SL Monetary Policy and upcoming changes

Under the new system, the maximum weekly stipend will be L$1250, still more than this fictional L$1000 ...

That's an interesting perspective- and a VERY good question.

Would it be feasible for LL to consider delaying the stipend changes in the event of users whose accounts are already paid for a few months? Just an idea. Discard as neccesary (and try not to take offense at it, pls.).
In that event, you would end up with the stipend changes being phased in slowly rather than in one fell swoop- the negative financial impact would be lessened a bit (though not completely), and once the term that the player is paid up through expires, thier new stipend rate automatically goes into effect. New signups would automatically start with the new stipend rates, those being billed monthly would get switched to the new rate at thier next billing.

This doesnt solve the issue of people being upset that the stipend is being reduced, but at least it gives them some time to get used to the idea, if it *must* be so.

*shrug* just a thought.

When you signed up for the premium membership that comes with a 500 linden dollar stipend weekly and no stipends are being cut in half. Only the money from the rating bonus is being cut.

If LL can't make SL profitable, and if the L$ exchange rate isn't sufficient incentive to inspire harcore content development, there will be no SL to enjoy. LL is, after all, a for profit company with investors.



No boons? A one time $9.95 fee that buys the ability to log in and explore for as long as SL exists isn't a boon?! What do people want, to be paid to play without having to create anything? Come on David. Really.

And as for wealthy players being the only ones able to rate, I hardly think that's going to be the case. $500 buys the ability to give 20 ratings a week. It's hardly a benefit to wealthy players because we've all already rated each other. What this will do is stop rate mining and help curb neg rate attacks, neither of which is a bad thing. They're finally adressing something we've all been complaining about for almost two years now. Maybe ratings will actually indicate something other than the ability to stand in a club and right click people and we'll no longer have people on the leader boards for building who can barely rez a cube.

People are just being reactionary and irrational.

actually a good protest sounds like fun. based on the forums...attendance may be good....*calculating potential donations......

OK We'll do it!!

~Liv (seriously befuddled owner of Club Belle Feu)

For real.

MMM.. Nice condescension there Chipper.

Boon? To pay to play a game where the TOS/terms of playing and the rules change on the whim of the "game master"... the "game pieces" do not function as the manual says they will - or do so only intermittently-...and there is much "game master" rhetoric of "it's whatever you want it to be", yet when people do fashion (or attmpt to fashion) "their own" games out of this chaos, the "game master" decides to fuck with them....? Yeah. Big boon! Boon me some more. But better give me a chance to turn around, grab some lube and drop trou please.

What do people want? Kinda obvious, isn't it? Despite any real rhetoric to the contrary, most people seem to want stability, security and freedom to do what they want. Getting paid to play? No one here has NOT paid to play...unless I am very much mistaken, even Beta players had to pay to maintain their current accounts. Without having to "Create anything?" Mmm.. so you agree that this metaverse crap is all empty rhetoric and social aspects of SL are valueless? Good to hear that you agree with my metaverse schmetaverse remark and philosophy (/sarcasm off).

Oh... one more thing. No one forced LL/Philip to offer the 9.95 for life subscription. To say that --- to even suggest that --- people not take advantage of that is ridiculous. Having advertised SL as a "do what you want" experience, to suggest that only the creative have any right to be here/speak is immensely insulting and arrogant.

Then again, those with lifetime accounts can sit back and snipe knowing that they are secure in "their game"... for as long as LL lasts.

Come on Chip. Really.

:: hands Korg a "special" brownie and smiles

This makes no sense, considering this "poor" economy is busy developing tons of great new stuff all the time. And LL is making a hefty profit as it stands with land tier fees and account costs.




You know as well as I do that the $9.95 account is just to entice folks into Second Life in the hopes that they will get the land-owner jones and increase thier accounts. Sure, it's a great deal. I don't disagree, but in boons, I was speaking of these recent changes. They all benefit the wealthier residents. And quite a few folks that don't like these changes pay a heck of a lot more than nothing. And these changes hurt creation more than help it. Folks will be discouraged to create events, discouraged to build and buy land, because they will be less able to afford it, as well as less able to lure folks to thier builds, and discourage new residents to some degree by lessening the freedom they had before these changes, through less money to shop, upload and give out.



