Jack, Mark, et al: Read This

Jack, Mark, and the rest of the decision makers at LL need to read this: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/nov2008/ca2008117_654471.htm. Here are the introductory paragraphs:

Whatever the legal realities are as to whether or not this is bait-and-switch, the damage Linden Lab has done to its reputation and to the trust of its customers can only be undone with a *serious* evaluation of their business practices and a return to offering a fair product at a fair price.

Neither of the options they're setting up as the replacement for the current OS sim meets that criteria. And the way LL executives have handled this only shows them to be the same dishonorable corporate [insert epithet here] that have contributed to the erosion of trust in business nationwide (and probably globally).

Dishonorable, or just lacking in competence?

Sometimes one set of behaviors can appear to be the other. And, of course, sometimes it's both.

Interesting editorial. Thanks.

Given that their response to the initial hue and cry about this was to merely postpone the tier increase, despite the well-thought out suggestions of other solutions from several residents, I tend to lean toward putting them in the dishonorable column at the moment. They could fix that, but I don't anticipate it.

Seems to me that rolling Open Space prim limits back to the original 1875 (and keeping the price at $75) would have been a reasonable solution, coupled with the addition of another type of island, perhaps offering 5000 prims for $125 (or even $150) per month. Each of those would have appropriate script and avatar limits.

That would have forced the truly heavy users--those running stores and clubs and high density rentals--to move to the 5000 prim level, and still allowed residents who are using OS sims for one or two personal residences (not land barons renting them out), with no more than 2-4 avatars there at any given time, to keep them.

I know it's been hashed to death already, but I was out of town when this hit, so I'm in a different stage of grief. When I saw this article it struck me as apropos to the situation.

Ah politics *takes in a deep breath full of that stale coffe-like aroma*.

Interesting thing, the article has nothing to do with the subject.

In addition to this, you seem to be patently missing the transient nature of second life. People who have been here awhile are not outraged, because we expect this sort of thing. The only people who are up in arms about this are the people who can't remember the last major shakeup in land and/or community policy.

The fact of the matter is, it's a statistical probability you won't be here in a few months. SL has an extremely low retention rate, and despite having a large number of registered accounts, a fraction of those actually log on and play.

No, there won't be any backlash, and I'll summarize so you can't miss why:

1) LL is a private company. If they want to run the company into the ground, they are free to do so.

2) Most of the users who are here currently, and outraged at the changes (whether right or wrong) will not be here in a few months.

3) LL, knowingly or unknowingly, has always benefited from its ability to drive people off. For every person who has been here for any duration of time, there are 40 people to whom this is an entirely new experience.

Who the president is has no bearing here, and the only people looking to the president to correct their financials and punish the big evil companies are people who don't read contracts, and don't take care of business.

I'm sure if you ever actually did read contracts, you would look at most of them and say, 'This is absurd but, what choice do I have but signing this?' The thought 'don't sign it' comes to mind. The same goes for LL's EULA.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reality Check: There comes a time for customer responsiblity, caveat emptor, and our reaction is to knee jerk, follow the crowd and point the finger at the biggest target. Maybe you should step back, do a little research into what you're espousing. No one can force you to sign a contract, and if you violate the terms of that contract, as many hundreds of people did in this case, a business is not obligated to sit there and eat losses while you abuse the system.

This goes for other businesses as well. If people treated car insurance like they do medical insurance, no one would be able to afford it. The demand of expecting a company to cover an existing condition is ludicrous, that's like buying a car, wrecking it, then expecting someone to insure and replace it after the fact. It would be interesting to see what would happen if people stopped going to the doctor for every little sniffle and we cured our national hypochondria.

LL finds themselves in a similar situation. They offer a service, and offer it on good faith that their customers are adults who won't abuse the system. The second part is foolish, but it doesn't change the fact that they didn't limit the service, and people abused it.

