Entitlement

Periodically I get the urge to chew over some contraversial subject, and since the forums has such an intelligent, diverse and crazy population, I like to bring it up here. Today's is Entitlement. What is it. Where does it come from. Is it justified?

As always, this is a serious thread. Trolls and flamers start your own thread.
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Since coming to SL I have noticed that many people seem to have a very powerful sense of entitlement.

There are the free account stipend folks who respond to any suggestion that they may lose their $0.30 a week with "I'm deserve that $L 50 because I'm (poor, disabled, can't have fun without it, don't have any skills, can't find a SL job, etc.)."
-->I'm entitled to free entertainment, someone else should pay.

Then there are threads lamented that shopping isn't fun anymore because those greedy content creators raised prices.
-->I'm entitled to your labor and time, don't you dare spoil my fun.

Then there are the patch sucks - roll it back now posts.
-->I'm the center of the universe. It doesn't matter if the majority are fine. How dare you ask me to do some troubleshooting.

And on a more abstract level the ever so popular threads demanding conformance with a particular point of view... the "game" vs. "platform" ones come to mind.
-->I'm entitled to define reality for everyone. If you argue, you're a moron.

Just a sample of the first ones that come to mind.

Are these attitudes pervasive in RL and I just haven't noticed? If so, where do they come from.

I grew up with an expectation that I would have to work for what I want. Contribute to the community at least as much as I take out. And have respect for other people's opinions, time, work, and needs. Am I crazy?

Discuss.

Narcisism. Everyone has it to varried degrees, and it isn't always a bad thing (A little is good). Those with severe levels of it become troublesome to others.

"Me me me." "I deserve _____ ." "I am the center of the universe."

It is a personality flaw/sickness.

You're not crazy but I think you're overestimating people's understanding of Second Life, it's economy, and the effort it takes to make content. We have a lot of people who expect Second Life to be TSO. You may see SL as a part time or full time job but they're here to play an online game.

Well, while I agree that free accounts aren't really paying for anything, and thus are getting something for nothing (the ability to run around SL, socialize and create), I disagree with the whole "You have to work hard for your money" thing within SL. Most of us work damn hard in Real Life everyday, and to me and many others, Second Life is a place to escape that. It is a place to relax, enjoy, live out fantasies, be creative, etc.

I have worked hard in SL many times. Damn hard. But it was never for money, but more for the enjoyment of the project or the feeling of accomplishment in doing something well. Or just to create.

I like stripends. I certainly like them for premium accounts. It enables me to still buy a few things here and there, while not worrying about having to create content to SELL to others. I don't really want to get involved in the entire capitolistic onslaught of SL. To me, it's grossly inflated and overrun already. SL has become almost more extreme than RL in terms of rat race and greed and commercialism. I prefer it to be creative, relaxed and fun, not work for cash.

I also don't want to invest more RL money into SL, as I already pay for a nice land tier to allow me to be creative.

So a decent allowance each week (or charity, welfare, handout if you want to call it those) gives me the freedom to not have to worry about taking other people's money or striving to get my product out there and selling. I can still buy a new item of virtual clothing or a gadget once a week or so, and go about my non-commercial SL life, while still contributing to the SL community or to SL in general.

So I don't feel a sense of entitlement within SL, as I do pay for an account and I do pay a land tier, but I do feel a sense that SL is moving in the wrong direction entirely and that folks that pay for accounts should also get to choose what lifestyle to live and have a little pocket money, and not have to join the "make money in SL" rush.

In my opinion, for what it's worth, I think that the whole direction of commercialism and LL's pushing the fact that you can make real money in SL, has caused more problems and done more harm to SL than good.

Second Life may be far more than it's ever been, but it is far less than it was as well.

As to folks complaining about performance, prices and such, it comes with the territoty and is almost purely LL's fault. Give out free accounts, push money making in SL,. do sloppy patches, don't enforce the ToS, be weak on punishment for griefers, and you end up with unhappy customers.

Some folsk will always complain fo course, but SL is now a ripe place for non-stop complaining, bad attitudes, thievery, scams, griefing and in-fighting.

