Fed up... bailing out

If land prices increase, then the value of the Linden dollar goes down (because you get less for what you previously could have bought with the same amount of money).

sorry, I didn't mean it that way.. I meant both are happening at the same time. Land prices are increasing, and what we pay on sites to buy Linden money is going up also.

Ok, I've been following this most entertaining thread all day. I must give in to temptation to form a comparison of SL to RL... don't worry I'm smacking my own fingers for doing it.

Over the past few weeks I have seen users start threads about cashing out of SL. All of them have been in the service business -- clubs and casinos. In RL business there is certainly a food chain that can be applied to the quasi-market of Second Life.

The companies that procure and sell raw goods, manufactured products, and land are the most solid organizations. RL companies like P&G, Kraft, GE, and Halliburton have built respectable empires based on commodities and consumable products.

As you move farther down the food chain of business, you eventually reach service companies. In contrast, service companies sell time and materials and are unfortunately the bottom feeders of any free economy.

Service companies have to buy everything they need from the commodity and manufactured products markets before they can begin to make a dollar.

Professional service companies have less risk. "Intellectual prostitution" as I like to call them, such as designers, architects, and attorneys, have less upfront investment in their businesses but still suffer from the same types of problems other service companies face.

Service companies, whether in RL or SL, get stuck with fickle retail customers, non-transferrable inventory, employees, land and building costs, and not to mention life or death competition.

Always remember that land barons, manufacturers, builders, and Linden Labs all make money off of your service business before you take in your first dollar. And your success or failure in SL business is not a direct financial concern to them.

SL is very volatile. Everything -- the economy, sociology, and technology -- are all in a constant state of flux. This means that at present, there is currently more stability and money to be made in commodities and land.

All that said, the economy and Linden Labs will cease to exist if everyone becomes a land baron and makes nifty sex balls for a living.

I'm not an SL veteran, but it seems to me that if less then 25% of the SL users own land and most of the SL experience is in the social realm, there are a few things that need to change to encourage service business.

Off the top of my head, I can think of four things I would change immediately:

1. Money Circulation - weekly stipends should be more to users with and without land. Regardless of how this would be done, there needs to be more money in circulation of the common user.

2. Hosting Incentives - Dwell bonuses should be increased and event reimbursements should be reinstated in some form or another.

3. Standards for Charging - Things that are currently free should cost money. I don't own a club, but I find it unacceptable that club owners don't have the cojones to charge at the door. I hear boxing is working out well with the door charges. It's time for clubs make it standard. The market could only bear this if more money was in circulation.

4. Wages - A full-featured payroll module should be added to groups for managing wages. Reports on median and average pay rates should be made available to all users as a form of tracking fair wages. Pay rates should be raised once social "service" businesses can begin turning a dollar.

These four points focus on raising the value of the Linden dollar based on the service industries in SL and not just land and fashion markets.

Currently the average land baron can spend less than half an hour on flipping real estate and make L $10K conservatively. Compare that to a dancer that works four hours in a club for a few hundred L$.

There is little or no balance for the people in SL that are building the places that entertain 80% or more of the residents. I think this part of the economy deserves more nurturing attention from LL.

*calmer now*

I'd like to try and put this into plain english if I can, to try and explain our problem in a nutshell.

Unlike Patrick we dont own a sim or an island,we own half of one.We bought as much as we could afford and geared it towards running with event support & our hosts being able to post whenever they liked.

Our running costs of $200 a month were ok because we were always a top 3 spot in SL and so the dwell award meant we were only paying around $50 a month for our land tier and to stream.

Then with NO warning they pulled event support.

Ok fine.We dont want to lose all we built up so we carry on,we go to GOM for $L to support our own events and even though we struggle it was worthwhile because of the people around us.

Then with no warning they pull our hosts abilities to even post events.

I'm sorry if my earlier posts we're a little off but I am very unhappy at the moment.Very few people really know what goes into running a club,most think we make a fortune and this simply is not the case at all.Most people think a club is just a lag fest with flashing lights,this is also not the case.

I dont really care what Linden Labs do with their sims,I myself was given my start by Anshe Chung not Linden Labs so I've never dealt with them anyway.The crux of the matter is that I can not now do with my land what I like - it's mine,I own it, and yet I'm being told that people I WANT to hold events on MY land cant.

And I'm sorry - but if you think that is a fair state of affairs then you are talking out of your arse.

If you,like Linden Labs, think this place will survive with the collapse of entertainment then I'm sorry but we are sitting on opposite sides of the fence.A sim full of wonderful buildings is just a sim, without PEOPLE. Someone else mentioned the 'average' user in Second Life and it's always been my belief that it's these people that shore this place up.

If you seriously think that you can ignore Joe/Josephine Average then take five minutes and go and log into TSO or THERE - empty. I came to Second Life with 41 other people from my gaming clan,I'm the only one left.

Making a wonderful online world full of beautiful locations and ignoring the person who logs in casually,for social reasons,is utterly anal because without these people all your work is for nothing.I know a lot of people in SL and from all walks of life to.I know builders,scripters,political scientists - the whole spectrum and for anyone to say that one thing or another is the whole point of SL is just bullshit.

Diversity was Second Lifes strength - but this is becoming a world of have and have nots and that is NOT a Second Life.The very second that your dreams and fantasies cant come true in SL then it has failed - and failed miserably.I must admit I rarely log in anymore,my wife still plods on, but for me its too depressing to see everything we worked to build just pissed away and again,I'll be honest,if it was just my decision alone then the land and club would have been sold weeks ago.

I originally posted because I felt empathy with Patrick because I knew just how miserable this had made him.I'll close now and again wish Patrick all the best, leaving the rest of you with the silence of apathy - be well in all you do folks.

Blake, I have been out of town all day. I am catching up on the thread, but you have summarized very nicely my purpose for starting the thread. Most of you have made some good points, on both sides of the issue. A few of you are stretching what I said, but I respect everyone's right to their own opinion.

I doubt I'll be posting much more on the subject. I do want to reiterate a couple of points. I love SL and my motivation was not all about profit or fame. GHranted, the way I read the traffic reports after deeding my Island led me to believe that my monthy awards had disappeared. That just added to my frustrations. (BTW, that report does NOT reflect my monthly awards I am told, so it makes no difference).

Anyway, as someone else said, I am speaking with my wallet. Thanks to all who have supported me and I do hope that the Lindens are watching closely. I do believe that they are hurting the game and in the process, themselves in the long run.

Toninght will be the LAST bash at Club Elite and I will fade into the woodwork for awhile. This is a very sad day for me, and SL is NOT all about fun. SL has it's share of sadness and heartbreak, and this is one of those days for me. If anyone wish to join us in our farewell, please do.

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Consider it amiable rhetoric then.

Should I call you a name back or can we leave it at that?