Farewell My Friends

I never thought I would be leaving SL.

I joined after reading an IT article in Business Week back in 2006 and got hooked to a point that my own RL business was suffering due to the "9 to 5" hours I was keeping in my SL business.

Here are some typical figures for the latter part of 2006, for all you geeks

Online - 22,000
Number of Residents - 2,200,000
Cheapest 512 - L$7,000 (L$14/sqm)
Downgrade Day - Wednesday, lasted 4 hours and was up and running smoothly
Gambling - Devil May Care (Zyngo came in 2007, followed by DmC Ultimate and Wyld)
Camping - everywhere, but didn't create the lag it has today!

Those are the figures I can remember back in 2006.

How times have changed ... no <cough> Gambling <cough>
VAT (Tax) introduced for European and British players.
Banks running off with money
Land values collapsing down from L$14sqm (2006) to L$8.3 (200

So why am I going then, when everything is so wonderful in SL today (sarcasm creeps in) ?

1. VAT - cost me 17.5% more to be here, my prices on my creations and rentals had to go up overnight to keep the same level of income against costs to be here, which made me uncompetitive against non-VAT payers.

2. LAG - huge killer, failing to TP, failing to REZ, Inventory Loss (huge expense sometimes)

3. LAND VALUES - dropped from L$14/sqm to L$8.4/sqm, hated to see my land (peaked at 3 Sims) lose 40% in value over the last 14 months.

4. TIER COSTS - 3 Sims with VAT added were costing me an extra US$102.37/month (approx L$30,000/month) - couldn't increase sales figures or rentals by an extra L$30,000/month AND stay competitive.

5. DRAMA - yes it's true, even a humble builder has his fair share of drama (long story, those who know me know what happened and not for public flogging here).

I am sure there are other things which have broken the camel's back, but the above 5 points are the most memorable ones.

So to all the friends, colleagues and acquaintances whom I have known and pushed into the ocean when they were "away", to those noobs who shot at me (bar stewards), to the landbots and griefers - I am leaving, good luck to everyone who put up with the instability of the SL Grid. It needs sound investment to keep this ship afloat now.

good luck to you

Yeah - save me a parcel in Googleworld

Q. Are we the sad ones for staying?

Have fun! I would like to say "can i have your stuff", but I have enough problems with the stuff I already have.

I think we all think about it, I know there's not a vast amount holds me here since everyone I care about I can be in contact with in many other ways. Probably WILL see you on Googleworld someday (bad news is that the drama queens will go there too).

Good Luck to you...

can`t blam you, been peaking outside SL for what is on the horizon to expand to and so do a few friends

good luck where ever you strand (if allowed to rez a boat)

I dont know you but good bye and good luck.

I was just curious, why not write that in a note card and send it to your friends instead of post here?
Just curious. I have seen many a "goodbye" post where the resident actually ends up staying.

Best of luck Bod, sucks it had to go down like this.

Can I answer that??

If he had done your notecard suggestion, I wouldnt have been able to read it as I am not a friend and yet I am interested in the post as I am new to SL so its good for me to understand the feelings of those folk who have been around longer.

Hows that?

best.

Sad to see you go. I WILL say "can I have your stuff", because I've been to your store and the things you created there were very very good.

Ladies, if Redgraves is still there, move fast and get some shoes!

Best luck, Bod. And if you do come back, open arms.

OMG!!! You're Redgrave as in Redgraves???????

You cant leave!!! Your clothes are the only decent ones I've come across in SL!!! I bought nearly your whole store the other day!!!

Whilst this may sound harsh to any other clothes shop owners reading this thread, feel free to send me a landmark in world if you do great stuff like Redgraves. That clothing has had a LOT of thought put into it.

In case Bod doesn't make it back to this thread soon, yes. I found Redgraves through this post:
/327/dd/221956/1.html#post1750197

Nice eyes there too, sigh.

