Is 'THIS' the future of Second Life ?

I also think it is a genuine privilege to be able to build and sell in this world. I agree the vast majority of SL residents are good and amazing people and that it is a tiny percentage creating a big problem. ‘Look at the size of a grain of pepper and look at the size of a sneeze’ !

Creator or business accounts are, long term, probably the only viable solution. As we are constantly reminded, there is no technical fix to prevent theft of digital goods. If we can’t fix it with technology, we can not, in good faith, have annonymous accounts with access to the permissions system and the ability to set up shop, as it creates an unhealthy environment of diminishing returns

certainly, it's a very complex issue. and providing a granular approach to the accounts would provide a number of benefits. 'One size fit all' doesn't work and is too crude a method for this new medium.

I really think that a one time only payment 495USD is a bargain for a license to sell in SL. Adobe seem to do ok selling at 699USD for a paint package. Fully featured SL is so much more.

I thought hard about the price. Thought 199USD was too cheap for full access to commercial permissions. 699USD too expensive. 495USD, that's the sweet spot. It's a lot of money, it hurts a little bit, you gotta want to do it. You gotta believe in yourself.

Great, then you can loan me the $495USD. I'll pay you back when I cash out

Congragulations, you will kill secondlife's economy.

Think long and hard about this.

If someone has to spend 500usd in order to possibly make that much in lindens... they will not do so.

It boils down to this: Not everyone selling items they created is making much if any profit, and may be just renting vendor space for sales (or a 1 prim server spot for a slx box)

Some of the best creators out there are free accounts, and do mostly free items that they may sale for tips...

The thought of having to pay for the ability to sale means many great creators will not bother with SL

Ask many of them including the op: Would you have bothered joining sl if you knew that in order to sale items you create there would be a 500$ fee?


PS: bad example comparing adobe to this. Adobe is one of many software packages with those functions.. GIMP can do just as much and is free. A better comparison would be demanding anyone that wants to sell the handcrafted items they make as a hobby pay 5k for a lifetime permission to sale them.

It would be worthwhile if that money for a "commercial license" actually came with some sort of benefit. If that money bought me some sort of effective protection of my Second Life content, I'd actually consider it. If it were, say, $500.00 as you suggest, sure that's a lot of money. That also wouldn't buy 2 hours of a lawyers time if you needed to take legal action to protect your work. So it could be cost effective.

If, and only if, I got some sort of service with the money. And Linden Lab would not only need to provide the service, but, for me, establish a good track record with that service. A mere promise of what they will do for me with my extra money is not enough. Linden Lab doesn't have a good track record when it comes to keeping promises.

Plus, it shouldn't be a requirement to transfer or sell content. Allow residents to decide if they want to buy into a better way of protecting content, or want to keep their money and take their chances in the Wild West version of Second Life.

No and no.

It is not a "genuine privilege" to be able to build and sell here.

A Special "creator/business" account is not a viable solution.

Just because you are experiencing some theft don't go and try and change the entire world to protect your microscopic aspect of it.

If you want to see this world collapse - institute a "content creators" licensing program and require people to pay an extra fee to be able to "try" and sell their warez.

Market protectionism is not the answer, all it will do is protect the people with solid creation skills with earning potential and the money to afford a license to sell in SL, and lockout those people who cannot afford the license. Leaving SL for content creators with a proven history or the funds to make the push into the market - which is bullshit.

Sorry Lilith, no easy road for you. If you want to protect your items then you have to keep filing those DMCAs and call it a day. Punishing the rest of us for your loss by pushing for a protectionist market that excludes the vast majority of SL users is not the way.

SL existed long before you came here and decided to decree that "building is a privilege" - which is something I will never agree with.

Fail.

success !

This.

the current system is failing to grow Briana. SL need radical changes

Competition is on the way and in none of these new worlds will they allow annonymous accounts to build and sell and rightly so.

In this amazing new medium of virtual worlds it is WAY to powerful a thing to be anonymous and fully featured. It gives you power without accountability.

Things need to change Briana, any suggestion ?

The problem with your proposed system is that it stifles competition before it even has a chance to emerge. "The next Big Thing" in ladies' fashion may be signing up for an SL account right as I type this, but unless they have $500USD to plunk down at the time no one will ever see their creations.

n.

Of course, the same is true with any real life business. Someone has an idea for the next best thing since sliced bread. But without investment capital, that person will never develop that idea.

