Getting Paid to do nothing

I'm signed up with the Premium - Annual account which costs US$72/yr. With that, LL pays me L$500 a week (assuming no bonuses and such). That amounts to L$26,000/yr.

The current valuation of the L$ is roughly around L$1000=US$4.00. As such, selling L$26,000 will net you US$104.00. With that, US$104 - $72 = US$32.00/yr for doing nothing.

It actually pays to play SL. LOL

Now your not even trying, Alby.

This has been a fact that has been known about since... Well... About the day they went to their current membership system.

You have to remember that it is other users paying you the $104 for your L$, not LL, so you're not being 'paid to play'. If quality of content drops, or inworld prices drop (especially land prices) there will be less demand for L$ and you won't get $104...

You're also not 'doing nothing' for the money, you're trading on GOM (or IGE), which in itself could be classed as 'work' and also runs the risk of lowering the L$ value by flooding the market with L$...

Yes I know 2 or 3 people doing this would not be deemed flooding the market, but if everyone did this, as you imply they can, then there would be no demand to buy, everyone would be selling and the value would plumet.

You are also taking a risk by paying for the year in advance. If you are paying the 9.95 a month, you are not making anything. Also, you are making the assumption that the $L will stay at $4.

LL has to provide an incentive to get us to pay more upfront, this is the incentive they chose. What the hell is wrong with it??????

LL provides no incentive other than a discount for paying a year in advance. It's us that have set the L$ value at $4 / L$1000 making it possible to earn more money than we spend. Again this only works if only a few people do it.

I agree. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

Forgiven this time

Why does LL offer annual discounts for membership? This is regressive taxation!
The people who pay monthly are subsidizing the annual players. Stop the madness.

LOL.

Har har har. Are you secretly working for Ulrika??

I find it a relief that I can cash in the stipends most months to cover the cost of the game's subscription itself, and leave some for event costs like contest prizes, building items and uploading textures, etc.

In part it offsets the disappointment that dwell doesn't really put any peas in your pot even when you try really hard and get a fair number of guests to your events.

In part in compensates the cash burn from tier on real estate deals.

It does make you feel as if you are in a never-ending beta, however.

The mystery to me is the pet-rock phenomenon. On the one hand, Linden dollars and game activities -- being virtual -- are kind of like a pet rock. You can only imagine that it's a pet. You pay $5 for your imaginary pet. Somehow the Lindens have gotten players to value everything they put into the game, and the scrip released each week, enough to trade it on a real-life exchange at the rate of $4.00 per 1000. Compare that to say, the Sims Online currency which is like that of Belarus, it's now $5.00 for 350,000 simoleons.

But SL is poised on the edge of moving from a pet-rock type of novelty to something more, something more like an entertainment or a service that might not be bricks-and-mortar or produced in a factory but has a heft and a value. When a kid says they cashed out Lindens and made $900 real-life from scripting projects, it becomes something more than a pet rock -- although still more in the realm of entertainment. It's fascinating to see how worthless scrip pumped out by the Lindens as Monopoly money can get turned into real dollars. This dollar-making machine can't last forever. If millions of people started taking advantage of it, the US government would probably try to tax or control it. The value of the commodity and services exchange within LL would have to be studied against the dollar/Linden rate to understand whether this has really grown beyond a pet rock.

In my experience, the dollar rate often fluctuates and sets in a game at the very rate of what your initial stake is for the price of the initial subscription. So in order to get 2000 Lindens per month, I'd have to pay $9.95 initially, meaning looked at in one way, the value of Lindens is fixed at $5 per 1000. Its interesting how IGE sets it at $5/1000 now and GOM is fluctuating at $4.00/1000 but going down for all kinds of reasons.

So far... if the money supply continues to grow at 3% per week the L$ will continue to devalue against the USD$ and at some point, you probably won't be "paid to play" SL.

Yeah, it's rather interesting that Alby finds himself ultimatly causing the very economic problem he fears.

Excuse me, but i play so i can shoot watermelons at people and i don't care if i have to pay to do it without getting arrested and thrown in Jail. And i play because i don't have to work to make any money, in fact, i usually give it out to everyone anyway. I know there are others who wish to buy all the SL land and sell it to people at a profit. Great do it. I don't care. I don't get my thongs in a bunch worrying about land barons and such as Catherine Cotton does. I don't need a house even though i own a huge one. I don't need a club even though I am an officer of several. I have fun with people (avies) anywhere i go and all my friends know it and enjoy spending time with me.

Damn, ADD, i forgot what this thread was about.

What's the benefit of paying premium besides the ability to own land?

I for one, payed 9$ for a basic. I can't own any land... ok i rent. So i have a nice 4096 plot, a nice landlord, no tiers, no fees.

I see people complaining about lag and other important issues that affect game play. But still you pay. Why? Why don't you revert to basic. If enough poeple do that, and an email is sent to LL explaining the reasons why you are going basic, i'll think LL will pay more attention, instead of lauching new kid grids and other stuff that use needed manpower to upgrade/mantain the main grid.

I will go premium after a set of conditions is met by LL.

Simple conditions that affect the way i play the game, enough not to pay.
- Inventory seach (seems to be on the works)
- XML-RPC Full support. (God knows when this will arrive)
- International keyboard support (scheduled for 1.6)
- Sims with at least 20 av's on them and reasonable amount of lag. (LOL)

No trying to start a revolt or anything, i just beleive that LL is already overwelmed, and instead of focusing on their paying customers and their needs they're trying to expand even more. That's bad tatics anyway you read it.

Just my 0,02$

Voting with your wallet has always been the most effective means of communication.

Yeah, talk to me..

Yeah, communicate with me...

The best way to get paid to do nothing is to come to the Punany Club tonight! $5000L will be given out.
(Sorry, shameless plug)

So.... any ideas on how to help maintian, or dare i say, increase the value of the linden?

Schwan, you old big sheepdog!! tee hee...

Yes. Buy up the L$ and prop up the price. Otherwise, tell LL to reduce its supply from L$126/million to L$50/million. that'll send the L$ into the stratosphere..

Interestingly though, the median balance remains stable at around 1,100. I am speculating that the Linden monetary policy is to keep the median balance at this level (forgive me if this has been said before, I've been away for a while), perhaps via the rating and dwell bonus.

So how come the amount of money in the system is more than double what it was in july, and yet the average SL resident has only 1k in his or her pocket?

One reason could be population growth. If the population has more than doubled in the last 5 months, then perhaps so should the money supply. Another reason could be that a few people are hoarding money. If so, these few people can disrupt the SL economy by going on a spending spree, causing inflation and a precipitous drop in the value of the L$ against the US$.

Or because the rich are becoming richer. That would keep the median balance the same. Thats where the Average balance may come in helpful... if the median balance remains the same, yet the average balance is increasing significantly, we'll know that the rich are getting richer.