Random first impressions from a SL newbie

Greetings all...

New to SL, far from new to online communities. Been around the block as a user/admin since about 84 (BBS's) to running successful communities/servers such as Ultima Online, Neverwinter Nights and in IRC.

Just thought as a part intro, part view from someone not ingrained within the community yet I would say 'hello' and share some random thoughts and view of SL in my week here thus far. Perhaps you will find my comments interesting enough to respond, then again perhaps not

A little about me, live in Boston, MA, my mid 30s and work in the PC/networking field.

One thing among all online communities I have been part of that they share, as SL does, is the way all communities once they reach a critical mass have similar context of drama, made/broken friendships(and relationships) and how rl spills over many times into (in this case) sl and visa versa. Each community I have been a part of has had the exact same traits on this level. So thankfully have a pretty tough skin to all but the worst of the worst of it as I've seen it all pretty much in this regard.

However on a community psychology level I thought, perhaps to my own ego, this would be a cakewalk understanding the culture as I have in the past communities. To my surprise I have so far encountered a fair amount of aspects I was not ready for. Plus, other aspects that were minor on other online mediums that are a priority here. In some ways I find this VERY interesting. Here is some points that stick out for me -

The economy - Of course I had heard of it and read about it but the SL economy is something truly overwhelming to a SL newbie. I am sure the vets here are reading this with a arched eye brow but to someone new, having a virtual economy that can directly impact the users rl economy is a almost intimidating concept. After a week I am getting my head around it (I still don't understand how 'clubs' make money except for begging(donations) in essence since there are no drinks, no cover, etc but thats addressed below). I find this aspect one of the more interesting. I have meet one vendor whom I am becoming good friends with and she informed me she makes enough L to (at least partly) live off of. I was taken aback by this as no other online community, game or what not has ever exposed me to it in such a high level of interaction.

However there also seems to be a downside to this. The way the economy has been designed (or at least allowed to mature on its own) by LL pretty much puts 90-95% of all users in either the well to do and very poor category with a very slim middle class.

If you have technical skills (creating 3D models, clothing, animations, etc) you can make a killing in SL. I don't think this needs to be addressed any further most everyone sees this as true from what I hear. Also land owners who rent can fall into this tier. This being the upper class

the slim middle class are the club owners, promoters, event handlers, pretty much any marketable online skill not in the tech field. Some seem to make a decent living at it but not as well off (generally) as a established vendor/content creator (CC). Also those that sublet can fall into this area as well.

Then you have the lower class thats composed of most users it seems: Pretty much beggars, strippers, escorts/prostitutes, bouncers, those with low levels of tech skill that are overshadowed by the bigger names, etc. Please Note: NOT making a judgment on these users just stating a observation of what I see as the truth of the matter.

With really no 'jobs' for users with no marketable online skills they pretty much are stuck doing such tasks. I think IMO that was a (perhaps unforeseen) oversight to the economy and LL should take some time looking at the ability for users to make L without the need for camping or other jobs they are forced to take. I do not think such a massive class separation is overall a good thing for the long term health of the community.

In fairness to them I do like the idea of a weekly stipend for paying accounts. Thats a decent step in the right direction.

Perhaps create a 'working' class, for people who wish to work outside and make some L assigned jobs by LL. such as greeter/mentor at newbie island, councilor (one who has some basic authority to resolve disputes), builder (paid to build community/public places for all to enjoy) and so forth.

while I wouldn't expect those 'jobs' to pay much (100L or so daily) it has a duel effect. It gives non-tech savvy users a way to earn lindens without needed to work in a club if they so choose but it also helps them gain some in game marketable skills and build contacts to do so. Thus they can ween themselves off these 'jobs' per se and hopefully get involved in something more lucrative.

Just a thought I had...

The serious factor - One does not know internet drama until one spends a lot of time involved in certain IRC rooms. While I can't say SL is better or worse then IRC on this level it certainly has its share. However where SL overshadows my experiences with IRC (and other mediums) is the 'serious factor'. I have never encountered such a rabid base where some take the online community so serious. Its one thing to deal with making and breaking friendships and what not. Thats expected and seen it many times before, however with avi's walking around 'pregnant' or users RPing their 'children' or the like. Its, to me, baffling taking the virtual world to a IMO whole new level I wouldn't have never thought of. And, to be honest, its a bit scary for me at least on how some people take this just as serious if not more so then rl.

I hope this 'newbie' does not take any flames for stating the above out loud as it were but just my honest observation.

