3.44 800K on lindex I would LOVE to meet that selfish short sighted **^!!><**!!!

Feel free to enighten me.

Pull the corn cobs out of your ears and you will reach enlightenment

Na, I like them, they're superb bs filters

My guess Lewis, is they're loving the barons. It's an efficient model. Large customers like that bring with them continuity of revenue and economies of scale.

Efficient? Perhaps. Sustainable as part of LL's long term future? Time will tell.

Lewis

Do you have any business, accounting or economic background at all Lewis? Are you in any kind of educated position to be assessing the viability or sustainabilty of a particular business model?

just asking kthanxbai

Anshe is beneficial to LL in terms of "short term profitability"? Yes, off course, if she pays the tiers like everyone else (that I doubt or her profits shouldn't be as they are projected, they d be eaten up. I smell she has some special favorable terms and agreements. Dont take my word for that, just calculate the amount of land she holds, rather practically sits on.

I smell she has favorable terms because she is a "model" that LL projects to show the possibility of business in this platform. all media campaigns have a role model to show, and none is better than Anshe.

She is beneficial to LL in either way, no doubt. But, does she provide an essential service that LL really needs apart from media campaigns? Interesting! could someone explain to me in clear terms what is that? I am genuinely interested because maybe I am missing something.

The answer is 'no' to both actually.

The media campaign is particularly damaging to SL as a whole. By promoting the whole "come here, play our game and make thousands of real dollars" aspect, it's bringing in people who have only that on their mind, rather than those who are here to have fun and enjoy creating stuff.

When they realise that their easy money isn't coming, they give up and quit having perhaps never paid a dollar to LL or experienced all the rich diversity that SL is.

Any 'one point' advertising campaign can only draw a particular small target audience. Why is it that SL encourage and promote diversity in-world, yet have a 'one trick hand' when it comes to real life?

Lewis

Ok... let's start with Anshe is assuming the risk... LL is getting tier for the whole sim, from the moment it's sold, rather than slowly over time, if and when the sim fills. That's a big one right there.

They provide a stable revenue stream. Otherwise their revenue may well be more volatile, if they were depending entirely on numerous smaller accounts in the absence of 'barons'.

Then there's the fact that people like Anshe do a lot of legwork, terraforming, dividing up land for sale etc, a lot cheaper and more efficiently than LL could do it internally.

Collection of accounts. Through rentals, people like Anshe indirectly collect a lot of revenue for LL, and they only have to collect from that one stable account. That makes for nice tidy business.

They provide options for LL's customers. They recieve (indirectly), revenue from customers who might now otherwise commit to owning land and paying tier directly, expanding LL's customer base.

Landlords absorb A LOT of enquiries/service issues/cries for help, that would otherwise be directed towards LL, reducing the load on LL's own customer support.

That should do for starters, if I think of more, I'll add to it. I can tell you however, that from my own experiences in business (I owned a magazine), that the large customers that you woo and retain with discounts and good service, are what keep the lights on, and the smaller, fluctuating, customers are what kick you over the line.

For media coverage, I have no idea.

But from an actual service, I agree. What do landbarons do? Set prices on land and subdivide them. Prices can be set by LL automatically to sell land at a certain rate (5L$ per sqm or whatever). Subdividing can be done in grid format, or simply always sell in 512m lots. Buyers can buy waht they want and us land tools to merge. Old landowners selling? Sell themselves, or return to LL for the going rate, then LL sells as a whole parcel. Someone wants that parcel or a piece of it, they buy it, subdivide it as they want, and return the leftovers to LL for the going rate. A few lines of programming under land tool options and the whole thing land thing is fixed.

The service is already there and already automated. Landbarons are just getting paid for it.

~Jessy

I think rather than "set", the word you are looking for is "fix", as in 'artificially inflate to suit their own needs'.

Lewis

I think it's important to distinguish between those who 'flip' land, and those who rent out zoned land. My posts have been concerned with the later. I'm undecided on the former.

Numbered you points for easier refernece.

1) I've not seen whole sims, or even many plots sit for long. Unless landbarons have jacked the prices to the "stupid" level. LL autions sims and lands when they fist are placed on the grid. That shows me that many people are interested in the land. Landbarons just have the money to buy all of it at once.

2) Irrellivant. The money is comming in the same. All automatic via credit cards and paypal, so LL really doesn't have to do a thing to recieve tier.

3) Irrellivant. Most people terraform the land once they buy it from landbarons, so the work done means little to nothing. I'd personally rather the land be completely flat at mid-level for allowable elevation to better see all land possibilties.

4) I would think LL would not have a problem with direct payment verses indirect payment.

5) Valid point. Though that is a rental option you speak of, not one of a landbaron. Buying masses of land and then renting IS a buisiness. But then, the landlord is paying teir for property they plan to continue to own, not sell. They are paying LL and simply making a buisiness by selling a service. Houses, security, nice locations, ambiance, etc.

6) Landlords do. That's why people pay rent. Landbarons do not. They jack prices of land to make a profit by reselling something already sold. Landbarons do not provide anything. They buy and resell to try to make a profit because they have the equidy to buy over the little person and then charge that little person more for the slice they want. While the rest of SL provides content originally created by them to add to the whole. (aside from unscrupulus persons who resell others works).

