IRL - Economy

*love* the community college idea!!

Something that I've been thinking about since last night... in the current economic model, we pay "taxes" on all of our objects which are in world. To equate that to the Real World, we (some of us) insure certain objects / have homeowners/renters insurance, etc....

But what if instead of taxing all in world objects...

Objects which are for sale would only be taxed (a percentage of the sale) whenever they sell

I think this would encourage more people to put things in the consignment shop or open their own stores, because they wouldn't have the ongoing expense (of the tax) -- instead just like IRL, they'd only be taxed whenever they sold an object. Could even add a percentage point to the tax amount if the sale took place on public land (this would equate to renting space at a store).

Anything *not* for sale would be considered a "personal" object, and would be "taxed" as long as it was in world.

I dunno if that makes any sense or not...

#!

The TinyMUSE/MUSH systems I used to participate in always paid players a daily stipend, rather than weekly, for just connecting. The first time you connected each calendar day (after midnight server time) you got a set amount of credits. This stipend wasn't cumulative, so if you missed a day, you didn't get that stipend the next time you logged in.

This rewards continual (loyal?) players as well as give them a little bit more to use every day. Perhaps this kind of "thanks for logging in today!" reward could supplement a weekly SL income. It's a bit more immediate and somewhat more gratifying to see a little bit of money every day even if nobody's buying your goods.

I do not think a RW-SL monetary exchange would be particularly beneficial as it would favor those with larger pocketbooks who see nothing wrong with paying a gazillion bucks so they can create all the useless objects they want and leave them lying around as proof of affluence or whatever. Well, I'm sure Linden Labs wouldn't object to folks throwing gobs of money their way... ;) but it'd be done at the expense of game balance, and that'd be a Bad Thing.

Cambridge I agree with this to an extent. There needs to be a safeguard against those who might just login for a sec just to get the reward money then logoff. I'm not trying to nitpick just I think of how systems can be taken advantage of. Otherwise I think this is one of the best ideas yet. Maybe it can be set so that the user has to on a set amount of time? Or it could be based on the previous login. Like if you were on a certain minimum time you get X amount of Linden dollars next login. So this way you can get it on first login, then your reward on next login is determined by how long you stay on this time.

We (LL) agree this is a good idea - rewarding folks for being active. But Charlie is right - need to have actually a fairly slick mechanism for making sure people aren't just leaving their viewer logged in, etc.

Another problem is we don't want to make it financially profitable to waste bandwidth - since this is a broadband service our #1 cost as a company will be paying for the bandwidth you guys use. So that is something to think about as well. Basically if everyone left their viewer on all the time you'd have to pay a lot more for the SL (for us to stay in business!).

We're working on some heuristics for that though... agree that it's a good idea.

Oh yeah, I can definitely see how this kind of system could be abused -- and nobody likes all-day idlers no matter where you are. :)

How about having a centralized place for folks to pick up their daily stipend? (Well, perhaps something themed nicely so it doesn't look or feel like, say, a Virtual Dole Queue... :) )

If anything, the daily stipend could involve requiring players to actually do something in the SL world to get their money, as opposed to simply connecting and cashing in.

OK, this is interesting... quick poll:

Who would like to pick up their 'stipend check' at an in-world station, versus having it automatically deposited into their account?

A pickup would be great as long as there would be a reminder for us to do so. This would leave more in the global pot, as the people that never login never get their check.

So I vote yes

I like the pickup idea too.

Could incorporate it to highlight some other important things. Maybe the check dept. could be in the middle of an area tha has paths leading away from it to a variety of stores and also some type of map/advertisements which display further away destinations. "Economy Center"

Pickup is fine with me.

mc

Wow, Steller, what a great idea! Could also have a 'What's New' area along the way w/'ads' for new attractions, upcoming events, news, etc.

Kerstin

I am somewhat eclectic IRL and would forget to pick it up if I am busy working on something. As IRL I have everyting automated, bill payment ect... so I don't have to worry about minutia like payday.

sounds like social security it is a pretty good idea, although the obvious abuse is someone logging, teleporting to the check delivery point, and then logging out. but atleast if it became a bit of an events center like steller said, it would expose said abusers to what is going on long enough to maybe get them interested.

I would rather get direct deposit because it takes me some time to get three feet lately. BUT..-

Personally I love the idea of having a pick up option for a number of reasons.

I would go loiter in the economy center just to look at new stuff.

It would definitely give an opportunity for another central area.

And we could build shops and rent space for ads in our windows. It would create another trafficed area.

ok i've run over my lunch break babbling at yous

I never noticed, but can you teleport "into" a structure ?? If not, as long as the pick-up point is inside, everyone would have to pass by the shops and info centers.

However, if you CAN teleport inside......never mind.

Tracey

I vote for delivery. lol. Little bots that'll bring your check to you. Maybe along with a drink. Or a pizza. hehe

Kerstin

Direct Deposit, as much as I like the idea of some central area you need to go - I know I would never remember to get my money. I might go there, heck I would make a shop there, but I will get poorer and poorer just 'cause I never remember to get my check from thte box.

BBC

I wouldnt forget my money...... no way. How would I build? lol

We also could have a friendly reminder note in place of our weekly account pop up.

Interesting historical thread. Bump.

Thanks Essence - now I feel old.

not me not me! this was way before my time. ha ha ha

it is an interesting read though. that whole equal footing idea is blown totally out of the water now isn't it. i can breeze in with enough real life cash to buy entire sims and instantly start racking up enourmous dwell while i subdivide and sell the land for more lindens than you will ever earn.

/*disclaimer

no personal attacks intended. just discussing the reality of second life compared with the ancient vision.

*/

Yes.

Yes.

No thanks. What's the benefit or the fun?

Dwell only accrues if you get people to go there. I don't think the latest round of developer bonuses went to any of the full-sim groups.

hmm interesting that this was dug up

Philips reply to this thread (hence one of my recent posts on how SL has turned out)