A large portion of the populace proved they couldn't handle the responsibility, so they hired a babysitter. I rarely think LL is right about anything, but they handled this well after the initial kneejerk, and scaled the pricing appropriately. As such, no, I don't think the gobama train is going to be steamrolling linden labs any time soon.

No I'm sorry but no. Linden Lab's eyes were bigger than their belly over this issue and instead of recognising their own greed they blame the people who fed them.

To add to that also in the past when they (LL) made mistakes there was not the amount of members there are today to create the hue and cry we see now I think they have under estimated the customer base this time. Will SL fail i don't think so and i hope not however people will be more careful with investing in the game now and ultimately over time i think it will affect SL as a whole as the ripples from this will continue for a long time and affect new people joining as they ask questions about SL, as people will remember and say what happened to them.

It has plenty to do with the subject. The sense of betrayal at the hands of Corporate America? I'd say a lot of SL residents feel quite betrayed by what appears to be corporate greed.

Statistical, maybe, but I've already been in SL for nearly a year and a half and don't envision leaving, since I have a business and close friends in world. Whether I'll continue to pay LL as much for the privilege is up for debate. Many of the names I've seen posting that they're leaving or at least shutting down their OS sims are long-time SL residents. And the newbies who log in with basic accounts aren't paying LL anything. Most companies consider customer retention extremely important.

The terms of the contract included use of 3750 prims and very little other restriction other than the vague term "light use." And when people use what you sell them beyond what you intended, you go after the "abusers," amend the contract so its terms are more clearly defined, and don't punish the users who were operating within your parameters by raising their rates 66%. Then you see if that solves the problem, and then if you have to raise rates you probably won't need to raise them as much. And you don't alienate as many of your customers.

So it's the users' fault that people used exactly what they were sold? That isn't abuse. That's LL not anticipating the demand and failing, when it became clear that their equipment couldn't handle that demand, to at least re-implement the limits that had been there before April. If you sign up for a cell phone plan of 600 minutes a month, you can use up to 600 minutes a month. The service provider doesn't sell a 600 minute plan and tell you you should only use 400 minutes or you'll overload the transmission towers.

First, I don't think they handled it well at all, nor do I think the pricing is scaled appropriately. Second, I never suggested that the new administration is going to be meddling in the affairs of individual companies or even whole industries, at least not to address this sort of thing.

I did find the article interesting as a commentary on the behavior of corporate America and the feelings of betrayal and mistrust among consumers in light of LL's recent announcements. And, yeah, I do think Mark, Jack, et al should take a cue.

Katarina, you're missing the point. You're right - the President has nothing to do with this. Instead, the election of Obama is actually a manifestation of everyone's overall mood toward the status quo. People are tired of being steamrolled by the government, so they replaced it with people they feel best represents the citizens' needs and wants. People are also tired of being steamrolled by Corporate America; as a result, many of these corporations are now lining up at the White House's door hoping for a bailout. Linden Labs is not immune to the general disgust people have with corporate politics.

The economy is in bad shape right now, and this is even being felt in-world SL. People just don't have the kind of disposable income they once did, and they are beginning to re-evaluate the idea of spending large amounts of real-life currency on a bunch of pixels. Jacking up the price of OS sims in an effort to steer people back toward insanely-expensive full sims will only cause many of these people, barely hanging on as it is, to leave.

You say that for every person who leaves SL, many more will join. That is true; however, is an inaccurate depiction of how things will be if the present course plotted by LL is maintained. It would be more accurate to state that, for every landowning person who leaves, many non-landowning people with little to nothing to add to SL's economy will join. The end result will be an in-world economic depression. There will be fewer things to buy because the creative minds making the stuff will be gone. More landowners will abandon their sims and leave because there is nobody around who can afford to rent parcels from them. The rent for whatever land remains will sharply increase, driving even more in-world contributors out of SL.

There are only two things that can reverse this trend when (not if) it happens: A significant upswing in the real-world economy giving more people large amounts of disposable income; or LL wises up and retailors sim prices and limitations to meet the needs and financial capabilities of more people. The former ain't gonna happen any time soon; and LL's bullheadedness will likely ensure the latter doesn't happen either.