This lame change to an already lame rating system does nothing except make the L$ rise in GOM and enable elitism. I don't think folks will be spending all of their now-decreased weekly paycheck on rating others, whether deserved or not deserved.

And yes, ratings will now mean something. That you have wealthy friends.



I agree that some are getting a bit over the top. Of course some of the smug and condesending attitudes I've seen on here, and the good-ole-boy comments, only feed some of the anxiety and anger folks are feeling.

Specially when I've seen many of those laughing at the over-reaction do the very same over reacting themselves


Sure, it's not gonna destroy SL. And more power to LL for running a successful company. But I, for one, came to get away from economic worries and greed, not to endorse them.

I prefer that everyone be given the exact same stripend (an increased one), rates be done away with, and top picks actually be voted on in-world by fellow residents and not auctioned off to the wealthiest. I prefer land prices dirt cheap, land tiers lessened and the basic account done away with as it just encourages alts. But it isn't my company.

And it IS just another change, one that won't kill SL. But it will certainly have an impact on it's social dynamics to a degree and gives many the impression that SL is all about money and screw creativity.

Hmmmm, let's see... a one time fee of $9.95. Add to that a $250 base stipend every week. At the current exchange rate that $1 per week. Play for ten weeks and you break even. Keep playing after that and you're actually making money so in essence your are being paid to play. There has to be an incentive for those people to either become premium subscribers or purchase L$ from GOM to support content creators, but there still is no obligation to do so. None of the above is rhetoric, Korg.

I'd be surprised if LL is turning much of a profit currently, if any at all.






How do you figure that it benefits wealthier residents? The people with the highest ratings bonuses will lose the most.



I disagree. People will be forced to adjust, certainly, but there's no reason why this should cause much detriment to anyone. SL has grown a lot and has a large player base. It's high time to cut back on the welfare and the subsidizing of events. If people want to succeed and profit they're going to need to do it themselves and start charging entrance fees to events. The tools were put in place to facilitate that a long time ago but people haven't used them. This will be a good kick in the pants to encourage people to be self sustaining instead of on the dole. Painful perhaps, but absolutely necessary in my opinion.




Having $25 to rate someone who you feel deserves it makes you wealthy? Now I really don't understand the issue. Everyone is rich! How many ratings do people need to give out in a week? This will put an end to frivolous meaningless ratings.



I'd say that irrational panic-laden cynicism is doing a hell of a lot more to feed the anxiety and anger.



I see it as just the opposite. If you want more money you have to be creative.

see how u are chip?!?

there i was enjoying the panic and amazingly overblown predictions of doom and u come along and speak calmly and rationally and actually address realities and mess the whole thing up. sigh.

party poop

marilyn
(then again, maybe dat ole chip, he just a poop, dunno)

I have to tell you... i had a good laugh at all this posts from people saying they will leave... saying they will now lower their tier... they are foolish and weak.

Go look at GOM... your lindens are now worth more... Linden lab bought about 2.5 million lindens out of gom yesterday.

Don’t you see it?... you are worried because you will get half or your stipend BONUS. But who cares if now your lindens are worth a lot more than they were before...

I sell Lindens at GOM. and in the past days i was really concerned about the linden dropping so quickly... eventually. 1000 lindens would be equal to 3 dollars... 2 dollars... 1 dollar....

So according to this crowd, Linden Lab was supposed to wait and see how the value of the linden dropped?...

Linden lab acted for the good of all of us… maybe you don’t see it now, but after a while you will understand the real purpose of this.

Let’s see the following scenario… LL does nothing… the L$ keeps dropping until virtually anyone is rich… what do you have?... you will have unmotivated club owners… unmotivated builders and scripters…

I know most of the people aren’t builders or scripters… or maybe they don’t have time to run a club… but trust me… clubs in second life are MONEY… clubs mean real money for the owners… and the tiny 1000 linden prices they offer on their events its just the tip of the iceberg… there are casinos inside the clubs, hundreds of vendors that pay weekly rents, not to mention escorts that are a great business… only those weak minded will stop hosting events because they wont get support from linden lab… the intelligent ones will keep hosting them… why? Because the real money is not in the prices… is in the people coming to your club, raising your dwell, buying from your vendors, playing your casino games, hiring your escorts… and then those people will bring more people… rinse… and repeat.

