we need to do something..

I am retracting my earlier statement about "Black Monday"
and changing it to: "Great L$ Crash of March06"

I know I wouldn't cancel premium. I'm a land owner and enjoy my land. Not to mention the fact that I must own land on behalf of Cyberland. Maybe I'm the only one who would stay premium, but I think that your doom and gloom ramblings are highly overrated. Or, have you queried every other premium member besides me?

Personally, I don't care what the exchange rate is, so long as people can continue doing business in SL by pushing more volume and/or successfully raising their revenue to compensate for the exchange rate. So what if it eventually hits 500:1 if it's still actively traded? Yes there will be fall-out and changes in SecondLife, but it's not a 'crash'.

Raise or lower your prices to reflect current exchange rates as the market moves. Problem solved. If you sold an item for L$25 based on the false assumption that L$250 was worth a dollar, the price should be adjusted to L$28 or so.

How about the people still waiting at L$250? Or L$260? Or L$270?

You keep on waiting and watching your US$ sink into the abyss

RBD, what is your plan on your dealings with your linden dollars?

That information is marked: Classified

You'll just have to experience my grand plan....

Nah, I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD.

Sincerely,
The SL Business Community

Dear Jopsy:

You might not care what the exchange rate is of the L$, but the
rest of SLers actually have assets in SL and do care about the
exchange rate. The rest of normal society feels that a falling
exchange rate devalues their property (ie: Land/Widgets/Services).
Making investments worthless 2/seconds after you buy it.

So you go right ahead feeling that the exchange rate means nothing
to you, while the rest of us debate the macro and micro economics
behind the L$'s decline.

I believe I hear a bell ringing.... Your mother is calling you for school.

Sincerely,
The SL Business Community

Sincerely,
The SL Business Community

I am also a business owner and actually laugh at your comments reserve..you don't represent me.

To blame the economy on stipents is comedy. Anyone who really watches the market will see its not being drive by someone posting 500L up for sale. Those people moving 100K to a million credits around didn't get that from saving stipends. I have seen the L drop into the 280s one week only to fall back into the 270s a week later. This kind of flux is nothing and really silly to make these kinds of threads over.

The all so observant economist wannabes failed to notice the Land Store opened last week and the current Linden Market is being driven by land sales. A lot of the current market reflects people converting Lindens to US for Island Purchases which is easy to see if you actually watch the market and see the large blocks of Linden being moved around. And yes, people want to buy now and not wait till the market goes down again. They are willing to pay an extra 20-30 US. If anything, this shows a very healthy market and is good for both LL and the people of SL.

Dear Jopsy:

You might not care what the exchange rate is of the L$, but the
rest of SLers actually have assets in SL and do care about the
exchange rate. The rest of normal society feels that a falling
exchange rate devalues their property (ie: Land/Widgets/Services).
Making investments worthless 2/seconds after you buy it.

So you go right ahead feeling that the exchange rate means nothing
to you, while the rest of us debate the macro and micro economics
behind the L$'s decline.

I believe I hear a bell ringing.... Your mother is calling you for school.

