Thank you, LL...

for cutting my customer base.


For instead of branching out and offering novel content to induce customers to spend L$ (and to buy it from lindex) or to come up with innovative marketing techniques to compete with the older, more established merchants, you've taken away the impetus to get people spending.

Nope, they will watch every L$ like a hawk and not buy anything, no content and no L$ either.

I look for the L$ to drop to 1000/1 and the merchants to drop tier and go to SLexchange and SL Boutique so they can stay in business. They can just give out notecards with the URL on them on their parcel in world.

Just because a bunch of so called economists cannot grasp the concept of "nothing is worth more than someone is willing to pay for it"

Indeed.

Whilst they might have perfectly correct actions and principles of real world economies - they won't necessarily transfer to a computer game.

It occurs to me that there are people with far greater relevant knowledge here than those living a pipedream of the way they want things to be - rather than the way things are.

The question is... are LL too proud to listen to those who really know what they're talking about, who might have the solution they need... or are they willing to let their product go down the pan because they think they're right?

My prediction? As basics created before the 29th (I think it was) still get the L$50 a week ad infinitum, we're going to see a huge mountain of new accounts farmed/created over the next couple of days, then we'll see it drop off severely... and bundles of SL accounts with basic stipend for sale on Ebay.

Lewis

how do you knnow your customer are on basic account ?

It's a platform! LOL

Actually, this does come under real world economy. Everybody else may talk about gas and whatever, but what it comes down to is SL is entertainment. And the competition for the entertainment buck is fierce.

Now that basics aren't getting that stipend and camping chairs are biting the dust, they won't log in. If they don't log in, why would they buy anything?

I've noticed that the number of people logged in at any one time has dropped by 1000. That's 1000 less potential customers for everybody's products.

The proper response to the lack of L$ demand is to encourage more merchants to create novel products and/or to market innovatively in order to increase sales. And to market SL not as a way to turn a buck, but as a fantasy world where if you can't make it, you can buy it. And if you can make it; sell it and buy something you can't make.

I don't.

But I do know that without that 50L motivation to log in every week, they will not log in. If they are not logging in, why should they buy?

I do know that without that "what the hell, I'm getting more next week" money, they will only think about buying, instead of buying.

I do know that people who are not buying and/or logging in will not buy currency from lindex even it is 1000/1 or 10,000/1. Why should they?

If more people were inclined to do things for fun, rather than profit, just think what a richer experience SL would be.

We see people buying a 'nightclub in a box', plonking it down on a piece of land, tuning into a Shoutcast stream (usually Club 977) and then wonder why they don't get any visitors.

It's because people are coming here with a quick buck in mind - rather than being blown away by the creativity available. If someone else can make money from a rave club, why can't I? The fact that there are 100 other identical places all toying for the same crowd doesn't even cross their mind, and in the end success seems to be directly related to how much money you pay people to stand there and make yourself look popular.

When you have a population that is 80% content provider (whether it's good or crap is irrelevant) and 15% camper/dance pad/stipend farmer... that isn't much of an economy. Whilst admittedly as a content provider I buy products from other players to save me the time and frustration of trying to make something that already exists, it's not really the right way of going about stuff.

Diversity is promoted everywhere in Second Life, except the advertising. Why is that?

Lewis

I'd love to not have to rely on my SL earnings to pay some of my bills. That will be soon if things work out as planned. I don't like your insinuation that those who try to make a profit in SL are greedy or irresponsible.



I'm sorry, isn't that what you do? I thought you had a club?



You are criticizing the creativity of others, and while you may have a point somewhere in there, you are still saying that people who have popular clubs have to pay others to stay there (whereas the most popular clubs are actually sex clubs and make their profit off of their escorts). If that's what gets their rocks off ... then who are we to quibble? Are you suggesting quality control? (That'll go over like a lead balloon, as it has in the past)



I must argue with this, it definitely seems to me that most people are consumers, not creators. This is not an us vs. them. It's just from what I have seen.

Damn right.

This has got to be the stupidest shortsighted ill-conceived quick fix there has ever been and can not be taken lying down.

Well...

Linden Lab DO NOT remove stipend from existing basic account.
But all the new basic account won't have any stipend.

So... they don't "remove" anything.



"50L$ motivation" (0.15US$) ? Is it a joke ?

if people are only logging in for their 50L then they won't be spending that 50L very fast anyways (since they aren't loggin in for the CONTENT... they are just logging in for the 50L)

And thats the problem. New users will come into the game with nothing more than the basic 250. Established users who have less need for financial support still get it - they should have capped the handouts to 10 weeks or something and done it for everybody.

To a new user that 50L is very important.

Unless star have a special market and product for players that just log in for their stipend.

Now i'm curious, what are you selling ?
(don't tell me : "house furniture" or i'll die laughing )

I see it as the first step towards removing the stipend from us all, next will be the other basics, and eventually premiums. I have decided today that I'm going to cut right back on in world spending to only that for which I perceive a need (real or imagined) ready for that time.

So, an apology in advance to those people from whom I regularly buy content, but you all just lost a customer.

I don't know what you do to earn money in SL as I can't get in game right now. But assuming you have a product that you have created yourself, of reasonable quality, that sells... then that's fine. You aren't here *just* for the money. You see the difference I mean?

So these people wont be happy even though they are getting a service for free, effectively subsidised by the poeple who do pay. They need paying to play as well. And the L$50's can be converted to real money. Must be nice being paid to play a game.

I personally dont know any other online enviroment where you are actually paid to play.

As I have said before we should all consider abandoning the Linden Dollar and move towards using either real dollars or create a new currency that has fungible value.

Why anyone would now want to continue to use a currency for business that can be both debased by Linden, will cost real money in terms of transaction charges to purchase (while being devalued) and has an ever decreasing exchange rate, is beyond me.

*sigh* Its all me me me me me.

50L$ will buy:

Nyte and Day Gather Top

A Walk Replacer from Abraminations

and a number of things available from merchants.

But if you want a full outfit, you have to wait or buy L$

If you want the full AO package, you have to wait or buy L$

But without that free 50L$ to blow, you don't buy the little stuff. And you won't buy the bigger stuff either.

Yeah, they rushed out this solution.

Almost as bad as the panic sellers who have been devaluing the L$ for several weeks now, by causing the very problem they are trying to avoid.

Lewis

I would agree that there is just no patience selling Linden dollars and the ones that do are losing money and causing the whole problem themselves.

The question now is, what are we going to do about it. A vocal minority managed to get the stipends stopped, how about a vocal majority to get them reinstated?

A basic acct is paid $ 0.15 a week. They've lost that by turning on the computer and spending the time it takes to log into SL. They might as well collect cans for extra cash if that's their plan.

As a premium account holder and a merchant, I want people to log in. People who aren't logged in are not buying. People who don't buy content will not buy L$ at any price.

It seems like the vocal majority are already in full support of keeping stipends, so reinstating the lost ones is only the next step.

The majority here seem to recognise the value of the L$50 a week "carrot" incentive towards a greater involvement in SL. I just wish Phillip Linden would. Can't help but wonder if he ever logs in and plays under another name just for fun.

Lewis