The community - in the week I have been here I have made some wonderful friendships and meet some excellent people. This is, IMO one of the easiest communities to start off in by meeting people. In my 2nd day when trying to figure out how to get off on newbie island (LOL) I meet a wonderful person who was very helpful, wise council here and showed me the ropes. We have since became very good friends and thanks to her learned a lot and we hang out a fair amount still. I also made friends with a vendor (as I mentioned above) who has been very good friends to me as well and we hang out a great deal as well.

While in honesty I have already had a little taste of some drama here by far the pros outweigh the cons and am glad I have decided to create a paid account here. Small price to pay IMO for such a wonderful social medium to meet people from across the globe and share ideas, opinions and knowledge... as well as just have fun with of course

The land situation - I am really not a big fan of the limited (and big $ costs) of owning land here. I'd like my own parcel but I am not paying a few grand in real $ to buy a entire region. But if I go the lease a plot of land from a land owner then I am, frankly, at his or her whims. If we have a falling out I can find myself out in the cold (kicked out) as it were with little to no recourse the way things are set up from how I understand it.

I REALLY think linden labs should reintroduce the newbie land purchase program (in both PG and adult options) with certain stipulations to avoid the issues with it before (can not turn around and sell the land once bought for 12 or 18 months for example). For people like me who wants a little place to call home or build a place for friends to gather and have no intent on turning around to make L off selling it.

Also some way to verify the person I lease land from has a good rep/credentials/references would be helpful. so many people are leasing/renting its frankly daunting on whom has a good rep and one can trust. I suppose I could take the 'ask around' approach but I think we all see the flaws with that plan.

Well there are my thoughts thus far... Overall aside from a small dramafest encounter with someone a wee-bit unstable it has been a great ride thus far and I look forward to meeting many more of you and hopefully form many more friendships.

Be well,

Strauss

Welcome!

Hang fire on your thoughts and re-evaluate often in your early days. We all envy you your fresh perspective.

Many of us were forged in the crucible of IRC, you'll probably pick out the ones with snail marks still on their heads

Pop along to the Forum Hangout when there's something going on ... esp if Syd is playing.

And make use of the Mentors ... we are friendly, honest!

***edit*** Oh yes, ps. It will start to make more sense. Personally I still don't get playing pregnancy and kids but that's just me. Never say never in this place!

I haven't read your entire post yet.. too distracted at the moment, but I'd like to say one thing:

Strippers, escorts, etc are not lower class in SL. Dancers can make in tips just as much as a builder can make in sales in one night. You just have to have some idea what you're doing is all, the same as real life for any job. I personally don't see SL as classes as you do.

I see it as consumers and providers. The providers are the builders, scripters, texturers, dancers, escorts, and anyone else that offers anything, and the consumers are the ones paying them, but not offering anything of their own (Not that many either by the way). To split it into classes doesn't make sense to me, as one can make as much money doing one thing as anything else, they just have to be in the right place.

Welcome!

You make some interesting points and observations and as wise Cherry says, sort of, don't come to too many conclusions too soon. Actually, the more you learn, the more interesting it gets, IMHO.

A quick note regarding the economy and its participants: I just buy all my Ls so employment isn't even an issue. I just create and socialize for my own enjoyment and if a L falls in my lap now and then, that's a bit of icing on the cupcake.

Hello Strauss and welcome.

Having read through your post, there are a few things I would comment on.

Your observations of the economy are interesting but I feel you have overlooked one large 'segment' altogether. That is, the people who are not here to work and earn an SL living. People who are here because it is Entertainment. People who don't mind spending $10, or $20 a month of RL cash. That will get you a few thousand L$ and let you live like you're in the upper-class for the month... with no effort or skills required. My first 2 months in SL I was firmly in this category by the way -- I recognize that some entertainment costs money and I don't mind paying for something I find entertaining and enjoyable. With no pressure to build or create, no need to camp,strip, or escort, I was still able to buy and do whatever I wanted, with a miniscule investment of RL funds.

Regarding land, I think you have overlooked one category there too. Aside from buying an entire region or leasing from a resident, you can also buy a plot of land where you own it 100% and are beholden to no other player. This is called 'mainland' and although you are initially buying the land from another resident, after that first transaction you own it outright (as much as anything can be owned in SL) and need only pay monthly fees to Linden Lab and not worry about any other landlords.

By the way, today my avatar is one year old, and I remember pretty well the overwhelming nature of SL to a newcomer, trying to figure out just what exactly I had wandered in to.

-Atashi

The L$ economy isn't closed: businesses need to pay tier and they pay that tier by selling the L$ they made in-world to other residents who are exchanging their RL-earned money for L$. Other than that, a big portion would stop creating if they couldn't profit in real life from their Second Life sales.