Wouldn't it be great if that person could develop the idea for free, without the market barrier of an investment? Absolutely. The fact of the matter is, though, no one can participate in a capitalist market for free.

I don't agree with the idea of an artificial barrier, or some sort of bonding mechanism (such as a lot of pointless licensing programs run by the government).

However, a non-mandatory commercial account, that actually provided service for the money paid-in, would be a good idea.

Remember the other problem with content creation. A lot of good content creators give up because it just isn't worth the trouble of participating in the unstable, chaos-ridden SL market. Worse, if you have good content creation skills, you don't have to waste your time with Second Life. You can take your skills to a number of real life venues and make better money with less hassle.

Free may mean easy entry for anyone. Unprotected means that no one with something else to do wants to enter.

- How is the current system failing?


- What competition is on the way and how do you know they will not allow anonymous accounts to build and sell?



- Amazing new medium of virtual worlds? You must be new, welcome to the internet.



- You have yet to say why things need to change so please start with that premise.

If she really is 'The Next Big Thing' in ladies fashion she will have enough confindence in herself and smarts to get the 500 bucks somehow, someway.

Maybe she will go to venture capitalists for the 500 bucks or maybe she could just ask her mum for a loan. Either way she WILL be 'The Next Big Thing' in ladies fashion if that's what she wants to be.

500 bucks is a real bargain to be 'The Next Big Thing' in ladies fashion.

Is this your first SL account?

Are people really arguing a basic right of SL with a brand new user? Someone who just used the word "venture capitalists" when talking about $500 USD in SL...

Sure, but we're not talking about real-life here, are we?



This is not "The real world". Again, we're talking about a *virtual* capitalist market here, not a real one; nor are we talking about participating for free. No one I know in SL who seriously creates anything here creates it "for free". I certainly don't.

If Susie-Mae Scwartzkopf knows in her heart that she can make the "BEST DRESSES EVAR" and comes to SL to create them, an (unreasonably expensive) artificial barrier to content creation is NOT the answer. If LL imposed something like this tomorrow, who but a handful of content creators would stay in SL? SL would most certainly be poorer for this action any way you sliced it.



Now you are starting to make a little bit of sense here.



If the service *actually provided* a benefit proportionate to the investment involved it might not be folly.

Someone who argues that "you can be the next big thing if you want to be" has never been in business

Oh, and Whirled allows anonymous users to build and sell.

Smug elitism.

I think the theory behind this post is if you want to make a commercial venture from creation within SL or any other RL business start up you need to assess costs to enter your market and strategize accordingly.

The one great thing about SL is *anybody* can pick up a prim and create/learn etc. I love that part about it.

On the other hand when does it switch from being a hobby to something that requires you report taxes, maintain paperwork and governance around what you do.

If there was a way to keep the former and somehow formalize the later to increase transparency and governance to those operating businesses that sell products to residents perhaps we have the start of an idea.

Changing nothing is also an option, but personally I am looking for something from Linden in terms of better approach to support the residents it might be for me just a firming up on TOS and some dialogue on better ways to handle the situation inworld. This forum topic helps too to bring out the reasons why things may not work and ideas that impact.

it's failing in several very evident ways one of them being not reaching its full potential in a timely manner



there are several new virtual worlds on the way and info available. check out www.virtualworldsnews.com for the latest info in this area




thank you very much for the warm welcome Briana
I am new and shiny and I am Ting

If I wanted to be in IMVU, I would be in IMVU.

The sadder part of it, is even if you were in Sl just as a pastime and relaxation and creative outlet, and don't need or care about an extra income, either the expense of buying your sims you use for fun, is out of proportion----it is essentially a
a luxury or vanity expense and hard to justify--or if you rent, other people will in one way or another drive you out, given enough time. Estate owner goes broke, loses Islands, weird people move in, nasty people don't like your builds, spam and griefing strikes, unsavory characters, stalkers, crazy people, nutty politics. etc.

It also makes in nearly impossible for a new user to bootstrap themselves into a position where they can create a viable business in Second Life.

Of course that's the point. Freeze out potential competition by creating high barriers to entry. This ensures that prices remain high and the existing businesses are protected. Dress it up in enough BS about "protecting IP rights" and "protecting the consumer" and you may be able to fool enough ordinary residents into thinking that it is good for them.

It's worked before in RL. And its a cushy ride until you become GM...

Translation: it is failing in in many obvious ways, one of which is that is it is failing.