Are freebies hurting SL content creators?

Great Observation.

Decided that if I give the stuff away....it has no value. If it has no value....why bother creating. Also don't want to send that message to creators. Even if they create solely for pleasure or some kind of cathartic process....the time they spent and the creative energy and talents they shared with you.....has value.

Visited an art gallery last night....reminder that there are so many talented people floating about SL....my sofas and end tables pale in comparison to their beautiful oil paintings full of passion.... but feel it's my duty to them to establish some sort of value even at the most basic level....so that a pattern is established .....and so that they can be rewarded on the level they deserve, and proceed and continue to create and share those beautiful pieces. Their work was not priced according to it's value.....it was priced according to what SL market will allow.

It's very clear that their pieces have XXXXtimes the value of an end table....if I establish the value of an end table at X...instead of Zero or One....or Five...and if many others would do the same consistently....so that the value of an evening gown will then become XXX....and the value of a house will then become XXXX....then the value of a beautiful piece of art could become XXXXXX....

Just something we need to do for each other. You can create a freebie mentality continent filled with mediocre content....or even far less than mediocre.....or you can encourage more valuable content with your own actions. If you can't do it for someone else....do it for yourself.

It's a good thing Linus Torvalds didn't think that way.

There is a problem with the question, in that it treats the "market and content creators" as the same entity.

Freebies certainly help the market, and hurt content creators.

Just like any additional competition helps a market, but hurts all other competitors.

Second Life is a little different from real life business, in that most SL content creators are hobbyists not looking for profit. And because there is no good source of consumer information, there is no price stablization among comparable products. So real life principles admittedly don't apply perfectly to SL.

Making a high-quality freebie takes time, and there just aren't going to be a lot of poeple volunteering to do it ever. As someone already pointed out, most freebies are going to be behind the state of current technology. The people driven to innovate will create first, and make money from their creations until someone catches up. By the time someone catches up, the product is no longer an innovation.

When I was in video games, missing a Christmas release meant you didn't make your nut back, ever. Because you had like three months before your game was all over the pirate boards with BOZO NYC's name on it.

A bit out of context along with you taking my comment away from the context.

Maybe if Van Gogh had sold just 2 more paintings during his lifetime .....we would have been blessed with another 900.

eww

Free market. Competition. Impetus to improve.

So, no.

Because it's fun?

this is ridiculous on so many different levels

you're really picking a bad analogy with regards to art and have no idea what you are talking about.

Agreed, lack of money or public encouragement did not kill van Gogh; lack of compassion and of company, maybe.

Tier. Lost sales when comparable items can be found for free. Yes.

tough luck, make better stuff.

If your product is made irrelevant by a 'comparable' freebie, you should probably worry less about the freebie and more about how you can make a new product people would actually want to buy.

Complaining about people who make freebies is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard, and it just sounds like people are being sore losers; blaming everyone else but themselves for their failing/struggling business.

Complaining about people who make freebies is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard, and it just sounds like people are being sore losers; blaming everyone else but themselves for their loss of sales.

Erm i haven't loss sales as yet.....just looking at the bigger picture. Try it sometime!

He said a mouthful there.

Excellent quote, Eph.

Please explain why Argent's comment is non-sequitur. I think it's right on point.

You're free to decide that the value of your creations equates to the cost. Just keep in mind that this is by no means true for others. Value is subjective (unless you believe Ayn Rand, who is provably false in this regard.)

The Van Gogh comment is the one that's non-sequitur, though true. Van Gogh did not choose to give his paintings away for free. He chose to sell them, before his genius was recognized. They wouldn't have been worth more to those who didn't buy them if he'd put a higher price on them. And it probably wouldn't have mattered much if he'd given them away for free. However, if he'd created 900 more, the others would probably be worth considerably less in dollar value. Would humanity be richer? If so, would all his paintings together be worth more money? Does anyone care?

Seriously: this is a matter of "value", so intelligent, well-meaning, honest people can disagree and both be correct.

Clearly, many freebies do hurt sales for specific merchants. Whether it hurts the economy as a whole -- my guess is that it's a wash, because they act as loss leaders for SL in general. But that's just a guess: the net effect may well be negative in terms of dollar sales. But are they a boon to the enjoyment of SL by the thousands of residents? I would say so.

