Protect the Content Providers

SL is increasingly becoming a gold farm for land barons but hostile to content providers. Some of that is builders own fault, and rest is of LLs.


I therefore have a few recommendations to all SL Builders and Content Providers to protect their interests and also the long run interests of SL Economy.

1. End Freebie Culture. Don't give anything away free. make it a principle and commit to it. Would you ever get a single sqm free? Then why are you doing that with your own talent and effort? Everytime you give something free, remeber you are hurting EVERY CONTENT CREATOR including yourself. Charge prices, and never charge less than L$10 for the things you used to give free.

Why would someone buy your stuff if they can get it free. So be kind to yourself and other builders and CHARGE for everything.

2. Make a Consortium, a Content providers Group that would regularly advise minimum prices and reccommend estimated percentage increase in prices according to changes in L$ value. That group would look for ways to peotect the interests of builders and content providers in SL. And that group would also "negotiate" with LL to change certain policies which are hurting them.

3. Keep a goal in mind when revenue generated through content should match the one generated by buying and selling land.

...open to suggestions.

actually giving a free sample is good advertising. RL companies do it all the time. When I had my baby in RL I was flooded with offers for free samples of products. And I'm not talking 1 bottle worth of formula, but a whole can. It's not like they give away all their content, just something to wet the appetite of the consumer so they'll come back and make a purchase.

I love to see people being generous. Granted I paid for almost everything in my inventory, but I don't think there is anything wrong with a content creator who's doing it just for fun to give away something for free. I don't think we need to encourage any more greed in this game. It makes me sad to see so many players who started out just enjoying the fact that they could make something, have fun making it, and happily share it with other players, turn into stressed out "content creators" who are worried that they won't make enough sales to pay their tier. Go back to the tier you can afford and have fun again.

#2 - Make a consortium (e.g. Price fixing?) - his doesn't work, because there will always be someone willing to undercut you.

The problem here is that there are two types of content creators. The type that do it for the fun of it, and the type that want to make money. And because there's no REAL difference in quality of the products presented other than stylistic, there is no mass market for the content creators trying to make a buck.

It's a Wal-mart culture, folks. If you want people to shop at Sak's Fifth Avenue, there's going to have to be a big enough difference between your texture and/or architecture than theirs.

Builders/Sculptors have a much better case for charging well for their content because it's not as easy a task to perform.

Youre actually suggesting nothing in the game should be free? that boggles me completely. So the creators of sims like Numbakulla and Darkwood and Lost Apollo Gardens should all charge admission? Content providers should be here for money and not to provide fun and amusement for others? How am I hurting anyone by creating a simple item and giving it away?

As for the consortium... there is one, in a way. Take hair for example. Most hair packs (not the so called fatpacks - i actually like that term!) are around $200L Most people selling things look at the market, see what it can withstand, see what others are charging and adjust their prices accordingly.

Im just shocked for anyone to suggest that we shouldnt give things away. Sorry new person, Im not helping you out today by giving out freebies. Sorry Yadni, time to close this junkyard down!

To some, fame is more valuable than fortune.

If you have a superior product and want to make a name for yourself and don't care about the L$... you make it free.

What people want is what will prevail... thinking folks will band together in some common behavior to do something like protect the value of competitor's offerings is rather wishful thinking.

Actually, giving free "Sample" in SL is not good advertising, darling. Because "sample" here is itself an everlasting product. You may go to buy more milk after consuming your bottle in RL, but you d live forever with that one "sample" you got in SL. Your glass of milk will never finish, and you d never need to go buy more glasses of milk. You are totally out of order here when you say that they would come back and make a purchase after getting a free "sample". Maybe thats the thinking pattern that is hurting builders dsay inday out. I know a builder in SL who started just a few months back and is PROFITABLE. He never gave a single prim free unless it is a gift to friends. I by all reasons admire him. He is the model I want to follow and want every builder to be like him. He does have his advertising strtegy that works excellent without giving anything free.

