If LL did anything wrong today..

If LL did anything wrong today it was driving a further wedge into its playerbase. Pitting clubs vs. people who hate them. Old established players and new players. Socializers and content creators. Bit of a broad brush but its sad to see so much anger thrown around.

It's always been there. They just took the lid off.

LOL this is sorta true .... we as humans are our own worst enemies.

and be careful how you categorize. I am a "midbie i guess" born in march '04. I am a content creator, a club owner, a socializer, an event host, and i hate a lot of clubs too. Your strokes are quite broad too...

Woo! I hear that!

And I sense a "feded[sic] oldbie elite" posting coming up...

what did ll do to drive the wedge? did i miss something?

Why are Clubs being singled out here? Because their precious events won't be paid-for anymore?

I *STILL* do not "get" this line of thinking!! Where in the REAL WORLD do you go that pays you just to show up!?!? Nowhere, in the real-world. And in-game, people PAY to acquire things - why not PAY to go to events? I don't see ANYONE offering to hand out L$ for free on the streets in SL.

The ONLY reason everone likes the Event payouts, is because it doesn't come from "anyone's" pocket! Its "free" to us all - EXCEPT what no one realizes, is that LindenLab DOES pay for it, indirectly. And so do we all, in the form of inflation and what it does to our social behaviors & activities.

If there are too many Clubs, or Clothes-Shops (or ANYTHING for that matter) to divide amongst the players, then I'm sorry but that means the market is glutted; and those businesses will be less-successful until some drop out of the market/industry. Its BASIC free-market economy, and supply/demand.

Sadly, nearly everyone seems to have been lulled into a false psychology (which I have now mentioned in the 10th thread in 24 hours), because LL gave out money in the past. You know what? We're NOT entitled to that money! You can't have a stable economy / society if you're giving away tons of money to people simply because they exist. Event HOSTS should be rewarded by dwell. ATTENDEES should be rewarded for going to events by having a good time at these events, making new friends, and experiencing new things! THAT is supposed to be the focus of SL - not "let's earn tons of money and sell it on GOM".

And for the last time - LL is *NOT* trying to drive a wedge between players or piss people off or screw us out of ANYTHING! They're running a company in REAL LIFE. In REAL LIFE, they have bills and investors to pay. That means they need to make money. Real US dollars. How do they do that? Well, the best way is to sell Premium Accounts - to get a steady income. How do they do that? By growing the user-base and encouranging players to upgrade from Basic to Premium. The "Basic" account is a 'hook' to get users to try the game; and the "Premium" account is for people who enjoy the game and use it, to have an advantage over the "Basic" accounts - you know, be able to do more & have more experiences. And with the way that SL works, THAT means giving the Premium Accounts the ability to own land and have BIGGER STIPENDS (Land is not enough on its own, because not all people want to own land). The current Ratings System and Events payouts meant that lots of people could easily achieve the equivalent of a big Stipend simply by walking around the world, rating everyone they see, and going to a bunch of events where money was being given out. This totally destroys the point of having a Premium Account.

So in summary: They have legitimate business reasons for doing this. There are also legitimate in-game reasons for doing this. Some people will be upset, yes. And some businesses & behaviors may have to change. But LL isn't trying to destroy their own creation, for God's sake - and if we all want to enjoy SL in the years to come, we should be accepting of the fact that LL needs to take steps to ensure that their business and online world is sustainable and relatively stable.

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)

You get the Lance Seal of Approval, my friend.

They can be redeemed for prizes at the counter.

Actually it is posts like yours that are doing this, not anything that LL has done.

*note to self* Add Tread to stalking list after he is certain not to be afraid of me...

Pendari - you're supposed to use your INTERNAL voice for those sorts of notes... INTERNAL!

"Besides, I always Suspect Everything is a trap...... That's why I'm still alive...."
--Prince Humperdinck, The Princess Bride

"...But only slightly less known is this: NEVER go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line! A-hahahahahah.... aaahhh-hhahhahhah, hahahaahahahahh, hahhhahahahahahahahahh... *THUD*"
--Vizzini, The Princess Bride

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)

ACK!!! You mean I said that outloud?!? *BLUSH*

PS: I'm half Sicilian in RL

I have no idea where you get that Ano. I supported none of these divisions. I went to the forums and saw people ripping each other apart. i went to the welcome center and saw people throwing around insults at others. Posts like mine do not instigate the problem. It existed even before these changes. I merely pointed out LL fed these rifts and widened them.

My suggestion to you tread when you turn in those Lance seal of approval, you take the water bottle dude. It's great for keeping your beverage in and keeps them cold.

::we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread::

Syanin, take it with a grain of salt. Most folks who read your posts understand what you are saying and those who post inflamatory messages are feeding into the war as much as those who are posting negatively regarding the econ changes. Actually it seems that the pro-change folks are being a bit more acidic than those with questions concerning the change.

To those of you quick to douse the passions of the people concerned about this drastic economic shift:
Let people discuss this. Let them create their own thread, for zues' sake I have seen and created far less worthy threads on this board. Everyone will have their say and in a couple of days it will all seem like a dream. Berating new board posters is not the way to handle the situation though.

