Xstreet SL and OnRez to Join Linden Lab!

A monopoly as I understand it is the willful attempt to negate competing companies while strengthening your own. Yes, this sometimes means the parent body buying services and other companies that are used by the customer base. However, unless Linden Research got some serious money and mojo to take on the likes of EA Games (Spore), Entropia Universe and other VWs to collapse them or otherwise integrate those into the main body, that is where 'monopoly' comes into play.

At best, this would be classed as incorporating, acquiring businesses based on and utilizing a like means of carrying out transactions. Then making them a (hopefully) functioning component of the parent body ... Ladies and Gents I give you Linden Research, Inc.

I will go on record as saying that I am not in any way a lawyer nor claim to be even a geek of corporate law, so if my version of the facts is incongruous, feel free to correct.

seems to me that you have pushed out most of the estate owners and now you taking over the the rest of the businesses that make money, sl is no longer a place for non lindens to earn anything, just a linden money milking palour, you new CEO was the biggest mistake your made once hes got his bonus and ruined sl he will be of to fleece another group, i bet hes on a 2 year contact with so called performance bonuses, but he will leave sl ruined and broken for the sake of his greed.

Everytime I think how LL makes us bleed with the land fees, the last joke they pull with the opensim price raise, the great way the bugs on the grid makes our secondlife miserable, the constant crashes and database issues, the temporarily closing of logins going on and on and on, now they are gonna make profit on our sales too? Onrez was free, no charges....well this is really upsetting. And then there is more, for us europeans that have to pay an ilegal vat for land purchase and monthly fee, what is gonna happen with that? How do we know, LL is not gonna start charging VAT to the sales they are gonna be able to control now?
That is what I really want to know!
I can see them doing this shortly as well...wanna bet?

Instead of BUYING UP XStreet & OnRez (to make more profit for LL) and breaking those systems, FIX the Software we all use.

Spend Real Money for a Real SQL-Database System and build proper Clustered SQL-DB systems... Ohhh but Profits before Service, Quality, or Customer/Client Support ! Psssstttt SQL-Server, Oracle and a few others are REAL SQL-DB Systems Which Work and perform. Hey ... IBM Might be able to help you, but at GREAT EXPENSE ! (Till they bankrupt you and buy LL for pennies on the dollar .... (shhhhh their secret strategy) Too bad you don't get it LL.

IF You (LL) want to Buy up other companies and services to enhance the SL platform, then do something that will really count and will be really noticed by everyone.

OpenSim and Other Platforms will only get more & more interest as LL continues this type of activity. Keep it up and when it all falls around your ankles, someone else will Buy up LL and kick you all to the Curb with a Big Tootle-Loo.

At some point the Feds will step in and recognize this for what it is, a virtual monopoly. And hey, want to see immediately what the LL acquisition of OnRez has done? They've crowded the top navigation area with so much clutter and their stupid XStreet + SL + OnRez banner that it screwed up the navigation layout in Safari. I have yet to check Firefox and IE, but folks, this is just going to be the tip of the iceberg.

So does this mean we can expect daily login failures now on XStreet as well as SL? Seems LL might want to focus more about getting SL running smoothly before spreading themselves even thinner. Though... I guess if you have the monopoly on the out of world shopping, maybe it won't be such a big deal that residents can only log in to SL about half the time they want to? Maybe they can sit on the website and shop while they're waiting for grid issues to stabilize.

Congrats, LL, but words of wisdom from both someone who is not only a SL builder but also a merchant whose in-world sales have suffered because of SL's recent abundance of technical problems: make sure your foundation is solid before you start throwing around the walls.

For the hell of me, I still can't figure out why LL would buy the Xstreet SL platform which is no more than a phpnuke (open source software) site with a marketplace or other module add-ons and a poor html code structure, and use that as the core of the new LL marketplace, against onrez which appears to be a far superior custom built product with a more modern architecture and up-to-date coding standards.

From an efficiency standpoint it doesn't make sense to me.

1. Could you highlight the reason for that choice?

2. If you don't use onrez, can you justify why LL really bought it? Other than appearing to engage in what could be considered anti-competitive practices by simply killing off the competitor?

Well there go decent, easy to use buying systems. as everyday now the logins get 'temporarily disabled' i suppose we wont even be able to look for stuff we are interested in. this is getting tiresome. get up to speed or admit its failed

Will you be providing a notice to all merchants prior to enacting any per click fees you mentioned in your letter?

I spend enough on land and a physical store location in world. I can not afford any true advertising through your current system, as the more one pays for an add the higher rating they get in your system. Honestly, there should just be basic rates for ads and a series of ad products that people could use. Only your larger merchants can compete.

I don't want my merged linden/xstreet funds to disappear because someone clicked on and looked at my add plus you take a commission from my sales. Do one or the other, but don't do both.

I will be keeping an eye on each step you take for integration. Once I see the per click fees, I will remove any and all product as your advertising becomes too expensive for a small unknown content creator.