~Jessy

I was trying to be nice ^.^

Otherwise I might have use the word "gouge"

~Jessy

Jessica, I disagree on the points you think are irrelevant, but that's ok. I don't see how you can disagree with point number 2, though, or find that irrelevant, stable revenue streams are always good for a business. The money may well not come in just the same, small land ownership could fluctuate more dramatically.

I was discussing 'barons' and landlords as one, because people like Anshe are both, Anshe was specifically referenced, and because the term tends to get leveled at anyone who has the audacity to deal with land in any major way. So read that as 'barons who rent and other landlords'.

The decline of the linden began with the removal of the DI. This destroyed an entire sector of the economy, virtually decimating the entire club industry that imployed people, giving them incentives to log in and spend hours playing, and buying things. Club contests bosted demand for clothing and accesories, I remeber going out and buying Formal outfits, green outfits, furry coustumes, or looking for hours to find an orange outfit, just so I would be able to have a chance at wining money at a club contest with tthose requirements.

The removal of DI has LOWERED DEMAND for all aspects of things in SL. Some people regard SL as a game and winning that game meant you could make money off of LL. Playing that game occupied thousands of people's time in SL. LL killed that game with the removal of DI. They LOWERED DEMAND, and lowering the supply of lindens is not the way to go. Increasing demand requires increasing the number of people loging in and giving them motives to keep doing things and wanting to buy things. DI did that, for an insignificant cost to LL compared to the lost value caused by the plumiting demand for the linden. Bring back jobs, bring back the DI, and you will see the demand for purchaces by newbies increase and the slide in the linden will stop.

Lovepeace Languish

3104 L's cost $10.00 us at a rate of 320 L's per $1.00

Premium Account cost $9.95 plus you get 500 L's per week x 4=2000 L's and 1 - 512 lot. with 117 prims per Month.


A condo cost 200 L's per week x 4 = 800 L's with 125 prims per Month .

oooops!

Yeah Ok I'll stick my dummy back in big flapping mouth



Im glad the Lindex guys have decided to let buyers ask for the amount...I think it will in the long term give us some stability in this madness I know some ppl will disagree but LL will hopefully got some expert advise on this decision and have obviously done it to try sort out the mess they inadvertantly created by suggesting they may start selling L$ themselves....even if they did I still think that wouldnt be a bad idea either as they would set the rate other 3rd party buyers & sellers would use as a ruler.

But then Ive got long term vision ( slightly lacking in mathamatical visison ) and enough rocks to hold on w/o flapping and panicking.

I know no matter WHAT LL's long term goal is to make moneyy they are a business and they are well aware if the economy crashes so does their business....they wouldnt do anything long term to create that...people just think its ' us & them' I really dont think theyre that stupid.

Yes they make errors....who doesnt? but I believe in them and the economy WILL sort itself out and settle down eventually but they need to be very careful in what they suggest in the forums...its a very fragile time and the slightest thing can be taken out of context

If ppl haveno confidence in the economy the value falls...thats rl and sl ..

Hmm yeah. Had a recent newbie approach me for a job, wanted to be a partner eventually turns out they knew nothing about building...even simply things needed explaining but was dead keen on uploading textures they'd made and getting them out..

Was explained they needed the income badly....was obvious they had come to SL for that reason alone.

Now thats just one personal experience, I didnt join SL to make money...I joined it for the same reasons I joined There.com and TSO before it but I have always been the tye to try make the game currency rather than have to buy it... so in SL thats what I set out to do and back then it was fairly easy to make a few L$ to mean you never have to buy it...now theres a LOT more ppl in SL all trying to do the same thing...drowning in a sea of other designers and content creators...its a bit like pyramid selling...in that way...you have to be in at teh start to get to the top..other wise your at the bottom making very little L$ and have to work 100 time harder just to be seen.

They NEED to stop the $$$$$$$ adverts its not realistic and it creates frustration and resentment and dare I say it...encourages theft and scamming because they came here to make money...cant so do what ever it takes to make ends meet in the SL financial spends.

Yard Sales grrrrrr The bane of my life!


Oh I better shut up ive been babbling on about this for weeks now...its dull Im sure.!

And THAT is why Stipends need removing. Sorry but seriously for $1.20 BUY SOME! lol

LL are loosing out big time the problem is....when they made that offer in the sign up things have changed in SL...land buyers and sellers are renting etc theres more L$ being made & sold ( largley by land buyers and sellers dumping huge deposits daily) but LL had it signed into the agreement and they have to remove that b4 they can stop it or on the renewals remove it then...if those people who say ' i would leave if they too my stipend ' I ask you....who ARE these people..do you think they contribute to SL in anyway? Obviously there are exceptions but anyone who is here JUST for the 500L$ cant be big spenders in the world I suspect arent big creative content makers or they would easily make that 500L$ back.

Would if effect me? lol omg no... but then I never accepted 500L$ was enough anyway...its no wher nr enough to REALLY enjoy SL.. so on an individual bases its kinda useless ( those that cant stand to live w/o it can go camp prolly already doing it anyway we're breeding a welfare type of culture there too ) but on the whole its puring a LOT of L$ into the world each week...and its effecting ( at least in part ) the continued decline of the L$ value.