Prim Leasing

I've had this idea floating around a long time that there ought to be a way around the inflexible land = location = prims economy that SL is based on. I realized that it would not make sense to make any changes to the overall economic basis here, since while this system carries with it a number of inequities, it HAS worked very well in encouraging the overall growth and survival of SL.

But reading Cat's thread on an isolated artist's colony made me realize that a local island economy could in fact be created on an alternative system here and now:

Join a group and pay a monthly fee for a certain number of prims on the group land, without regard to a particular size or location used. This way people who have different uses and needs for space might be able to negotiate that as a separate item from prim use. It also offers a way to make different community arrangements, such as combining dwellings into a big structure or setting all the houses into one part of a sim and leaving big open areas as parks and sandboxes.

Anyway, before I explore this further, I thought I'd ask if anyone has tried this variety of rental arrangement already? Being outside the economy for the most part, I don't really know. So, has anyone done this?

This is one method my family and I have put much thought into as a way to help preserve and expand The Forest of Kahruvel and the village we are restoring next to it in Cowell.

We are currently at the limits of what we can handle on our own. A few of the neighbors have donated land tier to the trust and a few residents have been kind enough to donate tier--even though they don't have land near the forest. I like that we have begun to receive a mix of support from people, without even really having to solicit for it. But after our last trust meeting we came to the conclusion that we needed to expand the capabilities of the Phyneas Jack Memorial Trust group and provide group members with some official benefits in exchange for regular support. Like the monthly fee you mentioned.

It's our desire to continue to grow and preserve the forest, as space and resources permit, and provide a place for exploring and documenting the ruins and artifacts buried there. Currently, we are researching the possibility of providing space, prims and benefits for group members according to the level of support they are able to provide. I really like the flexibility you have alluded to in your thread topic and look forward to discussing this more.

Thanks for the thoughts Salazar, I hope you do find a model for sustaining and growing the forest.

Well, other than that, am I to assume this idea is unpopular, or just didn't stir any controversy? It can be hard to tell. I guess I'll consign it to the lead balloon pile after this *bump*.

What if prims were the reward and not L cash? How many griefers and abuse cases are simply driven by boredom? Why shouldn't prims be awarded for good behavior, and taken away for bad behavior - including sandbox privileges?

The whole economy, including poorly designed incentive systems like the present reputation system, doesn't work because its not based on the single scarcest resource: prims. Linden cash is virtually unlimited in supply, so a stipend or a stipend based on behavior doesn't really matter if its not fixed to an absolute value in the scarcest critical resource. To make a poor metaphor - its not the depth of the ocean that matters, its the amount of air on the surface where the boats float that does.

Land is a poor proxy for prims since the number of prims is fixed per land increment. An unlimited supply of cash doesn't work since there are no scale economies to owning land/prims. Therefore any incentive system is flawed, including the reputation system.

There are Chinese nationals working online in SL to accumulate Lindens for their their bosses. No kidding - the minimum take is $1,000 L per Avatar per day so that they can sell the Lindens for US Dollars. Beg, borrow, steal, or win - any method is used since these are poor kids just 12 and 13 who are put to work this way. Is that the kind of incentive system we want to enable or protect?

Why shouldn't someone be able to concentrate prims on any size parcel of land? Why shouldn't prims be bought and sold separately, above a basic minimum floor per parcel of land? Why shouldn't prims be allocated to each new player instead of Linden cash? Why shouldn't all the land be held in common, instead of just sandboxes?

An artificial, or managed, exchange rate doesn't resolve the scarce resource issue - it only complicates it. And all the incentive systems designed around a false currency produce inaccurate effects; for instance, reputation-based stipends, land auctions, work/build vs. play, etc.

What a lot people seem to be talking about is a dispute resolution process or legal framework - not an incentive system. Since there are no political entities in SL we presently confer those duties on the Lindens, but I'm not so sure they ever intended to perform these. They may be waiting to see what kind of political systems emerge, or should we all simply elect Anshe to represent us and provide those services?

Other thoughts? Come on, I'm listening....

Prokofy Neva is doing something similar to this in Furness:

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