Expanding the SL Economy

We need more Telephone Sanitisers, Management Consultants and Marketing executives I think

Seriously, though, as businesses in SL mature, they mutate from being someone creating a few really cool things and setting up a store to fully-fledged businesses.

Initially you had the content creators, and the consumers. I think that there is a third layer that has come up, the "business managers".

I'm one, and I know a few others. Essentially the people who are really creative end up having a choice - running the business or creating new things. They got to the point where they are so successful because they were really good at creating things. Trouble is, the more time they have to spend running the business, the less they have to do what got the business well-known in the first place - building "cool stuff".

Enter the business manager. If they're anything like me they have meager to no building skills, but are "people persons" and don't mind doing the running around, marketing, and sales type of jobs.

For me, it's a lot of fun - I've met some wonderful people and have more than supported my SL habit (with a little to spare).

I'm sure that there will be other types of these jobs that will be necessary as the world matures. This doesn't exactly add to the economy, of course, but creates another "niche" that residents can move in.

It can add to the economy quite easily actally.There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence to show some creators are awful business people, they could use some help, and I'm sure there are many who haven't gone into business yet because they may not have the talent for business and marketing. I think it's a good idea.

Orientation Island needs a bit more guidance to begin, and I don't mean mentors and Lindens. I'm thinking of something like an automated tour. A trail you have to follow, past short, simple signs of the "you are an avatar with a shape, a skin, hair, eyes, and clothes, and all these things can be changed." If you want more info about any single aspect, another path branches off. Want to build? There's a path for that. Want to buy land? There's a path for that. Think of the Relay for Life sims. Practically a beginners' grid, not unlike the Teen Grid.

Have you been to Orientation Island Public? That's the "old" orientation island, which was a lot more guided. I believe it was changed because new folks were getting stuck on tasks that didn't interest them, and walking away.

Hi, Lindal! Yes, please do.

As to the original post, my own thoughts are:

RPs, games, social interactions etc. that take advantage of SL's unique interface. Most of us come to SL to do things or be things we can't be in RL for various reasons (biology, physics, geography etc.).

Visiting incredibly beautiful and ingenious sims has to be one of the most amazing things. Engaging animations that make our avatars do funny or relaxing things (or sexy things) is truly fun. Playing with others in consensual combat and other games can be so cool.

Despite all the ka ka, SL is still wondrous, unique and opens the doors for creative types to make things so many of us can enjoy and participate in.

Stimulating creativity, helping the flow of ideas, and not being afraid to financially support the content creators is important. Most of us are suffering various degrees of annoyance with LL. But that's not the content creator's fault. We shouldn't fear putting money into SL because LL does wanky things. LL is not SL. We all are SL. LL just makes the rules (some good, some bad) and provides the interface.

If I go to a club, I tip the DJ. If I'm looking for quality items, I have no qualms paying for hard work. If I want to buy a silly Neko tank for cheap just because it looks cool and affords me some great modeling fun (beware Tank Kitty), hey, I don't mind spending the money for that kind of fun.

I don't mind... Because I'm here to relax and get away from RL. I just want to have fun. And I think you do too.

That's why I think self-chosen paths would be a way to go. Not interested? Skip it. But the current version is confusing. With the slightly odd perspective in SL, and symmetrical design, it's hard to tell where you've already been. It's a hodgepodge of important things and unimportant, and lacks a true sense of scale.

Long answer:
So many good ideas in this thread. I was thinking about some of these things earlier tonight.

1) LL dumped a lot of land, but the tier has not changed to meet the market. However, LL has made several stabs at gaining new residents: CSI, the Legend sim, Bay City....

2) They've introduced voice, and who needs a land line anymore? I'll probably never give up my phone, but SL is less expensive than AT&T.

3) In the effort to make that leap as the next internet, they've upped the graphics; things are less and less abstract and cartoonish (remember the primitars?)