Without a constant and never-ending injection of fresh US$ by consumers there would be no economy at all, or a Second Life for that matter since US$ is what pays LL's bills, not L$.

If people want to roam around SL without having any L$ to spend, that's actually an entirely conscious choice since despite claims that backwards parts of the world like Europe haven't invented things like a "credit card" or a "bank account" yet, pretty much every adult can get at least one of the two.

The answer to the implied actual question in here (don't close it, Strife!) - Clubs often come attached with malls, precisely because the club doesn't make much or any money. The draw is for vendors to rent in the malls, near a popular club, so that they can earn sales through club traffic.

The thing about the economy is that because land is so expensive to maintain and so many people are too cheap or otherwise cannot afford to put any money into the game, it is hard to offer decent paying jobs to round out the economy. There are low skilled jobs, and the ones you mentioned that LL should offer are often filled by volunteers already - people who have the time and patience to deal with new people. It would be good if they could be rewarded monetarily. But this is so much easier said than done - it takes time because SL has a huge learning curve. You can't have the blind leading the blind - these people need to be seasoned enough in SL to help others out.

As for the intensity with which people view this community - when you put real money at stake, that is what is going to happen.

Welcome! Thanks for your very perceptive thoughts.

Wise?

OMG - now that's scary, Bodi!

HI Strauss...welcome



I also fall into that group which you failed to mention. The ones that are well off in RL and prefer to use SL as a playground/sociailizing platform.
I am fairly good at building/landscaping and have done some work for people, but only because they asked me too.
Besides that, I am in SL for fun. I love the creative builds and the scenery that the many different types of people from around our world have built here.
When I need money, I buy it...at this point in my SL life though, I have bought just about everything but keep my eye out for something new that catches my attention.

As for land, you seemed to mention only two categories...those who own entire sims and those who lease land from sim owners.
I think the majority of land in SL is owned by people outright and they pay tier fees directly to linden labs. Theres no worry of some unscrupulous land owner kicking you off if you miss a payment or look at them cross-eyed.
If you are a premium member than Linden labs has your credit card number so if you decide to buy land and pay tier fees, you will just see a deduction on your monthly CC bill.

Thats the route I, and many of the people I know ( if not all), do it.

Eh? Only options are a few US$k or renting? You need to do more reading on that.. If you've already gone premium, you can get small-but-decent land for under US$20 with no monthly fee and no landlord except the Lindens....

edit: and welcome to SL!

edit edit: monthly land fees can be found at http://secondlife.com/whatis/landpricing.php

So true. I have a friend who does dancing, stripping and modelling and if she is to be believed, and I have no reason to doubt her, she earns about L$30K p/w on a bad week.

Hiya Strauss and welcome!

I just wanted to say, like others in this thread, that I am in SL for the fun of it. I happen to also be a content creator, but I just sort of fell into that when I didn't see what I wanted out there for sale. I came into SL for fun, and I'm here for socializing, etc. My shop is "fun" for me. I'm an engineer in RL, and to play at being fashion designer is something new and creative. I get to plan fashion shows, make ads for magazines, whee! Really, it's all under the guise of running a business, but I think that you'll be surprised to find that the vast majority of content creators/merchants don't make a whole heck of a lot of money. Enough to play with, certainly, but go here:

http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php

to see how much people actually earn. Only 157 people earned more than $5000 in October. Not a whole lot....

_Artistic_ skills, and creativity, are more important than technical skills. Technical skills are needed to make your creations exist in SL, true; but artistic skills are needed to make them noticeable, attractive and different from everyone else's. You can most clearly see this in scripting: scripting is one of the hardest fields to get into, even if you know how to program, because it's much harder to differentiate one script from another in terms that customers will care about.

Also, if you're measuring success purely in terms of making money, then you have to be good at making money too. And right now in SL, that can mean treating it as a real business - budgeting for starting capital, quitting your day job to have time to work all day and registering as a real company - because after all, your competitors can do that, or some already will have done.



Subletters, that is landlords / land barons, are the biggest profit makers on SL. Many of them are content creators too, or they hire content creators.

Most club owners / promoters / event organisers, etc, just aren't that focused on making money but just want to have a "job" in SL that they can do and enjoy doing. I don't think SL really deals with these well as business activities yet, typically because there is no way of getting money from patrons.



Several of the "overshadowed" people actually have excellent tech skills but no ideas, or no ideas that sufficiently differentiate from the larger brands. (As an example, there are lots of brands of weapons, or scripted Gorean collars. Making one of these _at all_ requires a great deal of technical skill, so by definition everyone who makes one has it. But there are still a limited number of dominant brands, based largely on who had ideas first.)

