Non-Profit Grid?

which would kinda be the point of a non profit grid, as per the title of the thread.

Never you mind!! Get to bed!!

Hes missing more than just that.

Why do artists paint, sculpt, etc? Why do people make impressive personal websites? Why do people make ellaborate free modifications of games (Go look at all the Half-life mods. Quake mods. Unreal mods. Battlefield series mods. etc). Why are there so many open source coding projects out on the internet? How many people run gameservers just for the heck of it? It sure as hell isn't because they want money.

Its because they enjoy being creative. They enjoy just the sense of fulfillment that comes with people enjoying or using the fruits of their labor. Sometimes they also just enjoy making stuff for the heck of it! I wouldn't at all mind a flat fee system. Pay basic tier and get access to all the content. Pay more to get land. Have LL reward outstanding creativity of certain members by giving them rebates and such(for those that need that extra 'incentive). It makes sense to me?

Capitalism can accomplish all of this, yes, but such leaves all of the responsibility in the members hands, and people are greedy. Also, different kinds of content aren't on equal footing with the current system. Tangible things, such as scripts, objects, etc, are easier to get people to pay for, while places that provide abstracts, like 'entertainment,' have to work their asses off to get around the inadequacies of human nature. I'd gladly pay $10 a month, or perhaps more, for an overall more rounded (and potentially more fun) SL.

On second thought, the reward system would just shift the burden to the people that make tangible objects. There should be some compromise? Could people rate content? Although rating would have the same problem that tipping is right now.. The problem with entertainment is that people show their liking of the product by just being around it (see:traffic), while satisfaction with content reflected by how much a person uses it.

I feel that its kind of like a spectrum. Stuff that would fourish with nice subsidites based off of traffic vs tangible stuff that works great with an 'up front' charge. With DI and dwell, we used to atleast sit somewhere near the center of the spectrum, but with the loss of those two rewards, its shifted far far over to the tangible side. Just how I see things.

Edit#20!: Then there are niche things, such as really neat builds that really dont' do more than look neat.. and those really expensive neat items that only a few pay for.. Those wouldn't fare well at all.. The expensive items work right now.. the neato builds don't at all. Sl is a damn complex beast with so many exceptions...

*To compare this to something you might be more familiar with, cable or satalite television.

First, you pay the setup fee. - buying the land.
Then, you pay your monthly. - your account fee
Then, you pay for all the extra channels. - more land than 512

Don't want that? Get out the rabbit ears. - basic free account**

YOu missed the point. The price for an island is pricey.. like a thousand bucks US. That's more then someone would pay for a dedicated server at a hosting company. This is virtual land.. why so much for virtual isalnd. And then having paid so much for that there's monthly fees PLUS the continuouse fee to play the game. That's a lot of money exchanging hands through a game. Might as well create 4 diff grids then becasue that is only for the rich in RL. and even to pay 75 dollars for 16.000 sqm is outrageouse a month. what I"m saying is .. gotta keep prices reasonable because you go to high to fast and you'll go bust REALLy fast.

IN any company that's growing there is a threshold that needs to e watched. It's really easy to see all them dollar signs and get carried away with pricing thinking folks will take it no matter what. The L$ is going bust becasue not enough people can afford it.. gotta cap that by watching game pricing and feature pricing. folks spend to much on that they can't afford to keep the economy going in game. There is no balance here.

The "virtual island" is being hosted on a bloody expensive piece of hardware, with a bloody lot of bandwidth going to it every month.



You go bust even faster if your expenses exceed your income.

Then you need to look at where expenses are being exceeded and make some cut backs because this method obviousely isn't working.

Seems to be working just fine.

I find it really interesting that people are so against this when it comes down to folks voluntarily adopting a different political model. If people want to try it, why put them down for it? I think having grids with different principles are a logical way for SL to go. It cannot make one model fits all and maximize its consumer base. The teen grind, wells fargo, and educational interests all point to this. Organization by political philosophy is as fair a candidate for division as any other organizing principle, so what skin is it off your nose?

this is all a golden age myth. beta was crap. secondlife is one billion times better now than in beta.

anyone who prefered beta for any reason whatsoever is off their rocker. there was not one thing about beta that made it better than now.

skins
hair
light
francis chung
real incentives for creators
baked textured builds
pixeldoll
snap to grid
streaming audio
streaming video
prim management land tools
selling prims with land
free p2p teleporting
island sims with estate tools
tube
ring
more plants
transparent shiny!
nice water
ati video cards work
less lag
ingrid's mom
the list goes on and on

Because its an increased drain on resources for LL, both monentarily and otherwise.

