Radical action is needed

Why should I be grateful. Sure I'll make things just for fun, but then screw customer service. Then how about tweaking certain items for hours on hours, screw that. I'll just go to the club.
Oh and by the way, this expermiment of theirs is doing just fine. I'm not whining about the rate either. I'll be smart and do what is necessary and wait a few months for things to get better.
LL allowing users to cash out was the best idea ever to get users to put in a lot of hours and hard work to make second life at least one of the best virtual games ever.

You'll be waiting for something that CANNOT happen within the current economic situation.

According to their latest economic statistics https://secondlife.com/currency/economy.php
they (Lindens) are pumping roughly L$50,000,000 more into the game per month than they are taking out. Unless there is a drastic change in the balance sheet, our L$ will be quite worthless in the near future.

This has always been OUR world....a world belonging to the subscribed players, albeit managed by the Lindens. WE have to find a way to control this economy. We surely can't leave it up to the Lindens.

How about some ideas?

Doh! Hellllooooo Lewis. Is there anybody in there?

That statement is so blatantly hypocritical, not in and of itself, but certainly when followed by the shameless capatalistic advertising in your signature!

Judging by the number of your posts, you are obviously a man of many words. Why not use some of those words to help change things?

If you had read any number of my posts, you'd realise I was here to have fun, not make money. Using my signature to advertise is perfectly legitimate, as are things like the classified and parcel listing fees that I pay weekly that eat up a large part of my stipend. That's not "capitalism" by any stretch of the imagination, it's just advertising.

As for 'being a man of many words', don't you think I am trying to 'help change things' by offering the solutions against the scourge of capitalism and people milking the game for their own benefits?

Lewis

As long as it doesn't involve taking my stipend away without compensation or lowered premium fees, we can discuss.

if the problem is with a glut of linden dollars from stipends, wouldn't the solution be to take away stipends? what if they just reduced stipend payouts to l$50 across the board?

Yeah, he's British. They practically invented this frikin language. Cut him some slack


BTW guys, check the market. The "Weekend Effect" has extended all the way to Friday. Despite it popping up to 335 once in a while, and a LARGE $1,400,000 SINGLE sell order being stuffed into the 334 range, the $L's are selling at a rate of $1.5k to $2k per minute (sometimes per 30 seconds). I wouldn't be surprised if the market was back to 330 by evening. Maybe there's some hope for us all yet

Because my contract with them says 500 a week. If they reduce it to 50 at the renewal date but don't lower fees, guess what? One les spremium. Less income for LL.

Jonas-

If the point didn't get across the other 30+ times you've brought this up... you think saying it again will have any impact?

The stipend argument has been beaten to death.

Until LL announces or changes something else what's the point?

Responding to someone who suggested it be reduced, Jopsy, thats the point. Illustrating why it can't be reduced without an impact. Thats the point.

If LL thinks everyone agrees it should be removed (as they might by lookigna t the forums if noone argue FOR the stipends) then they might cut them. On that offchance I won't stop.

Nor me.

Removal of stipends benefits about 10 people, several of which are alts of the same person, simply so that they may increase their profit at the expense of everyone else, and control things that they have no right to.

Removal of stipends impacts every player, gives less reason for newbies to stay and explore, less reasons (and less people to upgrade) to have premium, less 'easy spending' of money, less opportunity to spend because prices have gone up, less tipping, less things done 'just for fun', less events to attend because people can't or won't pay the cover charge, less content created as people can't afford to upload textures.

Those are the things that will kill Second Life, not L$50 a week 'pocket money'. You may not believe it now, but you will when it happens.

I say these things because I believe them to be, and will not hide behind an alt because I don't have the confidence in my views. It's a pity some of the 'other side' aren't so sure of their beliefs.

Lewis

LL will look at the forum, see about 15 people going at each other's throats, shrug, and ignore it. I think the MOST that LL can get out of these protests, discussions, and whatnot, is possibly some ideas for a problem they themselves are no doubt already aware of, and no doubt have a much more extensive knowledge of (since they have access to data we don't).

10 people, PLUS all the people those people benefit, plus the pople THOSE people benefit. You make it possible for ten renters to provide better rental fees, you improve the SL lives up 20 to 30 other players. Those people with cheaper rental fees in turn are able to set up more shops, more gaming places, and more hang-outs, which in turn benefits even more people. (I'm talking about reducing the stippend here btw, not cutting it. And freezing the drop at where it is now will already benefit people a lot, since land and shop owners won't have to set their prices to assume a future decline)

Also, as I said before, the main issue here is not increasing profits, it's covering already incurred expenses. Like, they were told that if they would have paid $30 to LL, they could make that $30 back. So they paid that $30, but suddeny, due to massive influx of more stippends and a huge drop in $L value, they're making back just $15 or less. Expand that over $100's of dollars, and it starts to really hurt.

Hyperinflation...........................Isn't that something that happens in the Real World or First Life?

