned dramatic so I expect to see very slow business for awhile.

As to answering your question, because we want SL to be better than There ought to speak volumes for anyone who has ever had a There membership. But, since you require additional reasons, how about this one:

9. How do I get Second Life currency?

You'll be given a small amount of currency as part of your trial. If you decide to stay in Second Life, you'll get a regular 'allowance' of in-world currency.

From the SL FAQ. They have told people that they intend on paying them L$ as an "allowance." Not a wage. Not a sales profit. Not welfare. Now I'm not real sure why you see LL giving out the L$ they told their customers about as a bad thing. As for it being money to buy clothes, sportscars, plutonium, five legged calves, or migdets in bondage gear avatars hardly matters. It doesn't say, "You will be given a small amount of money, as an allowance, as long as you don't use to buy anything you might want."

I'm not totally against the economic changes to help the SL economy, but economists will agree that you make small changes gradually and see what the effects are. You prune branches to steer the growth of the tree..... not cut off the top half to see what happens.

Vince -

I agree that is the case in RL... But SL has a different problem: People have become too dependant on free-money giveaways via event support (this is the "Welfare" most are referring to); and by "gaming" the ratings system to earn lots of cash for practically no effort.

The only way to correct these false psychologies is to do away with them. Even if LL only took it away 10% at a time, or 20% at a time - they would get hit with a HUGE hue-and-cry by folks pissed off about "losing money".

All the logic in the world is not going to stop that - this Forum and the last 48 hours have proven that beyond a doubt: Some people posting on the forums still think their Base Stipend is being cut in half! Some business-owners still think they should get money from the heavens to "pay employees" and "pay customers".

Even though few of the threats of account cancellation will be carried out - each one of these events pisses some people off; and they're more likely to spread negative impressions about the product via word of mouth. Even if its hollow complaining and the complainer stays - how do you think all of his/her RL acquaintances will percieve SL, based on this person's comments?

Now, in this case, LL can go through this Once; and have it be nasty but quick.... OR, they can drag it out, doing this 5 or 10 times over the next couple of months - and generating more complaints, more cancellations, and more negative word-of-mouth every time they do it.

As I have said before: Its not just economics LL is trying to correct here - its restoring a certain balance to the finances and psychology of the system; and also ensuring that their Premium-Account holders have a tangible advantage over Basic Accounts - so that poeple have a reason to pay LL, and thus keep LL in business (which we NEED, for SL to stay alive).

I'm not saying that I'm happy about the way this has come to pass... But I think it needed to be done sooner or later; and the longer they put it off, the bigger the populace and the larger the outcry when it does happen.

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)

P.S. For those that wonder how I can predict these outcries and their effects confidently: Its because I worked at Sierra & WON.net for several years - on the multiplayer aspects of games like Half-Life, Homeworld, Ground Control, DAOC, Soldier Of Fortune, and others... And let me tell you, these Forums are *still* somewhat tame by comparison!