Most strippers and escorts are doing it because they enjoy it. The same is true of most models. It's a bit difficult to put people into "classes" in this way in SL because SL is not the whole of life, and the particular part of life that people want from SL is different for everyone. In fact, there are even people out there making huge amounts of money who are unsatisfied, because IRL they're OK for money, and what they really wanted from SL was something else.



This used to be the case - LL used to pay every single user a stipend, and to pay instructors and similar. Way back even earlier in LL's history, you could get free money just by having somewhere that was popular, or by being highly rated by other people.

The problem with it, though, is that at the backbone of SL's economy you have the need for land owning content creators to be able to cash out their L$ in order to pay for their land fees in real money. As a result, it's needed for some people to be stuck without money in order that will have some reason to buy L$. Even while stipends were high, the L$'s value fell too low for people to be able to cash out reliably and there was even talk of the big landlords and creators constructing their own currency (called A$) that would _not_ be handed out for free, so they'd have guaranteed cash value. (There were several signs that LL were notably panicked by that prospect.)

Other worlds treat this in a different way. For example, IMVU has two currencies: "credits" and "predits". "Credits" are earned in the same ways L$ are, through content or paying real money, whereas "predits" are handed out for free by the developers to tempt people to stay in IMVU. Anything someone sells on IMVU can be bought with either "credits" or "predits" and I don't think content creators can choose to accept only one or the other. Predits can't be transferred between people and thus can't be cashed out, but they can be used to pay listing fees, which is IMVU's nearest equivalent to tier. However, IMVU listing fees are much lower than LL's tier fees - because their costs are lower, since their hosting model is cheaper - so it's viable for IMVU to cover many developers in this way. LL coudn't do that.



Mentors have never been paid, as there's too many involved and it's too hard to monitor. LL will never give residents authority over other residents, that's just asking for a huge amount of drama. And for building, if someone is a good enough builder to build a good community space, then they are a good enough builder to sell their building skills to private firms for bigger money. LL wouldn't be interested in paying a poorer builder to build an ugly community area that nobody would want to visit.

Hi, Strauss and welcome to SL and the forums. I enjoyed reading your post, but I believe you will end up rethinking your views on the "classes" in SL. There are definitely people who are better known, our famous SL'ers that almost everyone has heard of, but I don't necessarily consider them a better class than others. I own a 4608 parcel on one SIM and a 1024 on another sim. I have 2 small shops, one that i rent and one on land I own, where I resell some of the things in my inventory when it needs a good cleanout, as well as showcase some of my own clothing designs. I don't make very many sales, average only a couple hundred lindens a week and my items are priced very low. However, I didn't start the shops with the idea of actually making RL money. It's just something fun and creative to do. I end up buying most of my spending lindens, and I spend A LOT, believe me. It's probably a good thing for my RL husband (SL partner) that our accounts are separate and I handle only my lindens....lol. In RL, I am perhaps classed as lower-middle class. I work in sales and own a double wide mobile home, definitely not even middle-middle class in America!...lol But in SL, I own a pretty nice size parcel of land, plenty of gorgeous clothes by some well-known and not-so-well-known SL designers, own several houses with full furnishings for each, and can pick and choose which home I want to live in on any given day. I just don't think of SL in terms of classes, but if I did, I can guarantee my class status would be considered higher than it is in RL, simply due to the possessions I have, and the lindens available to spend, if that makes sense.
However, I do agree with most of your other observations, and I've been here for 9 months.
P.S. Except....it doesn't actually cost tons of RL money to own land. Most people who own large amount of land, i.e. private estate or their own island, are also landlords and tend to be able to meet most of thier SL expenses with that rental income. I am at the $25/mo tier level with the land I own, due to 2 premium accounts and all the land being group owned by a group that consists of my alt and myself (well, my RL husband, too) and I don't consider that outrageous for the entertainment value. Especially considering a night out to dinner and a movie will cost me much more than that in just a few hours. I hope you continue to find enjoyment in your Second Life, and welcome to this world!

Hi Strauss, another welcome! Great post, lots to absorb!

I, like Bodhisatva, don't rely on SL for any income. I use my on RL money to make things happen inworld and am happy to do so. For a couple of months, I got to know my way around, met people, developed friendships. One of my dearest friends gave me access to his property, taking me in, even allowing me to build on his land. This gave me the "bug" to nest, and I recently bought my own mainland property, 4 lots, waterfront. I'm thrilled, am not beholden to a landlord, just pay the Lindens my $15 tier and am done with it. Nobody can take it away from me. I have room to spread out, enough prims to make it comfy (I hope!). It's a blast for me landscaping, decorating and I'm looking forward to throwing my first party!