Add to this the fact that they take away all free spending money from basic accounts (and possibly premium as well), and it will just add to the negative mix. If folks aren't having fun in SL, they will leave eventually. And less L$ to folks means less L$ spent on content from hard-working creators. So while the value of the L$ may go up for a time, sales will drop and so nothing will really be accomplished in the long run, cept a loss of more users.

I certainly don't think you're crazy, but I also don't deign to propose that my way of being is the "right" way of being and all others (especially others that I disagree with) are the "wrong" ways to be.

Entitlement exists on every side, and in varying degrees. I would venture to say that those who believe they are entitled to stipend or cheap goods are afflicted with less hubris than those who believe they are entitled to more than others by virtue of "work." Before I have flame-thowers pointed in my direction, allow me to explain:

Some believe that because they have spent time working on something that they are entitled to have other people pay them for their efforts. In SL, where there are no finite resources (save prim count on a SIM) this holds more water, in my opinion, than those who believe the same thing in First Life.

Ownership is an agreed-upon consensual delusion. If I cut down a tree and make it into a bed, do I "own" that bed? Did I "own" the tree? How do I know? Because others agree with me? Because I have a piece of paper that says so? What if someone else decides that piece of paper is worthless and decides that the bed is "owned" by them? What if they're bigger than me and can legitimately take it by force? Do they "own" it now?

Let's look at food availability - the most egregious example of entitlement that exists, IMO. No other animal on the planet denies others access to food the way humans do. Why is that? The most basic of human needs is locked up and guarded - no one can have any without exchanging their labor for symbols scratched on paper, which are then exchanged for the food.

Except the food is grown on land - land that, without the fallacious concept of "ownership" would be available to everyone. Land is only "owned" because of the agreed-upon consensual delusion. The same could be said for the machinery used to process food. Where did come from? Who owns them? How do you know? Who owned the raw materials that created those machines? How do you know?

Entitlement is a two-way street. If I believe a piece of paper with some symbols scratched on it entitles me to a Big Mac or a Porsche, how is that any different than some shlub believing that by virtue of his existence, he's entitled to eat?

My guess is that everything you mentioned is a convoluted mixture of valid points, with people taking very polarized sides instead of looking at it as a whole. For instance, stippends do help sales, but they also hurt the economy as a whole. SL does work a lot like a game, but it is also a representation of our real life and is viewed by some as a platform that extends all that. Some people complain about buggy updates, but some people actually paid $10 a month for this product and wish to get some quality value for their money. I guess it's basically yet another representation of our real world (especially current America) with people looking at things in WAY too "Black & White" terms, having a group "Us versus Them" mentality, and ignoring all the greys in between.

Yeah Rasah we speak greyish circular terminology in Selma. It effectively shields us from having to face realities and change.

You are certainly crazy, Surreal, but there does exist a very real sense of entitlement within SL and in RL as well.

People want what they want, they want it now and, if possible, they want it for free. There is an expectation, particularly in SL, that the Allmighty Customer should be spoon fed the means with which to participate. While this would be wonderful, it is a utopian view that does not mesh with RL. We would like SL to be separate from all that, but LL exists in the real world and is bound by non-utopian things like employee salary, rent, equipment maintenance, taxes and looming investors.

This entitlement stance exists in all of us to a varying degree, even yourself. A healthy outlook, however, recognizes that our current model of society does not function this way and that we all need to get in the game of life or we are left blowing in the breeze of politicians' breath over whether we get this or that need taken care of by someone else.

I concur with this 110% Could not have said it better.

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I didn't really see much of what David was discussing as entitlement, really. He has expectations and a view as to the best way for LL to do things. I sense that David would understand that he is not entitled to have it that way and that if it goes wildly off course from his vision of entertainment and the value-for-dollar proposition he bought into originally, then he will choose to do something else.

There is a difference between screaming bloody murder over stipends and suggesting a rational reason why they might be a good thing, while knowing full well that LL may not agree and has every right to make those hard decisions in the way that they feel suits there needs/goals best.

I'm not so much hung up on stipends: good or bad, more they make a good example for a certain mindset. I have read many posts that boil down to I WANT IT, GIVE IT TO ME and the person obviously doesn't care how getting their want satisfied impacts anyone. SL makes such an excellent example of this because are no needs.

