Dangerous waters ahea dfor SecondLife

Man finishes year, after setting out to survive on ebay proceeds of his UO life

This sort of thing, more than anything else, is what I want to see not happen on SecondLife. Thoughts?

Ugh!

If SL keeps growing like it has been it's going to happen. There's already plenty of people here who have paid off their accounts at the currency exchanges, and who need to start worrying what the IRS thinks of game income.

I am not worried about the consequences here though, because this is one game where you can't cheat your way to a high level of skill and respect. Those are both earned and genuine here.

Now if they would get rid of those F***ing auctions and just let people buy land, we'd have nothing to worry about.

SL is essentially an economy of ideas, not a materialist one. I'm sure we'll be OK!

Optimist Kei

there will always be a few people inworld working hard to make lindens for the sole purpose of selling them for real currency.

there will always be hundreds more of us that could do that if we wanted to live that way. but the fact of the matter is that most of us are inworld to relax and play and build and texture and script and socilalize and worship and we're not going to bust a gut making bucks. we do that in real life with real jobs.

Khamon

the fact of the matter is the majority of us are here to relax and play and build.... hmmm

So many of the people "relaxing and playing" are "shopping".

and the newbs want "stuff" and will pay.

The L$ go somewhere.

Same old story .. someone with a creative slant can build and generate repeat business .... as their balance grows they do not have as many spending options.

I think this kinda economy with Ebay etc is not far off.

Want a dragon ? 5000$L or $20USD
Why not sell on ebay ?

Want that nice house, car, boat. - etc etc

As soon as the first step to trading goods or services for Lindens was taken this economy was inevitable.

As long as you can build, create, and are not forced to buy things why do you care ?


Ananda - Can't cheat yourself to a level of respect ??? Buy a sim.. instant fame and respect.

Get rid of Auctions ?? just let them buy ??
so what ... wave a few Lindens bought with USD at these land owners..they will sell anyway.

economy of ideas ? why build an elevator if someone has one already for 100$L or so.... This is the battle.

If u fill this world ...what is left to create..

I already build from bits and pieces others have made....

even then only to see others buy a complete item that does what I intended and better.

What this economy means is that the strong survive ... the weak fade away....

I think the trouble is that older players were handed SL on a platter... the newbs face a battle to find their place and "compete" (ooh nasty word)

Who owns the large parcels of land ? where did their wealth come from ? Can newbs do the same or are they destined only to be consumers ???

Ummm ... Did I have a point in this post ???

The virtual economy already exists. It started in 1.2 when real-world money was directly linked to land ownership.

All the richest people and land barons in Second Life are paying hefty (near as I can figure, $100 or more!) land fees for the privelige.

Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. For one thing, plenty of people seem willing to pay, and it absolutely GUARANTEES money for the Lindens. Obviously, it costs them less than $170 a month to run a single region, so every extra sim they can pack is big profits.

And notice that the Lindens have been adding dozens of new servers. Good sign for the game as a whole.

I wouldn't be surprised to see E-Bay auctions for scripts, objects, etc. What's interesting is that the "stuff to buy" is more skill-based than the "stuff to buy" in games like EQ, since it does take a certain level of skill and education to be a fantastic scripter, modeler, or texturer.

Don't fear capitalism. It's what makes things great