I chuckle when I think that electing Mr Obama is eschewing the status quo. As long as the 2 party system is maintained, the status quo is maintained. There really is little difference between the parties beyond the superficial. *derail off*

What makes you think new players wont "buy land"? They won't know the price is higher, they will just pay the going rate. The prices of land have fluctuated many time I'd imagine. Private sim owners may leave, but there will be mainland. And there will be new creators to replace those that leave. Some in the current generation of SL users seem to think they are last great generation or something. Just as we all came in one day, others will too.

I've always said LL's lack of a definitive business plan would be it's undoing, but I really think they are starting to formulate one. They know where they want to take SL now. It may not be in the directiomn we'd like, but I think enough people already here will stay to keep it going as new people come in. Some of them will turn out to be just as valuable to thier SL as their predecessors.

I think the point is that there is a price anyone new or old will be willing to pay to own land in SL, specially as you can play the game for free, and the new price is maybe just too much.

I also think that the outcry of this change is far greater than any other in the history of SL and when you get an earthquake like this everyone gets to feel it. Maybe not the kids running around the whore houses with their dicks out, but those that want to settle down with a place of their own will sure to have heard it. And anyone who is going to invest real money into SL will surely think again.

This is what makes the 6 month stagger by LL somewhat surprising. The issue of the price rise will remain on the topics of discussion around SL for the next 7-8 months now, rather than just 2. So new people are much more likely to be aware of the pending increase and will possibly not buy.

Dishonorable corporate, isn't that a bit repetitive.

Good point, twice over the next eight months this issue will raise its ugly head again now that the increase is staggered. The easy way out is for the second increase not to happen.

Linden Lab also need to ensure their land store actively states the planned the price increases or there will be a whole lot of moaning from people new to SL who buy an openspace between January and July.

That's a good thing in my book. Perhaps it'll take that much longer for LL to begin to recover (assuming they actually feel it in their pocketbook as residents scale back or abandon land). It allows time for LL to come up with a more workable business model, if they're so inclined, and allows time for anyone still hanging on to their land to determine if they can absorb the increase. And maybe in that time the budding competition can develop a bit more.

Nicely put. As a RL business owner, I agree that this is a step that LL is taking to take more control over the destiny of their company, instead of continuing to operate it like a hobby business out of their basement. It's a normal growing process of any small business taking the right steps to move to the next level.

LL won't be going anywhere, unless someone with incredibly deep pockets and a benevolence not seen in business today decides to compete with them. As the disillusioned people leave, there will be more to replace them. People have been griping about how Wal-Mart runs their business for years, and have organized boycotts, etc. but those people are the proverbial needle in the customer haystack... and Wal-Mart is still expanding and growing.

And no, I have no connection with LL other than being a sim owner. In fact, I think I am going to buy a couple of openspaces this week so that I can still get the $250 setup rate, and then go ahead and convert them to homesteads in January. If anyone has a couple that they want to sell for less than that, to recoup some of their investment, let me know.

ooo !!! smart thinking. You not secretly Mr Buffet are you ??? =)

Hardly. Just another sim owner in SL like you guys/gals. Let me rephrase.

Currently I own one "full region" sim, bought direct from LL about 2 months ago. Because of a couple of things happening (have more renters interested than space available), I am now interested in adding two (currently classifed as Openspace, to be reclassified as Homestead) sims in the next couple of weeks. One to rent to a friend as a residence, and the other for my wife and I to use as our residence so that we can open the land we are currently using for our residence to rental as well.

What I was saying is that I am likely going to do this regardless of what happens with this whole controversy, because it makes sense for us. So, instead of giving the whole $250 setup fee to LL, I figured I might as well just give them the $100 transfer fee and give someone who is going to give up their Openspace anyway a chance to make some of their money back. That's all.

One way or another I will be buying them, so why not try to help one of you people who are giving them up in the bargain?