Will SLEXchange be GOM'ed?

They are turning a handsome profit... and it would make it easier for users if LL nationalized the industry....

my prediction: Look for it to happen.

I would be really surprised if we don't see a LL run shopping site within the next 12 months.

I really hope a standardized web-to-SL shopping mechanism is developed and maintained by Linden Lab. Definitely a missing piece that would serve us well to have implemented. Even if they did that, though, I think there's more than a little value-add that only the shopping sites can provide. Hopefully Linden Lab standardizes an API which will then leave the shopping sites free to focus on the crucial work of making more compelling, easy-to-use online shopping spaces.

Linden Lab's strength is in meeting our needs technically (don't laugh). I don't think their strength is in delivering finished, polished pretty product that's flexible enough to meet the needs of any given customer -- that's what they leave to us. (Look how shitty the classifieds are, for example).

I absolutely have to believe that Linden Lab will develop a standardized mechanism for web-to-SL exchange while leaving the heavy lifting of designing the user experience and web destinations to the residents. They may provide a simplistic product showcase area on the web, but I don't think they can properly meet our needs for a robust, feature-complete shopping portal that can grow alongside the rest of the service. I just hope they understand that.

edit: Moreover, while it makes sense to wholly control the currency exchange mechanism, which is, at its heart, a technical problem, no one is better served by Linden Lab's exclusive control of reliable, web-based shopping, since that is a marketing and user experience problem -- a problem Linden Lab has absolutely no business trying to solve for more than 150,000 people.

I'd still be very surprised if they didn't

I agree, actually. LL will not replace SLExchange, but they will replace all the high margin features and make it so all the profit goes to LL and let us do all the heavy lifting.

I small IMVU style shopping. IMVu = ewww. IMVU style shopping = ooooh shiny!

Probably.

<10 months away

That prediction took about as many brain cells as a person saying 'it'll get dark tonight.' It's only been a question of when. Once LL decided to squash GOM, it was abundantly clear that SLEx was an eventuality.

- Newfie

There's lots of good reasons for internalising these things even if there is user competition, user experience, feature list and profitability will all improve. Looking back on it, it was pretty crazy that SL didn't provide you a way to buy currency but now you can just do it ingame.

you can't do it in game, it redirects you out of the game to the lindex site.

user experience is exactly what I think would improve if LL left certain services to residents because it leaves another something for users to gain experience/have fun doing.

It could help their profitability, but so does gaining more users looking to provide and hire people to support their services. Also LL doing it themselves require that they pay employees to do it.

You're right, as far as the feature list goes, the more LL can do itself, the more they can slap on the feature list. LL doesn't really lack for things they could and are working on adding to their feature list though. Things that do not compete with residents.

The player run "ATM"s are just redirects, but there are lots of ways to buy off lindex in game without even knowing lindex exists.

ah k, I stand corrected.

However, my solution in LL's place would have been to work on some api for atm's in world, so as to enable better user run exchanges.

Didn't they already mention, or atleast allude, that the implementation of something like this was in their "to do" list?

I don't know but I sure hope so...it would be a great money sink, maybe instead of taking a percent of each sale they can charge $L100+ for every listing..

At the Town Hall today, the first question to Philip (from Hiro Pendragon) was to ask what features he (Philip) thinks are essential to allowing SL to grow to a million residents.

Philip's reply, summarized, was:

1) Increase the frames per second, and
2) Make it easier to find things (like the hyperflute --- which is an object, not an event, land, a person, or a place)

He suggested that Linden Lab might start out with a web-based search. (If HTML-on-a-prim becomes available, that wouldn't be so bad.)

Bottom line:

If Philip thinks that making it easier to find things is essential, then Linden Lab is working on this.

That is no longer correct. I bought $L a few days ago in world and unlike last time where it took me to the website; a window popped up, let me enter my amount, verify, and my $L balance was credited. Quite nice and no website visit.