For me, this is great entertainment and the longer I'm around, the better it gets. And like Cherry mentioned, stop on by the Hangout when Syd is spinning tunes. It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon (wish I could make it more often than I'm able to lately!)

One other group of players in this game. The players who, like me, are minimal premium accounts (the ones who pay LL real money for the premium account but only "own" 512 square meters of mainland and pay no tier). I happened to go premium back when the weekly stipend was 500 lindens a week and am thus "grandfathered" in that brackett. I play the game for both intertainment and fantasy fulfullment. I've learned to build fairly decently. I've learned to make textures that are sometimes very good. Can make clothing that is marketable. Yet I merely come to play........doing all those little fun things and almost never sell my "skills". I give almost everything I make away.....free, often with full permissions to those things.

I both manage a club (which, so far has not broken even) and strip/dance for a friend........all for free. I get tips which in turn I sink back into the "club" or use to pay for uploads of textures for the "owner" to use. Mostly I break even with my "jobs" in SL........and I'm fine with that. My goal in SL is the have fun, help others, and do what I want to do. Over the two years I've been in SL beyond my quarterly premium payments of $22.50 USD I think I've purchased about $40 USD in lindens......total. My RL financial situation is that I'm not "well to do" (about average).......but my SL financial situation is "I'm quite wealthy" because I have everything I need or want for my online Peggy.

Just a couple comments on the economy. I think it's a mistake to see SL as a self-contained economy where everyone should be able to earn what they spend. That would be vital if SL had a typical MMORPG economy like WoW, EQ, or the like, but that's just not what SL is. SL is more like a craft fair where you have artisans selling their wares and attendees shopping or just enjoying the atmosphere. No one expects to be able to find a way to earn money at the craft fair to use to buy crafts if they aren't one of the artisans, and there are no hard feelings attached to that. I think the expectations people have about being able to find jobs in SL to earn L$ are forged by their experiences with other MMO's that are truly self-contained and where there are no links to the real world economy. The goods and services people sell in SL are the product of real world sweat, talent, and man hours. So too is the source of money people bring to SL to spend. They earn it at their real world jobs. SL has more in common with the internet at large than it does with closed systems like WoW and other MMOs.

I think that's part of it, but there are some other factors as well. The most obvious difference is that in SL, you can't leave the craft fair, or if you do you lose everything you bought. So, if for some person their primary source of entertainment at the fair is buying crafts, they will indeed not be keen on the idea of spending non-replaceable money to do that, because sooner or later the money will run out and then there is nothing left for them to but leave the fair and lose all of that value. They cannot go home and put them on the mantel.

There's also the issue that LL still advertises "create anything", to everyone, on their advertising pages!

That's true of any context specific product, anywhere. Your golf clubs aren't much use once you go home from the golf course. Your CDs are pretty useless outside of your CD player. Your food processor isn't very useful when you aren't engaged in making something for dinner. That doesn't diminish their value in anyone's eyes, so why do people view SL differently?

Sure, but the difference is that all of those items have intrinsic usability that is the main motivation to buy them. There is nobody in the world who loves the experience of shopping for a set of new golf clubs, but hates playing golf. Ditto someone who loves shopping for new CDs but can't stand listening to music.

On the other hand, it seems there are many people on SL who enjoy shopping for clothes much more than they enjoy actually wearing them on their AVs. I mean, even in real life people spend lots of time browsing and picking out and buying clothes that they then never wear, so why should it be so different on SL?

Because atleast those things actually exist.

Things in SL actually exist. You can see them and interact with them. Just because you cannot physically touch them does not mean they don't exist on some level.

EDIT:: I like chip's response better =P

Your belongings in SL are every bit as real as the music on your CDs.

One thing is certain about the SL economy...it can change overnight. Here is just a partial list of events that dramatically changed the SL economic landscape almost instantly:

-Gambling Ban
-VAT being enforced
-The appearance of Landbots
-Asset Server instability (ongoing)
-New Search
-Age Verification (coming soon)
-LL dumping 400 sims to Auction in a short period of time
-Updates such as Windlight that greatly affect many residents' computer performance

To survive (and thrive), you have to be incredibly patient and supremely flexible.

The music on your CDs isn't licensed to only be used in one form, and most importantly if the distributing company suddenly goes bankrupt your CDs are still there.