If killing GOM outlaws gambling.. could that ruin SecondLife?

Let's face it: a huge part of the economy is gambling. It's entertainment, it's virtual and it involves currency - all things that SL is good at.

If SL is forced to outlaw gambling because it's moving currency in house, we may find that this eliminates a very big part of the economy.

So, ironically, killing GOM could kill SecondLife.

You really trust that all the slot machines and blackjack tables in the game are really and truly playing by honest rules? ...and what does this have to do with land?

I believe this forum is called "Land and the Economy", not just land. And his question does have a valid point.

The ability to purchase virtual currency makes the Linden a true represenitave of cash. Therefore, will not laws effect it based on the state the servers are in?

Enh... I was assuming the two terms ("Land" and "Economy" were AND'd together, not OR'd but thanks for clarifying anyway.

I suspect that potential legal issues may be one of the advantages they've gained by spawning Teen Life, which I don't think has any gambling involved. (I can't be sure without crossing some questionable boundaries to go look-see. Heh.) Should they have to flush SL because of overzealous legalites, they'll still have TL to make a minor buck with, and they could just as easily refork TL back into another version of SL which explicitly disallows gambling.

In any case, I don't see it as much of a threat, since the online poker houses are making *mint* in all 50 states by merely placing the burden of determining jurisdiction on the end-users, who are really in a much better position to know whether or not what they're doing is legal in the states they're doing it in. Greyer still is that if you've never personally translated your L$ into USD or vice-versa it's questionable as to whether or not it could be considered gambling for money. It's only a very small extention from that point to declare that *all* MMORPGs are essentially giant slot-machines, since IGE operates a brisk and black-hearted currency exchange on practically every game out there.

Second Life was just peachy before GOM came along. And for the people that aren't just here to rake in the cash, it'll likely be here long after GOM go.

If the L$ went back to being worth nothing, and you couldn't trade them anywhere, SL would still be just fine, because not EVERYONE is a money obsessed so-called businessman in SL.

Frankly, I'd love to see that happen, and take the money grubbing assholes that GOM and its ilk have spawned with them. And leave SL to the people who actually care about SL, not just about how much cash they think they can squeeze out of its residents.

I totally agree with you....
If money is the root, pull it out!

If money was our only motive, SecondLife would be the last place we'd be!

Tell that to Philip Linden and the advertising department of Linden Labs. The guys at GOM has said from the beginning of their involvement in SL that Philip ASKED them for the L$ to be listed. So blame Philip, not GOM.

I think this is a great point. A good portion of my income comes from the games I have created, a large portion of which are considered gambling. It's always been somewhat of a grey area as to whether or not it would be a sustainable business in the long-term because there wasn't any "real' currency being gambled. Bringing the L$/US$ closer to the in-world economy I think could have an impact on this business, but your point is valid -- we would not be here if it was just about making money.

The great thing about SL is that it is hugely expandable. The ability to craft objects and create behaviors using LSL is extremely powerful and I believe that if gambling were destroyed as a result of this change, other types of pay-to-play systems will be developed. I think this is probably what LL desires anyhow -- new compelling content/apps built on the SL client that generate revenue not just for LL but also for the content/app creators.

That might be all well and good.. but along with that LL would probably have to put the tier fees back to L$? If you think pre 1.2 where only L$ existed and no tier fee. I don't know many that would pay $200 a month US for land that they were not at least getting some return on. Might be wrong.. just a guess..

I don't blame anyone. I'll leave it to everyone else to point fingers and lay blame where they see it. I don't see anything to be blaming anyone for. I think it's a logical natural progression of where Second Life has come to and is going.

And I don't see that this 'revelation' changes a damned thing I said anyway. I'm sure the conversation didn't see Philip offering jobs for life for the GOM boys or guaranteeing that things wouldnt go another way at some point, because he's not that short sighted. Things change. SL more than most.

And if you're angry/appalled/incensed/whatever by what you perceive as an injustice/travesty/selling GOM up the river/Philip selling his soul and SL to the devil, then vote with your feet! Stop forking over your cash to LL and stop using their service!

Anyone who knows me or has even read my posts knows I'm not a Linden apologist by any stretch of the imagination after the way I've been treated, and thats why I sold up and don't participate in SL any more.

But this whole thing is getting way out of proportion. Though it's been very interesting! One of the most revealing set of threads ever. And I don't mean about LL, Philip or GOM

Sorry, Kris, I got confused. For some reason I thought that you thought the "money-grubbing assholes" were responsible for Second Life not being "peachy" any more. I thought that sounded like blame.

Not blame. Inevitability!

I do. I always go play a few rounds of blackjack when I'm L$20 or so short of what I need. It never fails to win me the amount I need (and I tend to play any table I find, not only the marvelous Tony Tigereye ones!)

Makes me wonder why people even own those things...

I have a HORRIBLE gambling addiction so I stay away from those games... for the most part.

I think you would be suprised at how many do just this you should go visit some island owners not everyone is looking at it from dwell aspect but as a place to be creative or create a home and meeting place for thier freinds.

Where the is the idea that gambling will be made illegal coming from? Am I missing something. Where is it said that currency will stop being exchanged? I don't see anything saying that either.

Edited for a mispelling typo of gambling.

The US gov't has for some time been looking at these online gambling sites and knowing that people in states that explicitly bit gambling for money are doing so right under their noses. The main reason they've not done anything seems to be that there's a huge pile of jurisdictional issues and it makes more sense for them to focus on trying to get some tax money out of it on a federal level rather than just handing vast sums of money to lawyers while they try to iron out all the grey areas.