Troubling Parallels to Reality

I have nothing against the folks who just want to use Second Life for a chat room. Hey, I mean, that is kind of the point.

And certainly those who contribute the most to the world should be the most compensated.

However, I'd just like to see a good way for folks to earn some Linden's so they can buy my stuff, you see. I know that they dont NEED my stuff; but I get a kick out of selling stuff anyhow.

I don't want people to have to go buy Lindens for dollars. That would kill the game for sure.

If you had the ability to throw events under the Lindens, you have the ability to make money in the world, unless you were simply gaming the system by throwing pointless and poorly run events to collect money and are now upset that you can't do it anymore.

. Just up the quality a little, give people something to walk away with, and charge a few bucks. You may find out you have more to do than ever.

To many folks, the in-world economy was doing just fine.

David (and others who agree with his sentiments):

1) Practically EVERY item sold in-game is a "luxury" that you do not need, to "play the game" or enjoy any of the experiences offered in SL. So all this talk about people "needing" good amounts of money - or "needing" to be able to buy things or they'll suffer is just complete crap.

Bottom line: People got used to getting money for free; and that's a bad assumption / psychology. As some people put it: Its a welfare state. L$50 per week is L$200 per month - which is plenty of money to travel around the world, engage in social experiences, check out people's creative builds, and build your own things - all of which are pretty much free. The only exceptions are events people charge for, and the cost to upload textures/sounds/animations.

2) It is not a fact that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. What is a fact, is that players who pay LindenLab for a Premium Account will get more money than the rest of us. Guess what? Those Premium Accounts pay the bills to keep SL running! People that want to be able to buy lots of items in game have three very easy options: (1) pay for a premium account and reap the benefits, (2) use real-world money to buy L$ from GOM/IGE, (3) create content in-game, host events & charge money for them, become an instructor - do something that is an effort; and therefore worth rewarding with money. Yes, this means its easier for people with more US$ to earn more money in-game... But it doesn't matter what country you're talking about: people in the real-world with more money always have advantages over people with less money. Its not right, and its not fair - but its the way the real-world works, sadly. You will not change human nature or world-policy by trying to rebel against it here.

Conversely - SL provides more "free" ways to make in-game money than anywhere else online or in the real-world. There are no manufacturing costs, no labor costs, little or no tools to buy, no need for real-estate, to be able to create things... With a modest amount of effort, you can change your socio-economic position in SecondLife much, much more easily than in real-life!

Simply having a pulse is not worth paying you for! If it was worth money, why aren't we all throwing cash at people as they pass us on the streets of SL? No - the only reason people feel entitled to a lot of money is because they got used to LindenLab subsidizing us. Well, the free-ride is over. There is no reason to reward people with lots of cash, simply for sitting around in-game or clicking on each others' Ratings. If I can make as much money with a few ratings clicks as Joe Blow can by paying LL US $10/month, then Joe Blow is getting a raw deal - and LL is perfectly within their rights to change that situation. Those of us on free accounts may not like it; but you know what? We should - because the more money LL makes, the longer SL will be around - and the longer we get to play with the fruits of everyone's work!

3) As long as more people are joining and LindenLab is paying out "free" money every week, the economy is inflating. Even if they give out just the base stipend, they're still adding money to the economy. So all this talk about prices and such as it relates to GOM or land-prices is just talk - the fact is that the economy is being filled with L$ - you can debate the rate or its effects; but not that it is happening.

And as long as a Base Stipend exists - you do not have to get a job or create content to make money in SL! You may have to save your L$ over a slightly longer period, to afford some things... But you know, we have to do that in RL sometimes, too! At least in SL rent, food, gas, utility, insurance, and clothing aren't necessary expenses that suck down our "spendable cash"... Its all optional!

No other commercial online game in the history of mankind has let you buy-in for so little money, play for free forever in a persistant world, or create your own content and modify the world around you to the same degree that SecondLife does.

Its a hell of a deal, when compared to any other contemporary MMO - take EQ for example:

Game:                                         SL              EQ
--------                                     ----            ----
Initial Cost:                                $10             $50
Smallest Monthly Cost:                       $0            $10 - $15
Smallest Weekly Stipend:                     L$50         0 - You must kill or craft.
Land Ownership/Rental:                       YES              NO
Land Mod./Creation:                          YES              NO
Custom Animations:                           YES              NO
Custom In-Game structures:                   YES              NO
Custom Vehicles & Physics:                   YES              NO
Custom Textures:                             YES              NO
Custom Sounds:                               YES              NO
Streaming Audio:                             YES              NO
Custom Events:                               YES              NO
Custom Scripts/Programs:                     YES              NO

...The list goes on.... It is obvious which game provides the best deal; even after these changes!

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)