LL to Dump Developers Incentives

Finally LL stop bribing the same rich people in sl. Thumbs! up

LL should rather explore SL and when they see something really impressive, someting new and innovative, something beautiful that makes you go WOW, some ingenious uses of the SL tools, they should reward that creator. But not the same person for months and months again.

The innovators are here - lots of them - just waiting to be discovered!

I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll ever happen that they reward the truly innovative creators and content providers. That would require a vote of some kind, whether it be public - and gamed to high heaven - or by Linden vote - and decried as FIC and favoritism. Quite why anyone believes that LL can't reward people with their own money for whatever they believe is worthwhile content is beyond me, but I have no doubt at all it would be widely condemned. Or rather loudly condemned. Since it's always the same few persistent voices.

How about a random list, month to month, of residents to vote for places in SL that deserve to get DI?

As far as camping chairs, I feel they are dumbing down SL.

While I do agree there are definite hurdles to be overcome, not all of the above are necessarilly a bad thing, and some I dont tend to agree with. I see nothing wrong with people playing for cash. In fact, i think it's a major part of what makes SL work in the first place. In the same way that I think the drama queens stirring up drama has its perks. A lot of the fall out with Anshe and others is what got me interested in the game in the first place! And people who are in it for the shear art of it do not need to go comercial, ever. They just need to spend 10 bucks a month to show off their art and recieve enough money to get around with. If that happens to make them money as well, than great!

Yes, you are absolutely right that the most popular spots in SL are places that buy their popularity via money chairs. But what keeps them popular is what they do to keep people there. The money chairs only get people in the door. Ice dragons has money surfing (which I thought was great!) but there was no room what so ever, and not a lot of chatter when I viisted. XL has some chairs that bring people in, but when I got home no one was ever actually "on". So I found Golgotha, which for me is great because I got to meet some people there, there's always games happening (and in close vacinity of each other, so I dont have to fly all around to change games) and for me is a fun place to be.

If you think about it, the original voting boxes provided by LL were a better measurement of "dwell/traffic" as it required someone to manually fly to a station and vote for that location.

Yes, it could be "gamed" in that you could, on a daily basis, fly around and vote for your friends. But at least you aren't an automated zombie (automated using a auto-clicker program)!

I think a voted on list would be fine, but I think you need to designate out what you are voting on. Best Shopping, Best Casino, that sorta thing. Could it be gamed? Sure, but I dont see anyway around it. Leave it as open as possible and hope for the best.

My biggest issue with camping chairs (this coming from a frequent camper) is that it cuts down on my incentive to explore. Otherwise I think it's a wonderful way to make money, and it gave me incentive to meet others. Before I started camping I would wonder aimlessly, occasionally checking out a shop or some such, but never feeling inclined to meet or interact with people. The camping chairs thrust me into it...I had a reason to be where I was (camping for Lindens), and while I was there I might as well see what everyone else is up to. I could basically feel justified in “ghosting”…hanging out, seeing what the people around me were like, and then deciding if I wanted to chat with them or not. I think a lot of the games (tringo, blood 21, etc) have the same effect. You can hop into an area, play your game, and if you like the people around you you can chat it up. If not, you can at least still play your game and get some enjoyment from that.

this is what makes money chairs and games successful and comfortable, at least for this player. They make you money, they bring groups of people together, and you have the *option* to interact at your own pace.

While the elimination of Developer Incentives in the way they have been previously paid out will certainly change the landscape of SL, I see the change as being nothing but good. Our world was filling up way too quickly with "dwell spots" full of camping chairs, dance pads, and Slingo.

I honestly don't know the best way to change the old incentives into a new method of rewarding innovation and development...it seems that LL would almost have to create a whole department to search out and reward innovation every month if they wanted to keep a exploit-free system.

well, i had originally wrote a long post about this, but decided not to give out my trade secrets. But i have a feeling this will hurt clubs pretty bad since they do dish out some money to pay for people to DJ, host, manage their clubs (well the good ones at least pay decent). So, unless people are willing to pay a cover charge, which i dont think will go very well at least for a little while, i would expect quite a few of these places to go away.

Quite right, Carl.

LL is basically now trying to get something for nothing. They want people to create engaging content. Up to now, they have been willing to "put their money where their mouth is" by paying users a fraction of their monthly revenues. With the elimination of the DI, they still (presumably) want users to create great things for their world (and make no mistake, it is *their* world), but don't want to have to do anything to actually incent users to create such content.

What exactly are you saying? LL owes certain people? LL delivers what they promise. We create for ourslves, not LL. DI isnt something LL owes anyone. SL is not some welfare state. Its not what it was about. Its been gamed to death way to long. And I say good ridance, even if its never replaced.

I'm not sure I'd frame it quite that way.


What motivates the people skimming the DI incentive to be involved in Second Life? Likely a huge percentage just cash out.

If anything, the existence of such programs is a powerful incentive for me to stop bothering to create content.

I'd feel less like a fool, working hard while everyone else made money simply by leaving avatars logged in. 24/7 AFK avatars don't want any of the content I make.

This is bullshit logic if you ask me.