So PFFFFFFFFFFFt to those who want to post over and over the bs "there are a dozen threads regarding this so you are a big moron" and the "you are just fanning the flames with your fat newbie fan of flame fanning" for it is really you all who are inciting the battle. You are the ones creating the mayhem. Let people vent for buddha sake. Give constructive critisism where due but friggin chill already with the pile driving of the forum newb.

Thanks for the tip, Brad!

With the way some folks on SL are acting, I thought the only thing I could exchange it for was sex balls.

mmmmm, water!

I suppose that, being Lance, I should thoroughly wash the bottle before using it, eh?? *Grin*

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)

/end silliness

P.S. Isis - check the last 3 pages of Threads in the General Forum Area. I hope I'm not coming off too rude to people; but after 24 hours of this, it is getting a bit repetitive - the arguments on both sides!

Remedy:



However; Phillip was responsive to the suggestion of player funding with the SL Budget rather than assuming funding would be available from Savings of the Ratings Game plus or the Bonus system I suggested. He believes that players should have some accountability of the budget for funding with a possible Stipend decrease which that is what he is willing to evaluate, that said; I think it's fair that we do carry some of the burden, however; those that believe that money will drop from the sky to fund Events is living in a Fantasy World. It does need to be funded even if it has to be done with Player Taxes persay. It is a fact, entertainment is a part of Secondlife and a very big part on stimulating the overall Economy of it; without it, you the Merchant will suffer in the end; though some do not want to take their blindfolds off and admit the reality of how important Entertainment Events are and how taking it out will detrementally effect the economy with downsized account growth because this game is supposed to be Secondlife not just Crafterslife. Why would a Crafter want to sell to another Crafter if they can Craft it?

A real world takes a real Budget and Subsidies/funding from Government that is a real fact of life and is with Secondlife, because Secondlife is only a mirror to reality and in reality the people demand Entertainment as well. Why do you think Bush implemented Tax Subsidies? To stimulate Economic Growth.

LL did NOTHING to widen any rifts, we did it all on our own. Stop trying to blame them for OUR faults.

Not really. What they did was shift the funding of club events / parties to the playerbase & away from Linden support.

-AP

For cryin' out loud. Here's a guy who dares to express his opinion and he's torn to shreds by several players. What the hell? His point may or may not be relevant to the SL economic earthquake, but he certainly didn't deserve this brow beating.

Paolo as always you are the calm within the storm...

Syanin,

It is nothing personal against you. However, people are only beating themselves into a frenzy. There is no mass division of people going on, no us versus them thing. You are illustrating a situation that does not exist, which creates a hysteria in and of itself, whether you support the divisions or not. By painting such a broad brush of people, it just adds fuel to the already ridiculous fire going on. This is ridiculous, and is not Linden Lab's fault in the slightest. It is a bunch of reactionary people freaking out like armageddon is approaching. News flash, it isn't, and there are not mass divisions and people fighting amongst themselves. Stores are not being looted, things are not being burned (well, some things are, but not in protest). They did not feed or widen the rifts by what they are doing. As Devlin said, players do that all on their own with those ridiculous concepts in the first place. Sorry if my post seemed harsh, it wasn't honestly directed at you, just frustration talking at all of this nonsense.

Awww, thanks Isis. Actually, I probably let this get under my skin more than I should have allowed. Is it just me, or is there a pandemic of arrogance spreading throughout these forums?

I think Devlin got it right, though. If this and related threads are any indication, we'll do a fine job of ripping eachother apart before LL ever gets the chance.

Cris - You know I have tremendous respect for you, but on this point we may need to agree to disagree. LL may not have intended an outcome/reaction such as this, but they certainly have a number of historical precendents upon which to calculate the impact(s) of their decisions. Not bringing this up for discussion -- and rolling it out so hastily -- seems to be a sin of omission, if nothing else.

Paolo,

There is no way to ease something like this in, especially in an economy with the kind of volume that SL has. Yes, we will have to agree to disagree, because it has happened over and over again throughout the history of SL. Much gloom, much doom always ensues for a short time, and then SL expands and grows. I trust that Linden Lab, which knows far more about the economy of SL overall than any individual or even collective players do, knows what they are doing to keep the SL healthy for all of us, not just the content creators, not just the club kiddies, not just the established society.

I also know that a company that worked so hard to court not just creative players, but the casual consumer club set are not just going to abandon them. It is fine to be afraid of the change, and yes, as with anything, there is a chance it could all blow up or there could be some mass exodus to Hello Kitty World. I just don't think enough credit is given to LL in these situations. The paying for events concept has been broken for months and months and months - it was an untenenable crutch that needed to go. Like a bandaid that has been on for way too long, it needs to be ripped off so that SL can move forward and not collapse under the weight of mediocrity that is encouraged by that system.

PS - the feeling is mutual on the respect side, and again, I feel bad if my post to Syanin was taken as an attack on him, it was not meant to be.