Bod Redgrave from Redgrave's clothes??????? I must say that both newcomers and veterans with a good taste should had at least bought one of your clothes (I'm one of them)... man you can't leave!! is there nothing you can do? get a smaller store or so? Real clothes are a must on SL we need you

Search for 'Self Expressions' if you are looking for female clothing (Has some male but mostly female clothing and skins). Andie the creator and owner is the bomb! Her items are in the top tier of quality of SL.

I'm a man, unfortunately, and would look ridiculous in a little skirt. Well maybe not ridiculous, I mean my legs are ok and everything. And if I wore a nice pair of heels. Nothing too flash just a simple pair of black strappy shoes with a decent heel. And probably just a plain top. Like a thin cashmere ........

Erm ........ YES!! Redgraves cant leave SL!! How about, close the store and operate an online mail order system like a catalogue? I've already got a load of ideas of things you can make for me. Charge more for your stuff too, I'd pay more no problem.

all it takes is 2 click

Damn !! it's so hard to find real clothes to man and when we found it one of the best shops close !! Is there a date to the closing?

Or in RL - 2 snips

Good luck to you--I was a big fan of your clothing(assuming you are the person who owns the famous clothing store) Hopefully, you're not gone yet since I will now rush back into SL after work and buy up all the clothing I was considering.

I understand your frustration. There have been so many economic ups and downs that it has made things stressful. I sold all my land recently and was going to tier down to basic when I reconsidered, bought a much smaller 4096m plot and decided to keep playing albeit with dramatically lower tier and less time spent in world. I may be wrong, but it seems that there are too many rumors of competition, open source etc that could affect land prices yet again. A 4096m plot is land I can completely afford to lose should it come to that.

Maybe you could also scale back rather than leave completely. This would put you in a better position to re-expand should circumstances turn favorable again.

Hi Bod,

I cannot relate to your inventory or monetary losses, as I am only a renter who buys stuff, explores, and makes friends whenever and wherever I can. I do, however, relate to the many TP, rezzing, and crash problems, as of course everyone does. These problems can be over the top, and sometimes makes me question why the heck I stay in SL.

But I will stay. The top reasons include SL friends, friends, and friends, followed by chances to use my creativity, learn about myself (like I learned I'm a real perv, into the blues bigtime, and would like to grow up to be a Gorean warrior some day). lol.

I respect your desire to leave SL, of course. But with all of its faults--many many faults--it is unique and fun in the world of virtual worlds. But, of course, we all hope the SL developers find a better way of doing things to improve the SL experience for everyone, including sim and store owners.

Avanti

Bod, does it really have to be all or nothing? Was it all just a business to you? Didn't you meet many people you never would have elsewhere? How about selling everything and starting fresh. Maybe what's missing for you is a challenge... Of course, making $$$ can be an important part of SL for many reasons, but it isn't necessary. I don't know you, and I hope I'm not coming off as being harsh, I just don't understand it when people 'declare' their departure. Maybe it's the word 'Farewell' (Adieu) that gets to me. I find it to be very dramatic...

To be fair, compared to other 'Farewell' posts, yours was much less hate-filled, but please remember that there are alternatives to quitting everything. If just the thought of one more day in SL makes sick (not being sarcastic, here), just as in any hobby/game, put it aside for a while. You obviously loved it at one point. If you're not getting any fun out of it, maybe it's more because you've outgrown it, and less because it's not good anymore.

I see people who do such little more then the drama king/queen of the week. They are either looking for attention or a ego boost hoping people rush to him/her begging them to stay. Sadly such obvious ploys work as seen here.

My reply to such a 'farewell' thread; don't let the door hit you on the way out, Good luck.

Honey, why don't you just take a small break from sl instead of totally leaving. Sometimes tomorrow brings new changes and new ideas. Maybe after a while you might decide you like your business and all of the problems it brings. Any businesss most definitely brings problems be it rl or sl. Or you might decide to get rid of the business and just have some sl fun with the rest of us.

I know when I make rl business mistakes, sometimes I just have to turn around and walk away from it because I can't find it. Then when I sit down the next day to look for it with a refreshed brain it is much easier to find. New ideas..