Sincerely,
The SL Business Community

Do you realise we have good content because of the exchange market? That many wonderful projects are funded by a business that pays the tier? That highly talented and skilled people are producing content because they can justify their time because they get a return on that investment?
So you think that someone who makes a beautiful sim, and funds it from a business operating in that sim, should pay $195 a month out of their own pocket to provide the rest of us with entertainment/a nice experience/whatever? You wouldn't see projects of the scale and beauty of Lost Gardens of Apollo. Clothes would be a whole lot shittier. Anims would be amateur etc etc.
'Game' money is only attractive for so long. Once your $L balance hits 6 figures, you have more than enough just to 'play'. Shopping for your avi only holds your interest so far... I've got everything I need, I'm set, I already bought out Acedia's.
And why is it so bad that people make money in SL? It's more than just 'land barons' out there making money. If someone is skilled at making anims, clothes, textures, building... well, in my opinion, what a wonderful creative way to make some/all of your living.
Viewing SL as a game is a very narrow way of looking at it. If that's all you see it as, then you are really missing it's true potential and attraction. As I've said before, there's games within it, it's a game for some, but it is not merely a game. If you want to 'play' it that way fine, but why begrudge those who see it as more?
SL is a platform, a creative community, it's lots of things...
Returning to the topic of the thread... I think a component of the $L current woes stems from that fact that SL is not particularly desirable right now. Another crap update, my avatar's been invisble for most of the week (so why would I buy something for my avi right now?), and I'm not the only one, a lot of people have been having this issue with this update.
Important fixes/features that have long been promised are now widely regarded as a joke, while we get trivialities like, and I can't get over this, the whole "editing appearance" thing (like, if I hadn't realised they were editing appearance cos their arms were stuck out, would it matter? What's it to me?). Building is not so much fun anymore, it seems buggier than ever before.
Many people have become quite jaded, to say the least. I'm tiering down, I was going to move, but instead, I'll wait and see if things get any better (like when I can see my avatar again). If SL is not attractive, then neither is the $L.

You don't count anyways... Mr. "I Pay For My Stipends"

What country at you from again? You are correct, there aren't
L$500 being posted on the LindenX, its hundreds of thousands or
millions.. What you are missing is the fact that all that new money
is being spent in the economy and filtering up into the hands of
the business owners, who then turn around and put up LindenX
postings for L$1,000,000...

The fact still remains, the constant inflow of new Linden Dollars
is creating a huge imbalance in the Money Supply. And since the
value of the Linden Dollar is based on Supply/Demand, the Supply
Side Economics of the L$ is overwhelming the Demand Side.
The net result is a downward trend in value. Duh!!!

What country at you from again? You are correct, there aren't
L$500 being posted on the LindenX, its hundreds of thousands or
millions.. What you are missing is the fact that all that new money
is being spent in the economy and filtering up into the hands of
the business owners, who then turn around and put up LindenX
postings for L$1,000,000...

The fact still remains, the constant inflow of new Linden Dollars
is creating a huge imbalance in the Money Supply. And since the
value of the Linden Dollar is based on Supply/Demand, the Supply
Side Economics of the L$ is overwhelming the Demand Side.
The net result is a downward trend in value. Duh!!!

I have given up trying to explain basic economic priniciples to the masses.

Some residents either have a very difficult time grasping Basic Econ 101 or chose to ignore the obvious.

I have given up trying to explain basic economic priniciples to the masses.

Some residents either have a very difficult time grasping Basic Econ 101 or chose to ignore the obvious.

It dumbfounds me that people are actually of the opinion that cutting stipends, or the release of cashflow of any type into the economy, will not have an effect on the LindeX. As far as I'm concerned, the question should not be whether stipends should be cut, but what percentage of that stipend cashflow should be eliminated.

Unlike yourself, I do not believe that cutting all stipends would be prudent. That's a drastic measure that IMHO would be disastrous. The best practice would be to, over time, eliminate small percentages of the stipend cashflow, starting with the basic stipend and starting allowance, until a balance is achieved.

There are many positives for proceeding in this manner. One of which is the lack of a "shock factor." If LL were to eliminate all stipends it would shock SL to the core. Premium members expect, and deserve, to receive "something" for their monthly fee subscription. If LL were to eliminate all stipends, as you propose, what would be the difference between a basic membership and a premium membership?

A 512m2 piece of land?

Surely you jest?

Ninety-five percent of SL's residents would immediately switch to basic. This is just a given, and it could prove disastrous for LL's bottom line.

Either way, despite your extreme views, your patience in attempting to explain Basic Economic Principles to the masses, over and over again, is admirable.

Now repeat it 1,000 times more and maybe some of them will start getting it.

In the meantime, I won't be holding my breath