Splitters.

I think its fear. Honestly why would anyone have a problem with trying something new, or different. Are they afraid ppl will like a free and fun loving society better than the current pay as you go grid. I think so. Are they mearly afraid ppl will like the idea so much that they will no longer be buying products and services on the main grid? Probably. Fear makes ppl do odd things. I offered up a solution for those who feel confinded by the business model LL has in place. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to build but not being on the money making merry go round. I think other ppl feel the same, I could be wrong but I don't think I am. Perhaps the time is right for LL to take a user based poll (In world) and find out what in fact their subscribers want. If there is a large portion of the user base that wants to live on a non $ based grid, I think it would be in LL best interest to provide that service. Rather than wait for a competitor to take those customers away from their player base. This isn't about what is best for those selling products and services, this is about what a portion of the player base has a need for.

Of course ppl will be against this idea, in the end it will cost them profits.

Cat

If you didnd't have to worry about the rights system, then you could run the asset system peer-to-peer and share the cost of the physics with the clients.

And? Nobodys saying the non-profit grid should be free. If LL can't manage to support their infastructure with montly payments of all the members, then either LL did a crummy job managing their money, or there isn't a high demand for the non-profit grid. What's the issue? If it turned into a 'strain' on the profit grid, then obviously the concepts not working, and it'll most likley cease running really quickly. Itd be nice to pay into sl with the knowledge that someones not going cash out more than you put in..

Edit: Not that I have a problem with cashing out in general. I just think that only the money people put in via Lindex and the like should be the only currency allowed back out of sl. I'm dumping cash into the economy because someones providing something that I want enough to warrant handing 'extra' money over for. Comissioning someone is kind of a good example of such. Stipend and such detracts from such, however.. Whatever.

If you feel strongly about it, draw up a business proposal and pitch it to Linden Labs. If it matches their business goals and a reasonable forecast of profitability can be presented, they may go for it.

You'd have to do some market research first and get some good numbers on how many people would really move to a non-profit grid.

And you would have to do everything on the barter system because any game currency ends up getting traded on the open market regardless of if the game company wants it to or not.

.

!

How would you police a non profit grid?


Mr Tree Love: "Excuse me, I hear a rumour that you paid somebody 5 chickens to have that house built for you. You shall be banished from our world forever."

Or:

Mrs Tree Love: "Hey, don't be giving that person a bag of carrots for the help they gave you in building your house. You're encouraging capitalism with such ignorant behaviour. Get your ass out of here."


Money isn't evil. It's a reward. A voucher. We don't reward people with chickens and pigs because livestock has a way of dying on us. They say money stinks, well have you forgotten what pig shit smells like?

I say give it to them.

It wouldn't drain to many of LL's resources to fund the quarter of a sim that it would take to support the 3 or 4 people that would go for something like this.

It would amount to nothing more than a mini sandbox anyways.

Why should they get a private sandbox? There are like ten already just owned by the lindens, and tons more owned privatly.

That's true.

Well, how about a 512m2 plot of land where they could set up their own little socialist government, gather 'round the campfire, and sing "don't worry be happy" in?

@

You depend on voluntary cooperation, slap people on the wrist for griefing, and act all huffy when someone pushes the limits of the rules... but don't do anything until everyone's screaming and massively over-react in a way that hurts other people more than the abuser. Just like they do on the main grid.

What, Second Life isn't socialist enough for you already? Big Phillip takes care of all your avatar's physical needs, and gives everyone free replicators and transporters, it's a veritable worker's paradise!

Sucks to be a capitalist, since the only capital is land and it's taxed at 10% a month, but if you're a worker you're in hog heaven. Don't even need a commune or coop, just sit down in a sandbox and pump out all the prims you want for free... and people pay you for em!

I mean, what does it say in the Communist manifesto?

Workers own the means of production? Check.
From each according to his abilities? Check.
To each according to his needs? Check.

So the difference between beta and now are nice, shiny toys? No more than that?