BREAKING NEWS From GOM

Quoted for importance!

Phillip Linden in the WA area trying to calm the panic right now.

And this, really, is why something important like the GOM should be handled by the Lindens, who won't disappear suddenly.

No offense to Jamie and Ricky, but I mean, really... lots of power there.

Hopefully the Lindens really will step up with this soon, and not like, 6 months from now.

Coming soon! Havok 2 and currency exchange! And XML-RPC!

LF

/me ponders these things. Will I be able to maintain tier without being able to transfer money through the market? I'm not interested in being alarmist by any means, though. The sky is not falling. =) Money's just a bit tight sometimes and SL up until this announcement tidily paid for itself through the currency exchange.

Hmm.

We don't want to leave anybody in a lurch, but were we really just supposed to sit by happily waiting for the Damoclean sword of the LL-Exchange to fall? No thanks.

We've got other projects we want to get started on and, really, Jamie's farewell message said it all.

WA area?

It is sad, it really is. I have used GOM since the almost the start. I found out about SL because of GOM. I would not be here if GOM had not shown me the way. I will be sad to see you go. Best of luck and I hope the next company will not backstab you.

Or you could have taken the "higher road" and given LL fair warning so that they could have been prepared for such a drastic move.

Not for LL mind you, but for....YOUR loyal customers.

I agree. And having re-read jamies goodbye speech, it would seem he pointed out that you would continue to do so until it was not profitable for you anymore.


Nothing in there implies it would be gone 30 days from his post. So I suppose you didn't turn a profit in the last 30 days to justify keeping it going, very sad.

It was coming, I knew it was. Tom and Jamie pretty much said that this day was coming. I guess it is about as much notice that LL gave them.

I think not, not with a 100kL$ loss because of the interface with LL.

Sad to see you guys go.. I've been using GOM since I first started playing SL, it's always been something to count on and to trust, sucks to see you guys go, but it's completley understandable.

Nah, GOM did right. I give you props for having balls and not standing around like a beotch.

I guess that means all the predictions were wrong, by the end of the year, GOM will trade L$ at 0USD per 0L$.

It's down to $3.06 -- sell while you can!!!

The economy cannot kill SL. I've been here awhile, I've never sold L$'s, never bought L$'s, the 'content' I add is freely given. I've found that most of the content I enjoy is free or nearly free, just labors of love. I feel bad for those who invested into the economy, but the sky isn't falling. Maybe there'll be a recession, some sims will close down, oh well... Sad but Secondlife goes on.

And as far as train wrecks go.. this could be *THE BIG ONE*

I'm getting a 6 pack and some popcorn.. this could be fun to watch.

Excellent!

Best wishes to you both.

Ricky and Jamie, would any of you consider selling the GOM framework (website code, ATM system, etc) to another person or group of people?

I know no one in SL, not even its richest players (of whom I'm not) could offer you anywhere near LL might have offered when they offered a buyout, but I'd like to know what it would take to keep the "open market" alive.

I did not get that email. That looks like an email I might have been interested in getting. Was that meant to go to all GOM customers?

Seems all GOM users got the Email. It is sad to see it going but we all have other lives too and sometimes it doesn't just boil down to greed. To you both wish you well in your future endeavors

ah, hell... here's my reaction:

/invalid_link.html

Webpage, GOM, Bragging Rights

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I speak to people about SL for the first time, I usually get the "Oh, he's talking about another game" look from people -- until I tell them about the money I make from SL.

The website - www.secondlife.com - brags (and rightfully so) about US$ transactions that take place. But - after 25% deflation in L$ prices, we're now taking a huge step backwards. This is a motivating factor for development - of which has been noted time and time again by Linden Lab employees and notable residents and bloggers.

GOM was the thing that made it possible, and now we're left to sites like IGE- who are notorious for bad service and larger-than-free-market profit margins. (Although my personal experiences have been good.) On Ebay, L$ sell for upwards of $5US/1kL - probably because there is no visible, easy leader in fair trade. Anymore.

On any controversial decision by Linden Lab, I take the time and consider both sides, and I don't always make a public statement. When it was first announced that LL would be changing the L$ sales system, I was cautiously hesitant. Now it's clear that I need to speak up and disagree in clear terms:

1. The benefits of changing the L$ sales system is not yet proven; we won't know until it is actually implemented.
2.Telling GOM ahead of time was a good decision - to give them time to prepare. i won't speculate as to what happened behind closed doors - suffice it to say: I loved using GOM. I was extremely satisfied with GOM.
3. But letting the infomation out to the public was a big, big mistake. It's hurting us developers!

I cannot reliably sell my L$ now ... what the heck am I supposed to do while the new L$ selling method is tested? IGE even dumped their cash. The L$, which ran stable for over a year with GOM, is destabilized!

From past patches, it was patently obvious that the system would take weeks - and likely months - to implement. 1.6 took 2 whole months of testing - and still had lingering permission and crash bugs. (Which was an improvement on past patches, I may add - and a testament to the overworked and understaffed QA department.) Knowing the speculative, fear-driven nature of money markets and inflation/deflation, it was wholly irresponsible to leak this information before the patches were ready to take effect.
This would be an entirely different story if the decision was up in the air. If LL was considering the changes, but wanted to consult the community, this would be fine. But from the beginning, LL announced the change was coming, and gave no indication that its position would be altered.

What are we supposed to do? Next week I'm attending State of Play, and I'm helping to host SL Community Convention. What are speakers going to say when economy is brought up?

What do we developers do now? Please - this is my hotline question. Tell me what we're supposed to do? Did not Philip say that LL would be focusing on ensuring the L$ would stay around $4/kL? What's going on, here?

I wouldnt be too concerned guys because just like when slauctions was launched a ton of similiar sites poped up over night, its the nature of this place! I bet you someone is already working on an identicle site. I for one still have a decent sized holding of linden dollars spread out, will i sell? No because i think someone that knows how to regulate the market will take over

Holy S-

Well this doesn't totaly supprise me, GOM has set the value of the L$ for nearly 22 months, and in the last 4 months the value has been steadily declining because of unregulated growth in the marketplace. We have shrinkage in availabe L$ in the SL economy and growth in the exchanges. Our system is unbalanced.

GOM closing should return some order to the system. Until another exchange pops up.

lol billy maybe nows the time for us to build our own GOM and take over the world!

Im very tempted to take some of these nuts money as they dump it all at once over the next 24 hours and sell it back to them in a week on the new, improved market. Anshe should make out well by this ^_^`.

Oh, and Ricky - You posted that you told no one (including the lindens?) previous to your mass email about your decision to shut down. Clearly your spite knows no bounds. I bet the day LL goes public your going to kick yourself. Hard.