I don't rate the success of SL merely in terms of the size of its economy or the profits of its merchants.

Also, let's not forget that full-perm freebies can be a big help to content creators.

I'm glad you put it this way. You're free to value things as you like. But note that while it may have no value to YOU, it may have value to others.

I provide MLPV2 for free, and spend a fair amount of time supporting it and helping people with issues, also for free. I'm sure those who build and market their furniture using it would vehemently disagree to anyone who called it worthless.

I do realize, though, that most of the comments here against freebies are directed at no-copy or no-xfer freebies given as loss leaders for marketing purposes. Merchants are free to do this or not, and it's certainly not unethical in general (though I would consider targeting a specific smaller competitor by flooding the market with comparable freebies rather ruthless).

QFT.

In many cases, we're discussing apples and oranges. It's pretty much been agreed on the forums that perhaps the female clothing industry takes a bigger hit from freebies than other segments, and some really niche markets (ie. Nimbus' quad cats) none at all.

Then there's the another factor - some people love to shop for clothes and the freebies, as has also been indicated, are used as examples of the quality of a particular designer and a clothes shopper will likely spend money there. Others enjoy shopping for home furnishings - however, as 3Ring mentioned, some residents don't have homes, so this segment is a moot point for them.

Art lovers are another group altogether. I don't even pretend to know much about this segment, but the little I know is that those of an artistic mentality tend to love creating for creation's sake and may not even be concerned if they sell much or not. (Excepting the tier situation.) In RL, artists (including actors, song-writers, authors, etc.) often have to work at sometimes low-paying jobs (waiters, etc.) to support them while they pursue their art. Not sure if this translates at all to SL, but in a stream of consciousness train of thought over my first caffeine of the day.

My main point is: The people in SL who *do* purchase items and enjoy shopping will continue to do so and the freebies won't really deter them.

The people who don't want to spend any money in their SL experience probably won't and will chase the freebies.

Some people will learn skills to create those items they previously purchased and as Lear mentioned the freebies may help them learn more about content creation. I took a class last year that does just that: the students are given a number of modifiable freebies and are taught how to unlink, pull them apart, then study the shapes and finally use them as visuals to create something. (Talking about the home furnishings segment here.)

Please explain a few of those levels? I'm open to enlightenment.



ummm....I don't see a difference in sales by not handing out free items for 2 weeks. In fact, they came in and purchased the new items at regular price, with no complaints.....which inspires me to add to that particular product line.

I think you misinterpreted Ashe's post, which has nothing to do with whether your freebies promote your sales. Just a simple misunderstanding.

Pardon me for the fact that the Universe has determined over a zillion years that monetary reward is an implication of Value.

What I'm saying on Van Gogh....and relating to the context I wrote....is that if more of his paintings had sold while he was living....perhaps he would not have had such personal conflict and turmoil within himself....and perhaps would have lived another year to produce more. Perhaps not. Perhaps the illness was too all-consuming....but perhaps it would have taken a wee bit of an edge off to know that you're reason for being was acknowledged and making an impact to the world....or even a small group around you.

I used the word "Maybe"...and "Perhaps" and "Suppose" a lot....so you can think for yourselves...."maybe" I'm thinking while writing it....and working out the same question in my head.

And no...not comparing making end tables with Van Gogh.....had artists in mind.

I personally, would feel additionally enriched if I were to view 10 more Van Gogh paintings.

I would also feel additionally enriched if the SL artists I viewed the other night would put up more of their work for display. I suppose they have to pay for the display area....and suppose they have to have some kind of income in RL to have time to paint. Yeah...that's a shame that for some it all boils down to that....that money thing.....but doesn't it?

But a bigger question here is... was Van Gogh's failure to make an adequate living through sales of his paintings caused by freebies?

Would you please go back and read the entire post I started with, and see where I ended up with it.

What... where you responded to my comment about Linux Torvalds, who chose to release his OS kernel as open source, by bringing up Van Gogh? I don't know what his circumstances were except in the broadest terms, so I don't know if his paintings didn't sell because they were priced out of the market, not understood by the market, or not effectively marketed.