I suspect some of the sense of entitlement to cheap/free content stems from too much Walmart and not enough exposure to the amount of time, resources, and work crafting requires.

That was a good point someone brought up too. Some content creators feel entitled to support simply because they did something. Content creators have the right to set a value to their work. Consumers have a right to disagree and not buy.

I think the points you presented as entitlement is a very polarized view of things.

What if the person who gets a free account and a small stipend comes into SL, has the best time ever, turns out to be a creative genius pioneers a whole new way of building or creating? Then is that person still getting a handout or is that person now contributing?

What if the person who gets a free account and a small stipend comes into SL, has the best time ever, decides the stipend isn't enough and buys 20K of linden a week and spends it - thereby stimulating the economy. Still getting a handout or contributing?

What if the person who gets a free account a small stipend comes into SL, has the best time ever, turns out to be a musician with a stream and provides hours of entertainment. Still getting a handout or contributing?

As far as shopping being not fun anymore because of higher prices. Well maybe it isnt'. Oh well. But I don't see that as entitlement -- I see that as simply whining.

Here's one for you. People who have enough lindens to sell are vastly outnumbered by people who do not. The value of the linden goes way down. People start threads demanding that LL do something about regardless that the falling value of the linden may benefit the majority. Entitlement? Whining? Contibuting? How about if those people are like a certain unnamed person who is a self-proclaimed economic genius and sells freebies? Does that change the picture even more?

I don't think the world is as black and white as you present it in your post. Not all people who get free accounts with stipends are freeloaders. Not all people who think shopping isn't fun anymore cause the prices went up are unjustified. For someone who can no longer play after a patch, that patch truly does suck for them. No amount of work ethic in the world is going to change that. And LL themselves have led the charge on whether to call this a game or a platform. Kind of hard to chock that up to entitlement.

I think you missed my point.

I am commenting about an attitude of Give me what I want regardless of how it impacts anyone else, not stipends specifically. I very deliberately did not use the "no stipends will ruin the economy" argument for that very reason. Maybe I should have said self-centeredness instead of entitlement.

That segues into something I've seen in SL and in RL - people who feel like they have the right to take and not give. It's like someone who comes to all the parties, but never brings anything or stays to help clean up.

I don't believe any community, society, or civilization can survive that attitude becoming entrenched.

Perhaps another part of is it, "I paid $15US to play WoW, I got everything in that game. I pay SL $10US a month, I should also have a right to just take everything in this game." And the idea that other people have spent their own money and time to create the stuff which these people assume they're entiteled to with their $10US a month payment hasn't yet sunk in?

I don't think I missed your point at all. I understood what you were saying and I addressed it point by point. What I'm saying is that you get people who feel they should get what they want regardless of anyone or anything else at all points in society. In SL its not just people with free accounts or consumers -- its also content creators, event hosts, venue owners, builders, shakers, and cabinet makers. Ok maybe not the last one But the thing is no one group holds the lock on the giving back to the community and no one group holds the lock on the taking from the community and in SL, just as in RL, there are givers and takers. You have your Donald Trumps on the one hand and the Anneberg family on the other. You have your yuppie on the one hand, and your high-earning-but-socially-responsible IT worker on the other. Not all rich people are takers. Not all yuppies are either. But you'll find those folks around -- regardless of whether they are in SL or RL.

I think this may be a good arguement for a large number of people.

"The Other MMO's" are like an all-you-can-eat buffet. You pay one set price and grab your plate and stand in line with everyone else ... get as much as you want to consume, and gobble it down. Want more content? Get back in line ... doesn't cost even a penny more ... consume the whole game's content if you want. Sit here 24/7 for a month and taste every little morsel there is to offer.

SL is like local Fair/Amusement Park. You can pay at the door (if you're Premium) or not if you have a freebie ticket (basic account) and rush in with everyone else. Once you get inside you're surrounded by content to consume ... but ... everything costs extra. Want to ride the rollercoaster? Go buy tickets (L$). Want some fried dough? Thats a different content provider ... have to pony up some L$.


Many people are used to the "I pay, so I get free reign to experience whatever I want" model popular in other MMO's. When they get inside the Fairground/Amusement Park they get discouraged by the fact that everything has an extra pricetag. They want their all-you-can-eat buffet.