Freebie Culture hurts every builder and it will eventually hurt the whole SL by jeopardising its future. people who think like you are actually failing LL, because thats what LL has as a slogan that "you can earn your livelihood here". You fail us, and you fail LL alike.

You fail us, and you fail LL alike.

Actually, I believe that giving free content away is at the very core of what keeps me in SL. Free content, including clothes, vehicles, open source scripts and the like have all made my time in SL more enjoyable and is basically the only reason I stay.

From such content I have learned how to make my own clothes, vehicles and write some scripts. I am far from the best in any of these areas but make it a point to pass along the general idea - that is, free things I have learned and made based on free things I have found, been given and copied/studied.

So, as far as I am concerned, if the "economy" goes to hell in a handbasket... ofw. SL will continue to be a content rich environment so long as people continue to share.

Disagree all you want. Free stuff is good for me, for you and I honestly believe, for the "so-called economy" (without free content/contributions from those who have been willing to share their knowledge and skills this economy wouldn't exits).

I disagree. I give away free samples as part of my buisness model. It brings me repeat buisness in 2 ways:

1. Firstly, I give away an item that has matching "extras" in the same style. I then have a very high hit rate on people coming back to the store to _buy_ the matching extras, to get more value out of their freebie.

2. After a point, people realise "hey, wait a minute... *everybody* else has the free thing, and I want to be different...."

No.

I like giving away freebies, and they help people learn. I learnt using freebies myself.

Theres nothing as Free lunch in RL. Why should it be in SL? Though I am a freebie user who never bought anything, I still agree with Eien as I see what he is saying and how it d hurt. I dont need to buy to enjoy, so i wont buy. OMG...he is right, i m myself an example. Sorry eien.

So what, you're saying you want to have less fun?

Why the cap at 10L though is what I'd like to know. I follow the upload fee only rule as my mission, and even doing so, I will always be blasted by several for "aiding in the economy's demise." It's all just a matter of opinion of what the person feels is proper to charge... and since the product is the results of the creator... their feelings of what proper should be is the most valid to that item. And with the undercutting of price or freebies, that transaction is often used to justify more extravagant purchases. "I just saved hundreds of lindens on that freebie... I think I'll go buy a car."

Often in the clothes industry, things given away for free fall under the category of flawed or other. Other usually being the creator felt he or she sold enough copies and wants to share it, or is old in terms of the developed skill of the creator no longer is equal to the price set of current items.



Because the charged stuff is a lot better and you can get customer service for it where freebies are often not. I've seen clothes creators use their freebies as though to educate the newbies on what to look for in clothing. That designer even added a notecard, listing the flaws in the clothing so newbies would know how to examine clothes and determine quality apart from crap.



The day that happens is the day everyone on this forum agrees with a method of saving the linden... ::checks ths forum subjects' listed:: Not any time soon.

* smiles broadly and resists falling and hurting herself from rolling on the floor totally overcome in laughter *

Be prepared to be torn to pieces by the socialists among us for writing this.

... and trust me they are a formidable group in SL, and these forums, due to the mentality of the masses of players enticed to SL by free membership and stipends.

Sorry, Babu, but freebies are a common marketing practice in RL because it works.

Like all marketing, not everybody is going to buy after getting a freebie, maybe your product doesn't appeal to their style et.

But when you're a wandering noob and you get a folder with some gorgeous items and a landmark to the store, you will open up the landmark and check the store out. I've done it and I've bought.

No, i want to have fun, i just agree with eien's point in principle. Because i know if I had to buy everything, then I d have bought L$ and situation would be better for everyone who are screaming in these posts....lol... I m having fun, but what making me feel bad is that I am having fun on the expense of others.

You're not having fun at my expense. I want people to take my freebies and have fun with them. The majority of thing-builders (I don't really like the term "content providers", there's lots of stuff that is "content" but not an object) out there seem to be quite happy to give away free things.

Land baron are already too busy keeping their business alive.
I don't see ANY hostility against content provider.
But i noticed a lot of hostility against land baron.

