A challenge to Land Barons

I want you, any of you, to tell me exactly what benefit you provide to the average resident of Second Life.

Apart from lining your own pockets for very little effort, I don't see that you do anything to help people.

I would like to upgrade from my 2500m2 of land to the next tier, 4096m2. I can afford the extra monthly cost without a problem.

However, I do have a problem with paying over $100 of real money for L$30,000 to pay some land baron for a piece of land that they probably didn't pay a fraction of that for.

Second Life is meant to allow people to be creative. I want to be more creative, and give more to the game - but I do not see how it's right that I have to pay such high amounts of money to buy the land from another player.

I can understand paying more to LL as you are using more of their server space the more land you have, but to spend what amounts to what would feed me for 2 weeks on a piece of virtual land to another player? That's not an economy, it's daylight robbery!

I propose that more parcels similar to "First Land" but of larger sizes be made available by Linden Labs at realistic prices, rather than the unregulated prices that land barons dream up, and skew the economy which in the end makes everyone suffer.

Discuss.

Lewis

Who is supposed to be managing this centralized sales system? LL?

So, why didn't you buy one of those plots? Not being snippy, I'm just wondering... Is it because they are in undesirable locations? Oddly shaped? Overpriced (in your opinion)?

If someone wants to sell land, why is it good if they sell it to another SL member who is going to add a markup and stick on a horrible banner before they stick it up for sale? A centralised land sales system would not in the slightest affect the availability of land, or require tier.

Yeah, that'll do - they already manage land sales to newbies and own every pixel of the land that's being sold.

I also object to the price. I don't mind paying LL for the amount of land I choose to own, based on a tier system, as that's my choice.

I just object to having to spend money buying the land on top of the monthly fee that could be used for more important things like eating and staying alive.

And no need for tier? How does LL generate revenues? Or are you seeing no need to pay salaries as well?

So you think that LL should hire more employees to manage land. Lewis is proposing that they sell the land at a lower price. Where do either of you expect LL to make money? Charge a membership fee or what?

Said SL member is willing to buy the land quickly. This is what the markup pays for. Without them people who wanted to switch to a new plot would be more likely to be paying tier for two plots until the first one sold. Or risk waiting until the first plot sold and hope the second one had not as well.

They could just release the land but I think we can all see the challenge of that not instantly creating a little mini-baron. Perhaps a neighbor who thinks that they sit on the land a little longer and sell it for a little more.

So you think that LL should hire more employees to manage land. Lewis is proposing that they sell the land at a lower price. Where do either of you expect LL to make money? Charge a membership fee or what?

Is this satire? Sorry, it's geting late here. LL already charge a membership fee and make money.

Would it require more employees? Sure, why not? They'd be getting a greater cut of land sale profits, why wouldn't they if other people can make $$$ out of it?

LL have to fund the purchase of servers somehow.

What each individual pays for what is essentially entertainment is a personnal choice.

I want you, any of you, to tell me exactly what benefit you provide to the average resident of Second Life.

I say this as someone who does not buy and sell land, tho I once did: If LL still have to pay wages for more employees, you are still going to pay similar amounts for your land. The money will just go to those wages instead of the land barons. Do I think LL could do it cheaper? Possibly, tho I doubt it.

That is not what the markup pays for at all. The willingness of an SL member to buy land is irrelevant.

I can't see the challenge of someone releasing the land, to be honest. Maybe I'm just dim.

The willingness of a member to buy it before they have another buyer is completely relevant. That is the whole reason they have tier costs for the land.

There is no challenge preventing anyone from releasing land. The challenge is to how to release the land without creating a mini-baron of your former neighbor or anyone else stumbling across cheap land.

I make it possible for people to have more land for less than they would on the mainland (zero buying price, reduced tier), with more control over it (terraforming rights and weather control) and a low-lag, no-ugly-build guarantee.

Indeed.... but with over 6,000 plots of land currently for sale, where's the sense in Anshe paying for 70 more complete sims to be opened up just to add them to her portfolio? Not much I'd say.


Lewis

Cheaper than a third party who has to develop independent land management tools? Absolutely.

Is this satire? Sorry, it's geting late here. LL already charge a membership fee and make money.

Would it require more employees? Sure, why not? They'd be getting a greater cut of land sale profits, why wouldn't they if other people can make $$$ out of it?

Agreed... but would you rather active players stayed and enjoyed the game, being able to create what they want through having the land (or, in my case, also prim count) they need - or naffed off to some other game, leaving nothing but the land barons and camping chair users in game?

Last one to log out turn off the lights.

Lewis

The reason they have tier costs is to make money; that's it.

That assumption depends entirely on the land sale system being kept the same as it is, which I am not proposing. I am proposing that SL residents not be able to sell land to each other.

I don't think it's so cut and dry. A third party like a land baron will work more hours, and harder, than the average employee would. And that's pretty obvious, their money is based on how well they perform. It's worth noting that if LL employed more staff to manage land, the cost wouldn't just be those extra staff. It would add to managment costs, customer care costs ( it will bring up a whole host of new problems), etc.

Also, right now, LL gets tier pretty much as soon as they release sims. If they managed it themselves, they wouldn't of course.

They are also getting continuous tier from the parcels up for sale which they would not be getting if they bought back land until a new buyer happened along.