Believe it or not SL is about real money… SL is a business, just like any other MMORPG… it is a business for those who own the game and furthermore the ability so sell your lindens makes it a business for the players as well… I got a good laugh a few minutes ago when Artillo Fredericks said “BREATHE PEOPLE!!! Your fake VR world money is going nowhere LOL”…. That was so funny…

You see… the thing is that this is no longer fake money we are talking about… say that to me… I was able to purchase myself a REAL LIFE Nikon D70 Digital SLR Camera with my “fake money”.

SL is a business and it should be run as such. If its not… then forget about the fun of clubbing and building the place will just disappear. LL needs to make money out of it… and they are offering us the chance to make money as well…

Not everybody knows a computer language… not everybody is gifted enough to make amazing designs in Photoshop or perfect animations is poser… not everyone has the vision, knowledge and courage to start an escrow service like GOM and turn “fake money tradings” into real money… look they have traded over $0.7 million dollars worth of $L currency, and they charge something closer to 3%... so you do the math.

I strongly believe Linden lab is doing the right thing by controlling the sinks and sources… and by controlling the money flow… and as any economist knows, there are plenty of ways of doing so.

In any case… the market must be controlled if you want the economy to survive.

You can look at this policy change, think and make profit out of it… or you can just leave… and let others make money…

Anshe Chung just bought the pyramid mall in second life… see? She has vision… she knows how to take advantage of the fear of the crowd who knows nothing about the real thing.

I joined SL for the fun of a MMORPG that would give me freedom I had nowhere else… soon… I realized I could create stuff… and sell… it… there I was… with a bunch of lindens… then… I realized I could sell those in order to make real USD. So there I was… having fun… metting new people… making creative things… and making real money…

This is a good thing people… don’t panic… the linden is going up. And here is a real example for you… since I started warring about the linden dropping vs the dollar… I raised the prices at my vendors… now the linden is gaining strength… I dropped my prices in-world….

I know. I'm such a spoil sport. I'm probably just bitter because I still can't match your incredible building skills, hehe. *hugs* Love ya Mari!

He, I am away from the forums a couple of days, and miss all the excitement!


"There ain't nothing you can do to me that it has not already been done".

Tony Montana

Those of us that started in the July-August period and invested real $ on this game, already got raped.

The vocal minority called for lower land prices and lower Linden$. The market got flooded with new land and land prices plunged 75% in a couple of months followed closely by the Linden$.

So as a sad example, the half a sim I had purchased at L$25 - L$30 a sqm became nearly worthless and the L$100,000 I had in cash became roughly L$70,000.

Sorry, I if I don't a shed a tear on whomever may be affected on this one.

This is exactly what happens when government listens to the wisdom of "the people" and screws around with market economies and free enterprise.

Suck it in and quit acting like 'girlie men'. You gotto pay if you wanna play!

-T -

Tito, you couldn't have said it better.... You are the Oracle of SL... Those 'girlie men' need to suck it up and pay.

you seen LL's books, David? I haven't, but i would bet they are still running at a loss. They are in build mode, and it actually makes sense for them to run at a bit of a loss while they invest to build critical mass.

One point you made i think has validity, that people who have wealthier (in $L) friends might get rated more. But given that ratings don't do much, and bonus stipends will be lower, it is hard to see why this matters.

As someone pointed out, the median bonus stipend is about 30-40L a week. Not a lot of money for all the furor.

I have to completely agree with this observation.