Edit* I guess now that I think of it ... my mind doesn't grasp the concept of SL at times either.

I can very easily say "I'll spent $15 a month on an MMO for unlimited content" .. and even if I don't play it that month I'm not bothered and cough up the fee.

Weirdly enough ... I have a nearly impossible time saying "I'll spent $1000L for an outfit" because my mind can't comprehend paying real currency (Since L$ can be exchanged for US$) for something I may not enjoy, may not fit correctly, may just get used once and thrown into a box in my inventory, is just a clump of pixels, etc. Despite it only being a small amount of actual UD$ it doesn't "feel" like a bargain to me.

Then I go through the whole "Well if I buy 10 outfits and wear each one once .. how much would that equate to US$?" All the little costs add up ... and I could wind up spending MORE in SL that I could for one of those "Unlimited Content MMO's" for the month and instead of going on some fantasy orc-killing spree for 4 hours a night, or saving a village from certain doom ... I have a closet of virtual clothes that don't do anything but look purty'. I end up feeling silly for pondering paying "real money" for each little thing I may want in SL.

"I disagree with the whole "You have to work hard for your money" thing within SL. Most of us work damn hard in Real Life everyday, and to me and many others, Second Life is a place to escape that. It is a place to relax, enjoy, live out fantasies, be creative, etc."

If you work hard all day, then I assume you have some money to spend on your relaxation, enjoyment, fantasies and creativity. That's WHY you work.

Musuko.

Well, someone had to work hard for everone to enjoy all the relaxing stuff in SL, too.

If you don't want to spend your SL working, that is your choice. However, nobody is entitled to free entertainment from a corporate entity because they have a hard job somewhere else in the world.

Wow, even I understood Musuko's point and that was sooo not it.

About once a week, y'all go through this "I spend all my time and energy in SL and that makes me more entitled than people who have real lives and come here to relax" argument.

It doesn't make me more eager to spend further time, money, and effort in SL. It doesn't make me think that SL could be an alternative to being creative and generating wealth in real life. Just the opposite.

I understood Musuko Massiel's point very well.

I knew when I logged into SL that I would have to pay for the nicer content. If I don't want to pay, then I make it myself or go without. If people want to pass out freebies or cheapies that's fine, but I don't expect it. In fact, I was surprised when I found it.

However, most of the entitlement attitude I've seen is from the people who want to cash out their L$. Some make content, some rent land et. When these people are unable to sell L$ for the price they wanted, the attitude is that LL should reneg on their contracts with other people in order to save them from their bad investment decisions.

Just because someone spent thousands in either money or time investing in SL doesn't mean that they are entitled to a payout.

I always figured it was really simple; if you want something, you buy it.

As to how you get your money to buy it, thats pretty simple too: you can either buy it on the Lindex or similar, or you can earn it. If you don't want to earn your L$ by working in SL, then you've got to expect to have to buy some. Why anyone should feel entitled to free money is totally beyond me.

It's like going on a package vacation and expecting everything you want to buy on holiday to be given to you - or more correctly, for the holiday company to give you all your spending money. It makes no sense, and I can't understand people who feel this is their right.

Despite what many of the diehards say, at no time to my knowledge have LL ever contractually guaranteed a stipend to anyone forever. Any sense of entitlement seems to be in the interpretation of what they 'bought into' with whatever account type they chose. But personal interpretation and reality are very often entirely different things.

I don't particularly care whether stipends stay or go - it wont affect me one way or the other - I pay my way because I respect the content creators I buy from - but personally I think LL are nuts for giving away free cash in this way.

Actually, given the kind of people who apparently form the rabid 'my stipend is my right!' brigade, frankly I hope that LL do stop stipends and that these people really do have the courage of their convictions and vote with their feet. I don't think your average vocal freeloaders who doesn't even value other content creators work enough to expect to pay anything for them are likely to be missed much anyway.

(I have a bet with myself as to who will respond to this and what they'll say. Over you to guys to prove me right )

(although curiously, most of those particular people are on my ignore list. strange, huh?)

I was a bit confused. However you pay for your fun is fine with me - RL job, SL job, trust fun.. whatever. I just don't get the idea that other people should pay for it.

ehh you get what you pay for