Lots of folks develop "content" in the fashion of just having a cool sim with lots of nice things to look at. Maybe you have a beautiful house that people drop by and see or something. Why shouldnt those people get the microscopic amount of lindens they get for creating that environment?

If your "immersive content" (read: crappy shoot-em-up game or porno palace here), is so great why do you need social welfare to support it? It's the non-immersive impossible to categorise *free* content, that is *exactly* the kind of stuff that should have the DI.

I'm not saying LL owes certain people -- I'm saying LL owes everyone who creates interesting content for their world. SL is a blank slate that LL expects users to fill with engaging content that can be marketed (by them) to draw in more users. Basically, DI isn't welfare, it's pay-for-performance. LL doesn't have to pay in-house content developers, because they rely on users to create things that will draw people into their world. In the past, they've been willing to compensate people with a fraction of their revenues. They are now trying to survive on "donated" builds, rather than having to pay for their users' creativity. In my book that isn't right.

You keep missing the point. Anything I create is for the residents not LL. SL isnt some pre-made game. It was made for the members to create. They gave us the basic tools and encourage the esidents to make their dreams come true.
We arent expected to donate to LL with what we create, we create for each of us.Thias constant feeling that LL owes us is what makes DI a good thing? It's done more to harm SL than any other specific thing.

There are two points being made and they are not exclusive of one another. You create for the residents of SL, fine. But a byproduct of your creation is saleable content that is used by LL to recruit paying customers with US $.

Your lack of concern with such exploitation does not void others concerns.

And how do the residents of SL show you their appreciation of your work? Is it perchance with Linden $? If so, where do those Linden come from? The DI has put a lot of Linden into the hands of non-creative types who put long hours into dancepads and camp chairs so they can buy things. Without the camp-and-consume crowd, the economy will be very different; how different depends on what, if anything replaces the DI.

It's easy to sneer at those playing the Ken-and-Barbie consumerist game, but that is what's supporting a large part of the in-game entrepreneurial creativity.

Even assuming that this change only improves the game experience for you, that's still no justification to celebrate someone else's idea of the game being wrecked.

First off I sell very little in SL. I dont need to make money in SL. It's simply and entertainment to me.

I see SL changing daily, the main questions I get anymore are "How do I make Money?". Is this a good thing for SL?

Forcing people to sit in chairs to make a few L$ over hours of being AFK is not helping SL. It's dumbing it down.

Where is the challenge in SL? Is it just to make money sitting in a chair so someone else makes money to pay the tier? I dont see us moving ahead as a community if this is the case.

I have made DI in the past, and had no idea what to do with it. Did I panic when it went away? Of course not.
Untill SL gets back to the creative aspects that it used to have we are sliding down a long deep hole.

I own a club in SL. A gay sex club to be precise. I don't charge for anything and I've kept the place open (and paid the tier fees) and made a little extra $L each week based on dwell. It's not a lot, a couple hundred on good weeks, but enough for me to keep the place open. No dwell money means lots of places that provide free gathering places will close. I know the business fanatics in the forums will want us all to start charging fees, but I didn't get a Second Life to get a Second Career. For 99% of us Second Life isn't about making money. Remember that. If you make it about making money, you could alienate the 99% who are your customer base. The vast majority of your customers don't create content in Second Life. If this is turned into a "Virtual Capitalism" system a lot of us are going to bail.

As I understand it, they are removing the monthly developer incentive award given in US$ to the 100 or so people with the highest dwell.

This is a seperate thing to the daily dwell money you get in L$, I dont think they are removing that.

I hope your right Craig because I have fun thinking of ways (besides camping chairs) to get people to come, and stay for a while, to my land. I'm just getting started but I have lots of ideas. None of them consist of paying them for there time even though I'm not against that method. But part of the fun here is as we all agree on is meeting new people and I shouldn't need an incentive for that but by golly, it sure doesn't hurt, and in fact does just what I think it was ment to, encourage me!

Those few extra $L everyday help me feel like I'm acomplishing something.

I dont own any land (yet, maybe someday) but if you receive $L for people visiting your areas then that is ok by me. If your land is just a bunch of boxes with stores, who wants that? I want to see creative minds at work trying to draw non-land owners to them. There's already several places I visit on a constant basis due to this, whether it be the interesting stuff, things to try out, movies, porn, games, etc. Although the last thing I really need is another casino/gambling house. Geesh! If I wanted boring box malls I'd stay in RL! I love some of the creative stuff I've seen and I hope it continues.

Well if they are still offering the L$ dwell bonus camping chairs may be around yet! And no, 24/7 afk avatars don't make you any money or buy your things, but I sure do, and a friend of mine does as well. I like playing tringo and blood and buying things on occasion, camping chairs just help facilitate that. People talk about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in SL, camping chairs at least spread the money around a little.

It is possible that my club will go to the wall without the DIA, which paid for my tier & membership fees as well as part payment for my radio stream. The way I feel right now is 6 months work down the toilet because I cant fund that from my monthly RL income

I think LL should have really advised us what they intend to replace DIA with, in order for us to start adapting our attractions before they decided DIA was to be scrapped.

Luv

Stacey

xxx

That, unfortunatly, is the bad part of it. The changing of the rules midstream and not providing an alternitive or even a decent period to research different strategies.