Also, I am not down for redistribution of wealth. I don't like socialism or communism in RL, let alone my fantasy life. Goodness. This is one of the few worlds you can be completely broke and still have a good time. People here are so generous, I didnt spend any money at all the first few months I was here. People need to calm down, the sky is not falling.

hey now! Hands off the Chipster! You broke my heart Mari.. so now I'm stalking Chip!






hehe.. J/K you know I love you Mari! *HUGS*


ooh.. still adore you too Chip!! *HUGS*


mmmm

*whistles innocently*

Yay! Love you too Pen *hugs*

So I ask you this. What event have you been to on SL that you feel is worth paying an entrance fee? Specially if they do away with the "welfare" as you call it all together? Now we are talking REAL money.

I mean really? WTF is worth paying real money for in SL? a big fat NOTHING! Nobody is going to pay to go to some club in SL and watch their avitar dance.

The same thing happend in There, they took away the event host credit, prople tried charging a cover charge, that lasted about a week. Now all the good event hosts are gone on, the events in There all suck, the samethign will happen here.

All I see is the current top designers, builders and rich elite will stay, but SL's churn rate will go through the roof just like There after the newness wears off and people get tired of paying for everything.

LL as a business may be able to stay afloat on churn but a high churn rate makes investors nervous.

Again look at There, and remember they that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I'd be willing to pay to attend every event I go to. If I didn't think it was worth an admission fee I wouldn't show up at all.

What you're seeing is people who've been around long enough to have weathered these kinds of changes over and over again telling people that they're overreacting... because they are.

Agreed. I wasn't here to see Beta turn into the "live" world, but I think I've been here for most everything else. Things change. Always. And you'd be surprised at how well change bodes for the people of SL. It means people will innovate to meet the new world ahead of us. And *that* is something to get excited about. It'll be fun, everyone has to have faith in themselves. If you're good at just one thing today, perhaps you'll be good at something else tomorrow! Just try it!!

Not that anyone probably wants my viewpoint, but here it is:

I've been here 3 months, and upgraded from Basic to Premium after the first two weeks, when I had an opportunity to pick up a nice starter plot of waterfront land. It's convenient to be able to leave projects around inbetween logins, and the sunsets are pretty, too. I spend most of my time on my land, happily puttering away with a way cheap (though limited) 3d modeling tool and a cool little scripting language, and another good chunk of time chatting with friends about modeling and building and scripting and things of that sort. Sometimes I wander around and look at the cool things other people have built, and get creative ideas of my own.

I've been rated a few times, positively, almost always by people I'd had pretty lengthy conversations with first. I've rated a few other people, positively. Usually builders, by clicking on their builds. A couple of times, for appearance (really stunning avs), or for behavior when people have been helpful (as many people I've met have been). I think everyone I've rated, I'd have done it even for L$25, though I'd rather LL had gone for L$10. I don't rely on my rating bonus -- I hardly even notice it. I don't have a "job" in SL, and never have. I don't seem to have any trouble living within my stipend. Occasionally I buy things if I really like them. Most of the time I like to make my own objects, even if they aren't as fancy or flashy as some of the things for sale. Someday I hope to have some scripted objects or avs worth selling, but that would really be for the ego points of having someone else think my stuff was worth giving something for. A barter system would be fine with me, though it would be nice if someday I could generate enough interesting and valuable content to be able to lower my monthly payment or afford more land (read, more prims to play with).

I've never been to a club. I've never been to a prize-based event. I've attended a couple of classes. They were interesting, but I got better help 1-1 from the many very helpful people I've met in SL. I've neither sold nor bought $L through an exchange, and have no plans to.

Some friends and I are thinking of trying to implement an interface in SL to control objects with a biofeedback device we have from a single-player game (Wild Divine), perhaps using XML-RPC. If we do, we might be able to afford an island to develop a multiplayer game. That was the original reason I came here, but even if it doesn't pan out, I'll stay.

In short, I've had a good time here for the past three months, though I'm hardly one of the "feted inners" or a land baroness, and it's hard for me to see how this change is going to affect me negatively, unless the real doom-sayers are right and it puts LL out of business. I feel badly for people who seem to be getting something out of the game that is threatened by this change... but...

Am I really in that much of a minority? Geez, I feel like some kind of mutant for *not* being all worked up about this....

Or is it just that people like me don't usually take the time to post, because we don't have such strong opinions?

Just wondering....

Neko