4) LL is coming up against a lot of legal issues that I'm sure they never forsaw from the beginning. "Your world. Your imagination." turned out to be a little bit much for some people. Even if a case never goes to court, there are retainers to be paid and paperwork to do.

Do you get the feeling that we're in a transition period?

I think LL is playing with the economy on purpose, at least subconciously. With the American economy like it is, who has a lot of cash to convert to lindens? Dumping land lowers the economy to help out newcomers who want to be able to afford to shop. But I'm way the hell off the point....

*I find it funny that Bay City should pop up.* The timing is perfect, and it is a push. We have a thriving capitalist culture in SL, but we're not really city builders. Oh sure, a land owner has tons of neighbors up close, but just as many nomads as well, and open, unused spaces as well. We're a happy bunch of barbarians!

Perhaps LL is trying to lead by example? Maybe? I ask because I have faith that the grid stability will come if the SL economy gets stable.

To keep old timers who will pay tier, you have to build a sense of community. Make people make friends so they'll hang around if only for the emotional ties. Add voice so it becomes more personal than just words on a screen. Waa-Laa! We have voice.

So, what is the next step in the evolution of a culture of people? I think in government class I learned that after city building is usually trade-guilds.

The way to keep people interested in spending is to present them organized culture. Yeah, I can TP to 20 jazillion different clothing malls, but it's usually one sim big and and then off to the next one. I spend more time in search than I do shopping.

Bay City is not a "zoning" of existing mainland, but absolutely a zoned area.

Perhaps...just perhaps, if we emulated that, and vendors sought out similar vendors to organize into large markets of similar items, it would not only increase revenue for everyone, but also reduce Intellectual Property theft ("you're two shops down from me, did you think I wouldn't notice?" as well as reduce what I'll call "urban blight;" where it's all ad farms and magenta castles.

I mean, good grief, look what it did for Desmond!

Whether we realize it or not, we're a budding civilization. We are interacting with countries on a legal and economic level. We just have to read up on our government books and grow into it.

I honestly believe the next step is organized trade. Creators working together to produce similar goods on a much larger scale of variety, all in a central location.

That's true but it's a double edged sword. Either you offer no choices or you force new people to make choices between two things they don't understand yet. I believe that part of the point of the new OI is to sell SL, too - that's why vehicles are covered before flight, for instance.

Wait and see what the new CEO does. If the new CEO is smart he will make LL legal and safe very quickly. If not then nuke the site as morbid. There will be people left holding the bag and lose many thousands of dollars.

Then they better shut down the Internet, because there is a hell of a lot out there that isn't "legal and safe" and the government isn't warning us about EVERY. SINGLE. THREAT.

I think the best thing LL could do to promote the SL economy would be to find a way to support value-added resellers in the permission system.

Currently, the only *safe* model for selling content is to make it yourself, using freebies or cheap full-perms stuff for parts you need, and selling it no-copy or no-xfer.

However, there's little incentive for people to go into the market of creating things to be used by builders and resold. The problem is, you have to provide it full perms, which means that rather quickly it will end up in a freebie depot.

Yes, there are vendors who fight this problem successfully, like TRU for example. For one thing, they fight it by having such a huge count of items that it's easier to find a texture there than to go freebie dumpster hopping. And there are vendors who sell their content full-perms with license agreements, but we all know how much protection those agreements offer. For example, I've seen a set of high quality animations floating around for free, and I'm sure it's to the great chagrin of their maker.

If SL provided a way for people who build "parts" such as textures, scripts, and even objects that are intended to be used as a component in a conglomerate object, we'd see a blossoming business in components, higher quality products available at lower cost (because you wouldn't have to make it all yourself, or pay *huge* premiums for full-perm quality content).

SL's permission system is really a very good balance between capability and simplicity. A simpler one would hardly be worthwhile, and even then it can be quite confusing. I realize this is not a trivial thing I'm asking for. But I do believe the payoff would be huge.

Perhaps I'm wrong. If the typical SL-er has a relatively fixed budget and spends it, regardless of the quality of the content, then I'd be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time!