Please be aware that some cyber bullies (which typically target content designers) will sit and click on someones ad continually knowing that it will drain that person of their funds. They don't want the money, they want the person they are bullying to concede to their demands.

Remember I have to pay the costs to create the content in the first place. My textures are 10L each, my animations or poses are 10L each. To create means to bring in various textures. Sometimes you have to bring them in more then once.

I spend my time which has value in the creation of the textures, the concept of the idea. I don't pay you for that and you don't pay me for that. I do pay you for the upload of the base pieces to create my content or products. Then I have to pay you to advertise. Now I will have to pay you commissions and later be expected to pay you on a per click basis. You are actually getting to be too expensive for me to support.

I can understand that there are costs in maintaining a store or market, however, MOST people who create content do NOT make their lively hoods within your virtual world. Those are the far and few inbetween. Most content creators loose money to do something they love or break even (meaning they cover their Second Life expenses only).

If you truly want to make a dynamic experience for all, create a system that has:

* A distinct advertising product line that makes the advertising easier to obtain for those who cant afford to pay alot, but with a higher end product for those wanting extra exposure.

* Require that people do not use keywords that do not apply to their products just to get the traffic draw. It is very frustrating to search for something to find it does not exist there.

* Put preventions in place that will remove the ability for those meaning malice to others through things that can drain people of their hard earned linden. (IE: finding a merchants ad and repeatedly clicking on it just to create more cost to that person)

* Provide more detailed communication up front about your intentions not only with this but with overall plans. For instance, I do not want to spend a lot of time putting product up only to find three or four months down the road it will have a greater then 20% price hike. I am very worried about what these transactions truly mean to me as a content designer and merchant.

* Make content creation more economical since you are also taking a larger portion of the profit for that hard work. I am sure you average for your pay at a minimum of $20 per hour. A content creator breaking even with all of the costs associated solely with dealing with Linden Labs (not including any other promotional activities) is working for free, while providing you and your residents with content. This is the story of the average content creator. They do it because they like to create. If it costs more, you are left with a further degraded set of content. Many content creators have slowed due to much of the ripped or stolen items being sold in world and on these sites. This just further encourages the content creators to move to other virtual worlds and wait until they have currencies (opps some already do). And many of the content creators that were with you from the start have left.

I love your world, but once it gets too expensive to be, do or live within, its time to move to a less expensive neighborhood. I think it is a shame that Linden Labs only wants to support those with large incomes on this platform. You are rapidly putting yourself in a position where those who do not make a lot of money won't be able to afford existing, participating or contributing in your world.

I apologize for my longwinded notice. It was written off the cuff. I have to run off to real life work to earn the money to support my expensive habit.

Monopoly? Try improved service.....

This is one of the most well thought out moves I have seen Linden Labs take.
In fact it is pure genius on their part. Not to mention it will make that site a level playing ground with the rules of Linden Labs. On a marketing stand point who ever thought of this at Linden Labs and pushed it should get a huge bonus. Like it or not I am 99.9% sure this will pay off for them in the log run once they get by all the die hard "Linden Labs stinks no matter what they do" people. Step outside the box and look at this move... Smart...
VERY SMART.

yes very true Argent...however they are standard prices - same for everyone..so if i highlight an item it gets just as much showing on the homepage as anyone elses... as opposed to SLs system of only showing the highest bidders.
And i wholeheartedly agree..competition is good...
buying out the opposition just to close it...is bad ethics, bad business, and the type of corporate thinking i thought people were getting past. Seems Obamas speech came to late and some businesses prefer to buyout than inprove their own services.

There are other kids on the block and I have just signed up with these guys:

http://www.lindman-design.com

The really cool thing is that if you have JEVN Networked Vendors (v3. you don't need to use their magic boxes - your server can handle item uploads and it is very painless as the site will remember prices and stuff of your items in your servers.

So stuff you LL.

I am voting with my feet.

I doubt they are even reading this blog.
Like they did with the previous topics, they simply closed it without responding or answering our questions..

A waste of time to post here, really

I totally agree with you on this. I am leaping for joy! I feel like singing.. "ding dong, the witch is dead... the witch is dead.. ding dong, the wicked witch is dead" and this is exactly how it felt under the tyranical rule of xstreet.

Yes they offered a great service but in my opinion, their bedside manner was lacking and even abusive at times and I'm personally glad to be safe under the reign of Camelot.. aka Linden Lab.

So.. Bravo Linden Lab!

Bookmarked, just incase LL decides to go nanners. :')

Lindenlabs better watch their steps very carefully, one wrong move and their precious new piggybank will meet a massive exodus of people not putting up with it.

So.. Lindenlabs.. Keep it equal, make it better, or well.. GTFO.

maybe once there was a great idea to build a virtual world for all the create, but now a person with no morals and only the drive for sex and food(money) is in charge, in life i have learnt that all things fall to the lowest common denominator, and as we have a chimp in charge of sl, this is a lesson i think in what the difference is between an animal and a human, maybe we should all leave before we devolve to chimps

Ugh, I saw this announced on OnRez and I'm pissed off to say the least.