Thought So.

Who told them they'd make back what they paid in? Somewhere along the line, someone has to make less money to enable those people to cover their costs. I trust you can provide a link proof of that?

If that really is the case... Linden Labs owes me..... *taps on calculator* about $400. I look forward to my cheque in the post, and the $35 for each subsequent month to come.

Simple fact is this. No 'investment' is ever guaranteed. For months now, a small group of individuals have been making lots of money out of SL simply because the market favoured them. Now that the market has turned, it's the general population's turn to get a good deal for a change. If they aren't willing to risk losing money, then they shouldn't be investing it in the first place. If they choose to run because they are now losing, and aren't prepared to hang around and see if it recovers... then good riddance as far as I'm concerned. They were here for the wrong reasons in the first place.

Lewis

I agree with Jonas, If we didnt respond to you stuff, SL would assume nobody minds having the stipend removed. Thus as long as these blather threads are made, we will respond to them.

Eh, feck, when you're right you're right.

But hey, it's still our right to bitch and moan about unfavorable markets, right?

*sigh*

The people at Linden Lab are many things but they aren't idiots.

You think squawking repetitively like a parrot about "me me me" each time the issue comes up is going to ultimately influence their decision in your favor?

The problem is.. your opponents, whom you call chicken for hiding behind alts, are toying with you. "Look look... let's get Lewis and Jonas all spun up again!"

And you keep falling for the bait.

Maybe for some people, part of the "fun" of second life is screwing with and bitching at people on the forums? This is like SecondLife lite: No need for 3D hardare, yet with all all the drama of SecondLife.

This is so true. In every "game" community I have ever been a part of, I see the same kind of people in the forums whining about anything and everything. It's one thing to make a complaint and raise some valid points. It's another thing entirely to just write posts all day long that usually break down to personal 1v1 debates.

Excellent point Jopsy.

So how do we convince LL that stabilizing the in-world economy is in THEIR best interest? I think we're all on the same side here. A stable economy is in everyone's best interest. LL only cares about REAL$$. Is there a way to show them that a collapsing in-world economy will hit them in the pocket book? I can't think of anything but there has to be a way.
Maybe we could hire Warren Greenspan. I heard he's out of work. Hmmmm....maybe he'll work for L$

Lets not get ahead of ourselves Jopsy. I know you love
Linden Labs like a blind puppy dog, but they don't have
all their cylinders firing in the right order.

Linden Lab Kicks Anshe in Arrears
by Walker Spaight
April 1st, 2006

Source: http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2006/04/linden_lab_kick.html

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Residents who are in arrears on their accounts are normally given seven days to clear up the problem before a suspension sets in. Such was the case with Anshe -- at least at first -- who received an email, sent late on March 29, stating, "This email is notification that we were unable to bill your Second Life account on March 29, 2006. . . . Don't worry; this billing failure will not prevent you from logging on with your Second Life account. We will simply try to bill your overdue balance again the next day. If we are unable to collect the amount due within seven (7) days, your account will be suspended pending payment for an additional thirty (30) days. During that time, you will not be able to log in to Second Life. Failure to resolve this billing issue by the end of the probation period may result in the cancellation of your account."

The next day, however, Anshe was contacted by a Linden concierge, who warned her that LL's billing department if she didn't make good on the arrears immediately, her account would be suspended the same day. In response, Anshe asked Linden Lab to transfer the money from an alternate account. Instead, she found her account suspended when she woke up on April 1. Anshe provided screenshots and copies of emails to the Herald to help document her account of the events. At no time after the initial email quoted above, Anshe points out, did Linden Lab's billing department contact her to make any further conditions known.

If the suspension was a mistake on the part of an over-zealous Linden Lab employee or volunteer, it raises questions about the company's management practices. No matter how much business one is doing in Second Life, being given seven days to correct an arrears means you should get a week to do it, not a day. If the suspension was the result of LL policy, though, it raises questions about business conditions on the Grid. Anshe pays nearly US$30,000 to Linden Lab every month in tier payments. In the face of well over a quarter of a million dollars in annual income, US$5,000 sounds like not enough to get your knickers in a twist over. Anshe's is also Linden Lab's favorite example of what a successful virtual-world business can accomplish, and is trotted out almost every time an LL representative speaks in public. If the company was in fact unwilling to let a $5,000 debt from it biggest customer slide for the normally allotted time period, one has to wonder why.

As Anshe points out, the suspension of her account means that her Dreamland business and other parts of her widespread operation are without a key officer, meaning that many important functions cannot be undertaken until the ban is lifted. More than 1,000 residents have space in Dreamland, and the company employs 14 people.

*SNAP*

Oh, listen. That's the sound of the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back.

/me can't take any more of Lewis's "wisdom." /me adds him to ignore list.

Ahhhh. I feel better already.

P2

Is he any relation to Allen Greenspan?

Aye...Hat's off to you Svar. I think Warren was an old baseball player