Is the DI going/gone and how will it impact SL?

Opening up the can o' worms here!

I'm curious though, if this is true about the DI being axed, then how will this change the entire SL experience? I can imagine camping chairs and money balls would be gone, but then wouldn't shopping malls, casinos, and clubs in general also go? What is going to be the incentive for building, or even owning land?

What are the positives about getting rid of DI?

I realize this is probably a touchy subject, so let's try to not get too heated. Also, I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but I've been searching for an hour and can't find anything on it.....

I have run malls, casinos and clubs in SL. Malls will still be generate revenue from renting space, and casinos.. well we all know how casinos make money. It is the clubs that will hurt the most, as I do not think people will pay cover or pay to dance, at least not enough to cover the cost of operating. Some will think this is a good thing. Regardless of whether clubs are good or bad, they are a very popular past-time in SL, and I think their demise would be very damaging to SL. I am very curious to see what club owners come up with to stay afloat.

Just like real life, I imagine they would probably start charging for entrance. Why should they get a subsidy to stay open?

We're going to see a collapse of shitty clubs, but the ones that DO survive will provide compelling content. Exactly the point of DI in the first place.

Define compelling content.......

Anything that enough people are willing to pay for, that it'll stay in bussiness

Dwell out, cover charge in, some clubs close, other clubs get more popular, players either get used to cover charges, or they seek out and start small clubs that don't charge (because the owner does it for the enjoyment and doesn't care about a loss...)

It'll all balance out in the end.

Just to be pedantic. Dwell is not Developers Incentive. DI is ending as of the the April 1st payment. Dwell will continue to be paid. The Lindens have said Dwell may be eventually phased out--but then again, "eventually" we will have Havok 2...

I must admit I was confused and thought that DI and dwell was the same thing. thank you for setting me straight!

The clubs will be just fine. Its the rich content -- storytelling, discussion groups, some live music, etc, that will go the way of the dodo bird.

I agree 100%.

The proliference of clubs has long been of questionable benefit to SL. Many have commented on clubs appealing to the "baser" instincts of users and discouraging attendance of "legitimate" events by basically offering sex as a lure.

I'm all for clubs as they used to be on SL. The good clubs have always offered fun events. I remember "best pajamas" events, "Club trivia" events (where people could compete for L$ while they were dancing by answering trivia questions) and all sorts of other fun club-sponsored goodies. Then along about the time LL removed LL-supported general events, all that died out and clubs started using trashy events to attract sheer numbers and score on the DI chart.

DI has been very nice for our Elven sims; they have helped us meet sim payments when land rentals were sparce. But we've put a lot of effort into content on those sims. We'll naturally miss the DI, but hope that SL puts something else in its place to really encourage improved content. Many people have commented on a decreased content quality since event stippends ended. I wasn't really happy with that decision. Many have commented that there aren't nearly as many interesting and varied events as there were when people were paid L250 to L500 to put on a good event. Can't say as I totally disagree with LL's decision to stop that, but it definitely affected how events on SL are operated.

As you pointed out, a lot of clubs have no content whatsoever other than T&A events. Those types of clubs, lacking creative ingenuity, will likely vanish, leaving only the best-run clubs to survive. Ultimately, club content might then improve and like you pointed out-- they'll have to charge cover charges, and will have the content to warrant such.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

I agree. I was under the impression that DI and dwell were the same thing. From the discussions I've heard, LL is phasing out (as of this month) the payment to sims for "quality content"... as that payment was largely being misapproprated by "body events" rather than content events.

Dunno, I'd like to hear a Linden comment on what the case really is... or a reference to a Linden announcement so we can be sure. The word to us was that "dwell" payments end as of March.

How are those even remotly tied to DI in any fashion? Granted that was the idea behind it in the first place, but look at the people who actually got it. Land Barons, camping chair owners, sex clubs, and highly popular content creators. Rarely was "rich content" had enough dwell to earn DI.

Never once have I heard someone say "I'm going to start a discussion group because that will make me money fast." People do it because they want to do it, not for monetary gain. If they need funding, all they have to do is look toward the FFRC, ask for donations at the door or whatever else they can think of.

Ending DI will rid the small camping chair areas that aren't tied to shops or casinos. Saddly the latter will probably be around for quite a while. Clubs with shop rentals and/or escorts will stick around. Clubs run by people who enjoy doing it, will stick around. Anything that was there just to get that piece of DI can let the door hit them on their a$$ as they leave.

Could this possibly be a push to get clubs to charge at the door? Where they have to do something different then the literly hundreds of clubs that offer the same box building, same music, and same clique that doesn't talk to anyone to get people to pay to hang. Might be interesting.

I kinda doubt that. Most such events take place on small land sections and can be held basically anywhere that a landholder has interest in that area. The Poetry Guild meets at the ElvenGlen fire ring; that will continue regardless of dwell payments (we hope. LOL).

But many of the clubs operate solely on dwell. Some of them are basically cyber-brothels that employ "escorts" and take a chunk off the payment (ie, cyber-pimps); perhaps they will continue. But many of the clubs that hold "events" just to draw bodies and pull down dwell payments for high traffic, lacking the creativity to survive through legitimate content, will die out. All for the best I say; I'd rather see a few good clubs prosper than a hundred yawners.

LOL, yup.

You know, this is an interesting comment; I had to read your post twice before it clicked.

When I first came to SL over a year ago, here was the standard "club" event:

Club owner, who really loved the idea of running a club, would announce an event with L$ prizes, raffle balls, and some kind of theme that was always fun (science fiction avatars, goofiest avatar, trivia contests, whatever).

Said owner wouldn't just put on the music and have people show up. One in particular that I remember stood there the entire event and greeted newcomers, talked with their visitors, asked people questions and got folks talking. Those events were really fun-- and those clubs had a real reputation for a fun time.

Your comment about people not talking really hit home, because these days club events are more like "zombie" events. You wonder if there are any people behind the avs or if they're off doing homework with their ping program in gear. It's boring. I never hear anyone talk at dances any more... or if they do, it's about someone's boobs looking great or other such drivel. I'm no prude by any means, but geez... I think I outgrew 5th-grade-level "conversation" a few years ago. LOL

I found some of my earliest and best friends at clubs. I don't see that happening these days. Hopefully, this new "drop the dwell" concept (if indeed that is what is happening) might turn that back around again. I never visit clubs anymore; I might start if they return to being fun again.

The sort of stuff that (say) the Shelter or the Elbow Room tend to do on a regular basis?

No no no Merlot, "compelling" is an official Linden term that is above any definition beyond "whatever we want it to mean."

In other words, it has no actual meaning. It's one of those "you're too not intelligencia to fathom these deeply symbolic paradigms of virtual reality parallels though they are relatively common to we who firmly ground our verbiage in the future of dynamic collaboration" things.