First off: what the heck was wrong with the way things were going? Both OnRez and Xstreet are functioning perfectly fine on their own. LL can only make things worse and I don't see how there can possibly be any benefits to this move. Second: they're creating one site and are choosing Xstreet? I'm listed on both, I know both systems, and I have to say OnRez is far, FAR superior. Xstreet as it is now is one gigantic mess of categories, ads and ugly layout. The only thing Xstreet has over OnRez is that it's slightly faster and there are no limits on pic uploads. On the other hand, they take a cut of your profits. Is LL gonna do this too btw? That seems wrong on so many levels.

I sincerely hope LL will somehow implement the OnRez layout and just keep the Xstreet name. OnRez is sleek, a joy to browse through and has useful vendor features. The support is great as well. I filed a ticket for a failed withdrawal and had my money back within half an hour.

I love SL and I've always given LL the benefit of the doubt, but seriously... Why couldn't they just leave things alone and maybe focus on all the database issues we've been having.

merchants on sl r not good thz in part of slx and OnRez ppl will not buy land sell stuff do it on slx and OnRez and for ppl make a mess make slx or onrez accs not log on slx or onrez i made a mistake on my emill and my password so not make slx acc it saying i make a acc on slx i cannot log in to no point buy land not make cash off it no point for home on sl cost rl cash run it
cost of sims go up 100% no cash selling land to i say it monopoly cash on sl good for sl 3ppl run Lindens cash will get messed up sl go on longer

The one thing I love about OnRez is the fact that when I wanna buy something I don't have to find a kiosk to put money into my account. I can just pay Commerce Leader when I find him/her in search (cause it's like a person) and just pay him/her, and then make my purchases. With XStreet, you have to find a kiosk and for a lot of people if you don't have a certain place to go it can be stressful to find a kiosk.

Will you be incorporating this feature into XStreet as well???

How does this enhance my experience? Should the word ENHANCE be replaced with CONTROL?



Are there any other Exchange/Product sites out there? Does this not constitute a monopoly?



How will this help me? Will this be a half-hearted affair like the unfinished Windlight implementation? Does this mean that XStreet and Onrez customer service standards will be replaced by Linden customer service standards?: and we all know what those are like.



What about competition? What about those who find the Onrez format easier to use or vice versa?

Okay so you only have one site to visit, but is that a whole lot easier than typing in 2 web URLs? And is it worth the extra minute to search a couple of sites, for losing the independence of 2 entities separate from LL?



I already have the same products on both, but they cater in a different way to different audiences. Will I lose out here then?

The last question I ask is: What about the money side of it? I keep my profits, land funds etc on XStreet to keep it separate from LL servers and my in world account.

Will the funding side of the exchange be merged with the LindeX? Will my money be mixed with the same servers that the LindeX uses and SL uses? Does this mean increased down time?

**As you can see, I am not impressed by such a duplicitous, untrustworthy, poorly managed company as Linden Research taking over XStreet OR Onrez, nor am I happy that both Onrez and XStreet sold out to them, despite what gratuitously large amount I expect they have been paid. Shame on you both.**

As an aside, I wonder if the OpenSpace sims that were purchased and then had to be abandoned has given LL the funding to do this?

XStreet takes a 5% cut off the top of the sale. OnRez does not. Linden Labs has quite enough revenue already. Please do away with the 5% cut.

I guess it's too late to debate whether or not merging services is a good idea.

But as an merchant on both xstreet and onrez, I would prefer that my dollar balances are NOT merged with my SL account. With the lack of a decent banking system in SL, the shopping sites are the only way I have of maintaining separate personal and business money accounts. If the accounts get merged then my accounting will only get more difficult.

only one comment.
VAT.

When I first used SLX to sell items I thought wow! This is amazingly efficient and reasonably priced for something run by LL. But then my partner corrected me and said it was independent and I thought now it makes sense.... what now?

i have been banned from xstreet for no reason because a customer of mine rated my items.... I am a real life compagny and I am discussed by this cheap attitude... they not only lost me www.hufschmidguitars.com but also Halo guitars authorised replicas.....

if anybody have experienced this before let me know by contacting me directly in secondlife... thanks

Hello again PatrickHufschmid,
>
> I am very sorry but you have violated our restriction against
> Alts/friends/family purchasing and rating your items once again.
> Therefore, we have been left with no choice but to disable all of
> your accounts.
>
> Your $0.92 USD has been converted in to L$, you have been given a
> refund for the unused portion of your product enhancements, and all
> of those L$ along with your L$ account balance have been returned
> to your SL Avatar. Unfortunately, because of the seriousness of
> this offense, your Xstreet accounts will be permanently disabled.
>
> Regards,
> --
> Tigress Stormwind
> Xstreet SL Service Manager