If you don't want to deal with land baron, buy yourself a land from Linden Lab: 195US$/month and 1000+US$ (1250 for private island, auction starting at 1000 for mainland sim).




1L$ or 10L$ ... what's the difference ?
You think that charging more for freebee will resolve ANY problem ?



Because it's stuff they can't find as freebee, because you don't have customer support with freebee, because charged content are usually better than freebee.

Freebee is good, freebee raise the quality of commercial content.
Freebee is good, you can learn how to build in reverse-engeneering full-perm freebee.
I build freebee, i love to help people. That's my way to enjoy SL.



Are you serious ? It will never work, never.
You're like "music major" (RIAA) dealing with government to protect their business.
I'm waiting for "Freebee = piracy"



SL isn't all about money.

Your suggestions are insane, really.

I know that, but I do have something that he built and is so good i wouldnt have mind paying for it but it was free. maybe he s learnt something and is changing his mind.

I'll continue to give away my free item and i'll continue to have advertising the likes of which can't be bought. thanks for the concern though.

Im sure you have me listed under "socialists and freebie mentality" ... but i'd love to hear your stance on this, as i always avidly read what you write whether i agree or not. Whats the harm in offering freebies?

(BTW, I wasnt enticed her under a free membership ... I used to have a premium account but rl circumstances forced me not to renew)

I think this is too simplistic, you can't lump all content into one category and say it should all be charged for.

Some items are too simple to really be worth charging for so the creator will get greater satisfaction from giving them out for free. Some items are "world improving" like invisprims and deserve to be freely available.

From what I've seen the vast majority of creators charge anyway.

How is it becoming a "gold farm" for residents who deal in land? What recent happenings have made SL hostile to content creators? Devalue of the L$ appears to be hitting land "barons" far more directly than content creators as those who deal in land have set expenses and already very thin profit margins.

Besides this suggestion being totally impossible to get any large number of content creators to follow, it would hurt EVERY CONTENT CREATOR's bottom line along with helping to take the value of the L$ even lower. Better to have L$ being spent on content that is worth the price than a bunch of 10L$ content that will get bought, perform like crap and go a long way to making new residents be very cautious about how much L$ to buy and what content is worth it.

That's why freebies are good. Sets the quality mark higher than the garbage or simplistic level. Sure a few content creators, who aren't in it for the money, make great free stuff but that's the distant exception to the freebie standard.

Doesn't take a group to do basic math.

What policies are currently hurting content creators?

Not sure how it can or should match. Dealing in land has a lot of overhead, with man-hours that scale based on how much land one has to deal with and requires a substantial amount (by SL terms) of capital to start. While content creation is usually low overhead, varying amount of man-hours depending on what one is developing and requires no or very little starting capital.

I'm interested in hearing why you think SL is becoming hostile to content developers.

I didn't get where I am in SL today by being a money-grubbing miser. My L$2. ^^

18 Avatars, 11 Freebies, Still Going Strong.

PS: Don't forget to get your limited edition free shoulder griffy.

My Breakdown:


SL nor its users have been very hostile to me... *boggle*


Sorry, can't do. Freebies help, plain and simple. Your lack of argument to the contrary does not bolster your position...


Actually, yes, on many occassions I've been offered free land for vendors, if that is what you mean.


Because it's FUN. It's not about the money you know...


How? Every time I give something free it triggers a surge of new customers.


Even though I spend perhaps L$150 uploading textures and sounds for a freebie, I don't mind if I don't get that back in my wallet... I'm trying to make people smile, not make them poor. I have a sneaky suspicion you're an alt of of of the people that keep starting the "Linden is falling, run for your lives" threads...... :>


I don't sell what I give as freebies. I don't understand what you mean.... if I gave Item X as a freebie then why would I want to sell it too? That just womps, man.


I doubt the Lindens would get involved with this. Most would probably say "Whoa, Nellie, I ain't touchin' this with a 10-metre cylinder."


But wait... I'm not buying and selling land. What does this have to do with me??